Mini-Newsletter November 2025
Mini-Newsletter November 2025
Mini-Newsletter November 2025
November 24, 2025
November 24, 2025
November 24, 2025
Newsletter
Newsletter
VERSO
VERSO
VERSO
Dear students Dear university community The autumn semester is now entering its peak phase and Christmas is already just around the corner. What?! But don't worry, we will first provide you with the necessary insight into university politics with this little newsletter:
Dear students Dear university community The autumn semester is now entering its peak phase and Christmas is already just around the corner. What?! But don't worry, we will first provide you with the necessary insight into university politics with this little newsletter:
Dear students Dear university community The autumn semester is now entering its peak phase and Christmas is already just around the corner. What?! But don't worry, we will first provide you with the necessary insight into university politics with this little newsletter:
MEMBER AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY VERSO
The members' and general assembly of VERSO took place on October 29. Thank you very much for your numerous attendance! We look forward to engaging in direct exchanges with as many students from the university as possible at this event and to introducing our current student council. Furthermore, we will present and decide on some important documents for our work in the large plenary. Among them is, for example, our annual report 2024-2025, which you can view along with the minutes of the members' and general assembly on verso-verso.org.
VERSO'S STATEMENT ON THE DIRECTION DECISIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
The university management (HSL) published internal strategic direction decisions for employees following their retreat on September 8, 2025. This communication includes a total of five points, in which the " […] strategic direction of the ZHdK and the future alignment of the performance portfolio. " are explained. Topics that have also sparked great interest among students.
In mid-October, VERSO therefore pointed out to the university management the lack of communication to students about the content of the direction decisions with a statement and also criticized the way in which extensive changes were announced.
In their meeting on October 29, the university management acknowledged our letter.
Although this statement from VERSO has lost some of its urgency since then, it is now publicly available with additional comments on the further course on the VERSO website.
Since then, the university management has admitted to communication errors and invited interested students to a question and exchange event on November 25, from 12 – 1 PM in Lecture Hall 1.
Unfortunately, we cannot refer to the complete communication regarding the direction decisions from September 8 here – it is still not officially available for students as of now.
Despite the lack of communication, the contents of the direction decisions have leaked, and particularly two of the sections contained therein have caused quite a stir in recent weeks:
The medium-term discontinuation of the Master's in Transdisciplinarity in its current form and the commission to develop potential for the offerings of the DKV.
From the students' perspective, many questions regarding the justification for these and other areas of the direction decisions remain unanswered.
➤ Vague announcements about possible structural changes to a program or an entire department create great uncertainty among students and faculty. Clear, reliable communication is therefore essential from our perspective.
*A retreat is a
working workshop where a team or management discusses, reflects on, and plans important topics away from the normal meeting operations.
MEMBER AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY VERSO
The members' and general assembly of VERSO took place on October 29. Thank you very much for your numerous attendance! We look forward to engaging in direct exchanges with as many students from the university as possible at this event and to introducing our current student council. Furthermore, we will present and decide on some important documents for our work in the large plenary. Among them is, for example, our annual report 2024-2025, which you can view along with the minutes of the members' and general assembly on verso-verso.org.
VERSO'S STATEMENT ON THE DIRECTION DECISIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT
The university management (HSL) published internal strategic direction decisions for employees following their retreat on September 8, 2025. This communication includes a total of five points, in which the " […] strategic direction of the ZHdK and the future alignment of the performance portfolio. " are explained. Topics that have also sparked great interest among students.
In mid-October, VERSO therefore pointed out to the university management the lack of communication to students about the content of the direction decisions with a statement and also criticized the way in which extensive changes were announced.
In their meeting on October 29, the university management acknowledged our letter.
Although this statement from VERSO has lost some of its urgency since then, it is now publicly available with additional comments on the further course on the VERSO website.
Since then, the university management has admitted to communication errors and invited interested students to a question and exchange event on November 25, from 12 – 1 PM in Lecture Hall 1.
Unfortunately, we cannot refer to the complete communication regarding the direction decisions from September 8 here – it is still not officially available for students as of now.
Despite the lack of communication, the contents of the direction decisions have leaked, and particularly two of the sections contained therein have caused quite a stir in recent weeks:
The medium-term discontinuation of the Master's in Transdisciplinarity in its current form and the commission to develop potential for the offerings of the DKV.
From the students' perspective, many questions regarding the justification for these and other areas of the direction decisions remain unanswered.
➤ Vague announcements about possible structural changes to a program or an entire department create great uncertainty among students and faculty. Clear, reliable communication is therefore essential from our perspective.
*A retreat is a
working workshop where a team or management discusses, reflects on, and plans important topics away from the normal meeting operations.
INVITATION INFO EVENT EXCHANGE ON STRATEGIC TOPICS
As already mentioned, the university management invites on November 25, 2025 from 12 – 1 PM in Lecture Hall 1 to an exchange on strategic topics. The invitation is primarily aimed at DKV students, but is open to all interested parties. The aim of the exchange is to capture and answer current questions from students regarding the strategic decisions. Let’s take this opportunity and make the voices of the students heard!
