Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university. Current enrolment is >18,000 students (3,900 doctoral candidates). Top 20 universities globally, top 10 for technical sciences. 21 Nobel laureates, >80 new patent applications per annum, > 300 spin-outs since 1996. Budget €1.24 M. With its 6 fulltime professorships and over 100 collaborators, the Institute for Biomechanics at the ETH Zürich is a multidisciplinary unit researching on multiple scales, from macro (organ) to micro (cell) down to nano (molecule). 

Role in the project: ETHZ is the leader of work package 3 - Biological response to novel materials for the spine. ETHZ contributes to supervision of the early stage researchers (ESRs) participating in the project i.e. ESR4 (topological optimization of macro-porous implant structures), ESR5 (cell and organ culture models and animal models to characterise the biological response to SixNy including osseointegration), ESR10 (numerical models of a whole-ceramic Total Disc Replacement), ESR12 (utilizing advanced forming methods for prototype production and upscaling of oxide ceramics to form patient-specific implants) and ESR13 (develop novel testing standards for the evaluation of the non-linear dynamic response of bulk ceramic materials and structures). 

Prof. Karin Würtz-Kozak is an Assistant Professor of Immunoengineering and Regenerative Medicine at the Institute for Biomechanics. She has extensive expertise in inflammatory processes, pharmacology, cell-to-organ scale culture systems and mechanobiology.