The ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management has been a School of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and part of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and Arts (ZFH) since 1 September 2007. The study programmes and other activities were transferred to the canton of Zurich from 1 January 2007.

Milestones

2007: ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management

At the end of 2007 the HSW was merged with other universities of the Zurich Association of Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts to form the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

Since 1 September 2007 it has been known as the ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management.

2006: Chemistry comes to Wädenswil

In 2004 the Council of Universities of Applied Sciences of the Zurich Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (ZFH) decided to concentrate Chemistry and Life Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil. As a result there has been a degree programme in Chemistry in Wädenswil since autumn 2006.

1998: University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil

The Wädenswil School of Engineering (Ingenieurschule Wädenswil) became the University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil (HSW) following the reform of the universities of applied sciences. Over the years, the range of study programmes was gradually extended to include further fields of study:

• 1988 Food technology
• 1994 Biotechnology
• 1998 Facility Management

1970: Technical college for fruit-growing, viticulture and horticulture

In 1942 the School was founded by the apple juice trade association to train fruit juice producers. The education of professionals in related professional fields followed. The range of study programmes provided, from vocational training to further education at proficiency and master craftsman levels, led to the school being approved as a Higher Technical College in 1970.

Growth statistics

Due to the expansion of degree programmes and activities in research and development, the number of students and staff has steadily increased.

Growth of student numbers

• approx. 30 students in the 70s
• approx. 60 students in the 80s
• approx. 300 students in 1998 (start of the university of applied sciences status)
• approx. 700 students in 2005
• approx. 800 students from the winter semester 2006 (now with chemistry)
• approx. 1,000 students in 2009
• over 1,400 students in 2011 (now with Master's degree programmes in Life Sciences and Facility Management)

The students are supervised by more than 40 professors and 100 lecturers. A total of around 600 employees work at the ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management in Wädenswil.

Locations

The main building on the Grüental campus was completed in 1984. In 2005, the main building on the Reidbach campus was extended by two storeys so that new classrooms and laboratories for biology, chemistry, microbiology and molecular biology could be built. The new building on the site of the former Sträuli soap factory was inaugurated in 2013. By 2023, a technically state-of-the-art building for food technology will be constructed on the Reidbach campus.