DISCUSSION ON TRANSDISCIPLINARITY AT ZHDK IN THE SEMESTER COUNCIL
The university management states in its strategic decision of September 8 that “[…] inter- and transdisciplinarity is increasingly being promoted in all departments and is already integrated in some master’s programs.”
We wanted to discuss this statement from the student perspective and therefore addressed the topic of inter- and transdisciplinarity in our last semester council on October 16, 2025.
Among other things, Egor Tatarenko, a student of the Master's in Transdisciplinarity and Co-President of VERSO-DKV, gave a presentation in which he highlighted the – previously unknown to many of us – differences between inter- and transdisciplinarity.
Subsequently, we first discussed in the respective departments and then in mixed groups, using a questionnaire to address the presence and need for inter- and transdisciplinarity in our respective study programs.
VERSO PROJECT FUND
Each semester, VERSO announces a project fund. We want to financially support projects that promote community, diversity, and networking at ZHdK and directly or indirectly benefit students. This fund is announced at the beginning of each semester, and students at ZHdK can apply for amounts ranging from CHF 100 to 2,300 for their project.
In the autumn semester of 2025, the VERSO Semester Council has CHF 6,500 available for awarding and applications could be submitted until November 16 of this semester. These will be checked against our criteria in the coming weeks and ultimately submitted to the Semester Council for discussion and decision on December 4. We are very excited about all submissions!
INVITATION INFO EVENT EXCHANGE ON STRATEGIC TOPICS
As already mentioned, the university management invites on November 25, 2025 from 12 – 1 PM in Lecture Hall 1 to an exchange on strategic topics. The invitation is primarily aimed at DKV students, but is open to all interested parties. The aim of the exchange is to capture and answer current questions from students regarding the strategic decisions. Let’s take this opportunity and make the voices of the students heard!
DISCUSSION ON TRANSDISCIPLINARITY AT ZHDK IN THE SEMESTER COUNCIL
The university management states in its strategic decision of September 8 that “[…] inter- and transdisciplinarity is increasingly being promoted in all departments and is already integrated in some master’s programs.”
We wanted to discuss this statement from the student perspective and therefore addressed the topic of inter- and transdisciplinarity in our last semester council on October 16, 2025.
Among other things, Egor Tatarenko, a student of the Master's in Transdisciplinarity and Co-President of VERSO-DKV, gave a presentation in which he highlighted the – previously unknown to many of us – differences between inter- and transdisciplinarity.
Subsequently, we first discussed in the respective departments and then in mixed groups, using a questionnaire to address the presence and need for inter- and transdisciplinarity in our respective study programs.
VERSO PROJECT FUND
Each semester, VERSO announces a project fund. We want to financially support projects that promote community, diversity, and networking at ZHdK and directly or indirectly benefit students. This fund is announced at the beginning of each semester, and students at ZHdK can apply for amounts ranging from CHF 100 to 2,300 for their project.
In the autumn semester of 2025, the VERSO Semester Council has CHF 6,500 available for awarding and applications could be submitted until November 16 of this semester. These will be checked against our criteria in the coming weeks and ultimately submitted to the Semester Council for discussion and decision on December 4. We are very excited about all submissions!
UPDATES FROM THE VERSO DEPARTMENTS
In addition to the university-wide topics, we would also like to give you insight into what has been happening in our VERSO departments:
VERSO-DKV invited to their last board meeting on November 18 to discuss the upcoming "Info event on strategic topics" in a large group. Additionally, there is now Post-it! – an analog newsletter from VDKV, as well as an additional DKV chat on WhatsApp to facilitate communication among students.
We are pleased to announce that VERSO DDK successfully elected its new board on November 17. Furthermore, the student associations for Theater and Film have been restored, and we are also looking forward to the new members at the university level in the Student and Semester Council.
VERSO-DDE has already been extremely productive this semester, having hosted two cool events: the Live Coding Event on November 6 and a Halloween party on October 31 (posters of these events can be seen above). Additionally, studio tours are taking place again to engage with students on current topics.
VERSO-DMU has had a newly elected board since October 28 and is currently organizing a Christmas event for December 10 with lots of good music and, of course, even more mulled wine. More info on Instagram.
VERSO-DFA has also kicked off the academic year with a lot of action: they supported the VSS action day with a banner workshop. On October 1, they were in Zurich and Bern at the demonstrations against the potential budget cuts and the associated doubling (or quadrupling!) of tuition fees by the federal government, and in the following week they organized an exhibition on student protests at Toni.
