Welcome to the Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management
The Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management has been established in January 1997, by appointment of Prof. Paolo Burlando. He was joined by Prof. Peter Molnar as adjunct professor in 2013.
The Chair focuses on teaching and research activities in the field of surface water hydrology and water resources management. Key activities are the analysis and modelling of hydrological processes, their importance in catchments, and their interactions with human and environmental systems, with the aim of providing the basis for modern water resources assessment and sustainable planning and management. Read more
HYDROL Highlights
Time to say goodbye to the MAS in Sustainable Water Resources
After 15 successful years, it is time to say goodbye to the MAS in Sustainable Water Resources (SWR) at ETH Zurich. The programme run by Dr Darcy Molnar and Prof Paolo Burlando dedicated itself to finding sustainable solutions to global water problems, and has produced 86 graduates from 26 countries during this time, many of whom are now decision-makers shaping the future of water resources worldwide. We at the HYDROL group are so proud of all your success stories and wish you all the best!
Soil heterotrophic respiration is a large unknown in the carbon budget of Earth and at the same time an important flux affecting CO2 in the atmosphere and the role of soil as a carbon sink or source. A recent new modelling perspective on soil heterotrophic respiration from our group by Dr Alon Nissan, an ETH Postdoctoral Fellow, quantifies the global changes in respiration that may be expected in a future climate. The research results were highlighted by external page SWISSINFO and ETH News.
The next in a series of impacting papers by Dr Mosisa Wakjira from the HYDROL group is addressing possible changes in the suitability of Ethiopian croplands for growing staple cereals under rainfed agriculture for a range of climate change scenarios in the future. This research has implications for food security and sustainable agriculture in Ethiopia.
Mosisa defended his Doctoral Thesis Understanding the impacts of climate change on rainfed crop production in Ethiopia in the HYDROL group on 29.02.2024. Congratulations!
Vice President of Research Christian Wolfrum is leaving ETH as of 1 July 2025 to take up a new academic challenge: he is to become Deputy President and Provost responsible for all academic matters at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).
The coloured Cube has been around for 50 years. Its inventor, Ernő Rubik, celebrated his 80th birthday this year. At the invitation of the ETH Department of Mathematics, he spent some time in Zurich to discuss the fascination of the Rubik’s Cube with researchers, students and children.
The XPRIZE Rainforest competition acknowledged ETH Zurich-led team for its development and deployment of novel, autonomous technologies that enable near real-time insights about biodiversity.
