New family office at D-USYS
D-USYS
The Department of Environmental Systems Sciences (D-USYS) welcomes the younger members of its extended family. The new family office in the CHN-building, room CHN D 50.3 can be used by parents who wish to bring their children to work and supervise them themselves.
If the regular babysitter fails to appear for duty or the kindergarten, after-school care centre or nursery school is closed at short notice, working parents are often faced with a problem. In such cases, the family office can provide a necessary service. The room in CHN D 50.3 has been opened a month ago and is available to all employees, students and guests of the D-USYS with a child or children for: working and learning, breastfeeding and changing, eating and playing together, as well as for breaks. Pregnant women can also use the room to relax.
Positive signal for the family
The family office offers toys such as crayons and books, as well as a larger and smaller space to rest and take a break. «If we want to promote women in science, we must do everything we can to make it easier to balance work and family life», says Nina Buchmann, head of the department. «Families need retreats and opportunities. And this is exactly what we want to offer them». After the Department of Earth Sciences, the USYS is the second department within ETH Zurich with a play, breastfeeding and recreation room specially designed for (prospective) parents and children.
Key for one year
Prospective users must first register and sign the user agreement before they can use the room for the first time. As soon as they are registered as users in the Department Administration, they can obtain a personal key. The key is valid for one year and is free of charge for users.
The family room can be reserved in the Outlook calendar «Familienbüro CHN D-USYS». Reservation of the family room is on a «first come, first serve» basis. However, several care persons and children can occupy the area at the same time, if this is agreed upon between the different parties. It is important to know that the little ones must always be supervised by a parent or careperson. There is no child care provided.
How to use the Familiy Office
The family office is located in the souterrain of the CHN building, Universitätstrasse 8, room CHN D 50.3. The contact person is Madlaina Gartmann, D-USYS Department Administration.
• DownloadFamily Office User Agreement (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Location in the CHN building