TEAM UPDATE
With a heavy heart, we bid farewell to Lea Grünbichler (DDK) as our co-president. We sincerely thank her for her great commitment to VERSO! Lucia Albanese will take over her position in the co-presidency. We sincerely thank Lucia for her willingness to take on this important role and look forward to working together! We can also see growth in the Student Council: we are happy that Tadej Pance (DMU) is taking on the open position. A representative for the Student Council from DDK has also been newly elected: We welcome Florentine Schäfermeier! The study representatives in the departments have largely been reconstituted, and we look forward to good cooperation in all VERSO committees and a successful remainder of the autumn semester!
Over and out,
VERSO
UPDATES FROM THE VERSO DEPARTMENTS
In addition to the university-wide topics, we would also like to give you insight into what has been happening in our VERSO departments:
VERSO-DKV invited to their last board meeting on November 18 to discuss the upcoming "Info event on strategic topics" in a large group. Additionally, there is now Post-it! – an analog newsletter from VDKV, as well as an additional DKV chat on WhatsApp to facilitate communication among students.
We are pleased to announce that VERSO DDK successfully elected its new board on November 17. Furthermore, the student associations for Theater and Film have been restored, and we are also looking forward to the new members at the university level in the Student and Semester Council.
VERSO-DDE has already been extremely productive this semester, having hosted two cool events: the Live Coding Event on November 6 and a Halloween party on October 31 (posters of these events can be seen above). Additionally, studio tours are taking place again to engage with students on current topics.
VERSO-DMU has had a newly elected board since October 28 and is currently organizing a Christmas event for December 10 with lots of good music and, of course, even more mulled wine. More info on Instagram.
VERSO-DFA has also kicked off the academic year with a lot of action: they supported the VSS action day with a banner workshop. On October 1, they were in Zurich and Bern at the demonstrations against the potential budget cuts and the associated doubling (or quadrupling!) of tuition fees by the federal government, and in the following week they organized an exhibition on student protests at Toni.
TEAM UPDATE
With a heavy heart, we bid farewell to Lea Grünbichler (DDK) as our co-president. We sincerely thank her for her great commitment to VERSO! Lucia Albanese will take over her position in the co-presidency. We sincerely thank Lucia for her willingness to take on this important role and look forward to working together! We can also see growth in the Student Council: we are happy that Tadej Pance (DMU) is taking on the open position. A representative for the Student Council from DDK has also been newly elected: We welcome Florentine Schäfermeier! The study representatives in the departments have largely been reconstituted, and we look forward to good cooperation in all VERSO committees and a successful remainder of the autumn semester!
Over and out,
VERSO
UPDATES FROM THE VERSO DEPARTMENTS
In addition to the university-wide topics, we would also like to give you insight into what has been happening in our VERSO departments:
VERSO-DKV invited to their last board meeting on November 18 to discuss the upcoming "Info event on strategic topics" in a large group. Additionally, there is now Post-it! – an analog newsletter from VDKV, as well as an additional DKV chat on WhatsApp to facilitate communication among students.
We are pleased to announce that VERSO DDK successfully elected its new board on November 17. Furthermore, the student associations for Theater and Film have been restored, and we are also looking forward to the new members at the university level in the Student and Semester Council.
VERSO-DDE has already been extremely productive this semester, having hosted two cool events: the Live Coding Event on November 6 and a Halloween party on October 31 (posters of these events can be seen above). Additionally, studio tours are taking place again to engage with students on current topics.
VERSO-DMU has had a newly elected board since October 28 and is currently organizing a Christmas event for December 10 with lots of good music and, of course, even more mulled wine. More info on Instagram.
VERSO-DFA has also kicked off the academic year with a lot of action: they supported the VSS action day with a banner workshop. On October 1, they were in Zurich and Bern at the demonstrations against the potential budget cuts and the associated doubling (or quadrupling!) of tuition fees by the federal government, and in the following week they organized an exhibition on student protests at Toni.
TEAM UPDATE
With a heavy heart, we bid farewell to Lea Grünbichler (DDK) as our co-president. We sincerely thank her for her great commitment to VERSO! Lucia Albanese will take over her position in the co-presidency. We sincerely thank Lucia for her willingness to take on this important role and look forward to working together! We can also see growth in the Student Council: we are happy that Tadej Pance (DMU) is taking on the open position. A representative for the Student Council from DDK has also been newly elected: We welcome Florentine Schäfermeier! The study representatives in the departments have largely been reconstituted, and we look forward to good cooperation in all VERSO committees and a successful remainder of the autumn semester!
Over and out,
VERSO
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Quicklinks
Newsletter
All ZHdK students receive the newsletter automatically. If you do not receive the newsletter, you are welcome to subscribe to it here.
Found what you're looking for?
Quicklinks
Newsletter
All ZHdK students receive the newsletter automatically. If you do not receive the newsletter, you are welcome to subscribe to it here.
Nov 24
Newsletter
General Assembly, statements, information event and more
Sep 15
Newsletter
EP27, stabilization initiative, question students, etc...
More articles
Nov 24
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General Assembly, statements, information event and more
Sep 15
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EP27, stabilization initiative, question students, etc...