ETH Exploration Lab

The ETH Zurich Exploration Lab accelerates innovation processes by helping companies and students test disruptive ideas quickly and in a structured manner. As part of the Vice Presidency for Knowledge Transfer and Economic Relations (VPWW), the Lab provides the structural and substantive framework for programs at the intersection of science and application. At the center of it all is the annual Exploration Program (October through March), which serves as the heart of the lab: Here, interdisciplinary teams of students work together with industry partners to validate early-stage innovation projects. The program creates an exploratory environment in which new technologies are tested, further developed through targeted prototyping, and validated at an early stage using Lean De-Risking—the ETH approach to structured risk reduction in the early phases of innovation. The Feasibility Lab supports this process with intensive guidance, coaching, workshops, and methodological expertise—thereby creating a learning environment where entrepreneurial thinking and technological excellence come together.