Summer Schools

Join the 2025 World Food System Summer School and be part of a community of motivated and like-minded students, researchers, and practitioners across the food valuechain. Together you will design ideas to build sustainable food systems in times of rapid change.

Our 2025 Summer School will be hosted at “PBlabs”, a creative space in Zurich enabling project-based education. The program immerses all in the fascinating world of food systems through case studies, field trips, fieldwork, design thinking, guest presentations, role-plays and simulations and creative reflection - all helping to build the competencies needed to design ideas to tackle food system challenges.

During this Summer School you will:

• Discuss challenges, opportunities, and innovations in food systems across disciplines, sectors and scales.
• Collaborate with producers, leading research institutes, industry players, policy makers, and civil society representatives.
• Learn how to apply a food systems perspective, considering environmental, social, political, and economic issues.
• Be creative and innovative by exchanging ideas and working on case studies to address contemporary challenges of the world food system as part of a diverse, interdisciplinary team.
• Practice visual and auditory storytelling techniques to present your solutions creatively and contribute to change.

Find more information also in the ETH Course Catalogue. 

To apply, you must complete following external page online application form.

Apart from your personal details, you are asked the following questions: 

1. How are you currently engaged with sustainable food systems? 

2. What do you hope to learn during the summer course (content, topics, personal competencies)? 

3. What will you bring to the course? How will your expertise, competencies and mindset contribute to the success of this course?

Your complete application must be submitted by Monday 31 March 2025, 22:00 CET.

Applicants must be currently enrolled in a university education program (Minimum 3rd year Bachelor, Master’s or PhD) or have recently graduated from one of these programs.

As this course is meant first and foremost to strengthen interdisciplinary project-based teaching at ETH Zurich, ETH students are given priority. We offer a few additional spaces for participants from other higher education institutions. 

A key element of this course is the diversity of participants. If we receive more applications than available spots (20-25), selection will be based on eligibility and ensuring a diverse cohort in terms of disciplines, gender, nationality, culture and experiences.

Successful applicants will have a strong interest in food system challenges and solutions, interdisciplinary and cross-​sector collaboration, and inter-​cultural exchange, and bring relevant experience.

The course will be conducted in English. We welcome applicants from all disciplines.

The application process is competitive and all applicants must submit a full application. This also applies to applicants from ETH Zurich.

The course will kick-off on Friday 20 June 2025, and run for two weeks between 04-15 August 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland. If selected, you must attend for the entire course period. Please note that this is a full-time program. It is not possible to study or work along the summer school.

ETH Zurich accredits successful completion of the course with 4 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) points and a certificate of completion. Acknowledgment of the points in your study programs at other institutions is your own responsibility.

The course is free of charge. Local travel and activities during the program are arranged and covered by the course organizers.

You will need to arrange and cover your own accommodation, your travel to and from Zurich PBLabs and your meals throughout the course, as well as organizing your visa (if required) and health insurance. We are unfortunately not able to provide scholarships to cover these costs.

The course is organized by the World Food System Center at ETH Zurich. The Center works toward a vision of a healthy world through sustainable food systems. Our 48 professorial members from different departments engage in interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach together with partners from a variety of sectors.

ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is one of the leading international universities for technology and the natural sciences. It has more than 25,000 students from over 120 countries and 560 professors.

 We are grateful to the Innovedum Fund for their financial contribution.