10 of the 12 newly funded DIZH projects are with ZHAW participation
The Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Universities (DIZH) has approved 12 projects in the fifth and final project call. The projects are diverse and range from intensive care units to classrooms, forensic institutes, ancient inscriptions, and deepfake voices.
The fifth Project Call once again exceeded expectations, with another increase in the quantity and quality of applications. The large number of submissions demonstrates the dynamics and success of the innovation program and underscores the considerable interest in interdisciplinary research in the field of digital transformation. The DIZH committees have therefore decided to fund 12 projects, more than originally planned. The funded projects are characterized by their innovative strength, social relevance, and strong practical relevance.
The decision to support more projects than planned requires an adjustment to the distribution of funds. The funding amounts requested for the projects will be reduced by a flat rate of 15%, and the sixth Project Call will be cancelled. In the sixth Project Call, the total funding amount available would have only allowed for the funding of a few projects with shorter durations. The consolidation now being undertaken will enable universities to make the best possible use of the available resources. With four calls still pending, the DIZH is entering the final phase of the innovation program.
The projects are carried out by interdisciplinary teams from all four DIZH universities, combining research and practice. The fields of application range from health and education to security and culture: families are supported in intensive care units, children with ADHD benefit from more accurate diagnostics, digital learning assistants promote educational equity, young people are guided in their use of social media, law enforcement agencies are given tools to investigate telephone fraud, and the public is given access to ancient inscriptions and their history.
ZHAW in the lead
Georg Spinner (ZHAW Life Sciences and Facility Management) is combining data from intensive care units with local language models and Bayesian networks in his project "Delirium DynamiX". The modeling of dynamic causal chains enables earlier detection of delirium. The project team is interdisciplinary and comes from ZHAW, the University Hospital Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the Zurich University of the Arts.
ZHAW in the project team
«ADAPT» (child-friendly ADHD diagnostic tool) with Yanick Lukic and Flavio D’Intino from ZHAW School of Engineering
«DiSpLA» (A Digital Speech and Language Sample Application for Clinical Diagnostics and Monitoring in Swiss German) with Jan Deriu and Manuela Hürlimann from ZHAW School of Engineering.
«Digital Transformation of Handwritten Child Vaccination Cards to Support Immunization Practice & Surveillance in Switzerland» with Yanick Lukic.
«MERLIN» (multi-agent system for real-time medical decisions in intensive care) with Farhad Nooralahzadeh from ZHAW School of Engineering.
«LitAI» (supporting text comprehension with eye tracking and AI) with Michael Wahler from ZHAW School of Engineering and Martin Schuler from ZHAW Applied Linguistics.
«Chat4All» (a digital assistant that promotes educational equity) with Don Tuggener from ZHAW School of Engineering.
«Adolescents coping with negative emotions induced by social media» with Lilian Suter from ZHAW Applied Psychology.
«SAGE» (Speaker Recognition across Age-Groups for Cantonal Law Enforcement Agencies) with Thilo Stadelmann from ZHAW School of Engineering.
«Fake or real? Exploring brain signals for deepfake voice detection» with Jan Deriu.
All project descriptions and the full DIZH announcement: https://www.dizh.uzh.ch/en/2026/02/18/funding-approved-for-12-new-projects/