PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Eckart Zitzler

Eckart Zitzler is a computer scientist whose research connects evolutionary computation with multiobjective optimization. He and Lothar Thiele set out the Strength Pareto approach in 1999. Zitzler coauthored an empirical comparison in 2000, work on convergence and diversity in 2002, and PISA, a platform-independent interface for search algorithms, in 2003. At ETH Zurich, he linked systems optimization with computer engineering and molecular biology, then led computer-science education at Bern University of Teacher Education. He is Head of Research and Vice Dean at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, a role he began in September 2019.

Born
1970
Links
Website

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1970–1996

    Study and research in Germany

    Born in Münster in 1970, he studies computer science at the University of Oldenburg and the University of Dortmund, and psychology at the University of Bochum. He works as a student research assistant at the University of Dortmund from November 1992 to April 1996, then earns his computer-science diploma there in October 1996.

  2. 1996–2001

    ETH research and Pareto methods

    At ETH Zurich’s Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (TIK), he works as a research and teaching assistant from November 1996 to November 1999, then as a postdoc from December 1999 to December 2001. He earns an ETH doctorate in technical sciences in 1999 on evolutionary algorithms and completes ETH teacher training in 2000. In 1999, he and Lothar Thiele publish a comparative study of multiobjective evolutionary algorithms and the Strength Pareto approach; in 2000, he coauthors an empirical comparison with Kalyanmoy Deb and Lothar Thiele.

  3. January 2002–July 2003

    Research associate and PISA

    He serves as Senior Research Associate at ETH Zurich’s TIK laboratory from January 2002 to July 2003, and visits the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle from March to August 2002. In 2002, he coauthors a study on convergence and diversity in evolutionary multiobjective optimization. In 2003, he and Stefan Bleuler, Marco Laumanns and Lothar Thiele publish PISA, a platform- and programming-language-independent interface for search algorithms.

  4. August 2003–January 2010

    Assistant Professor at ETH

    At ETH Zurich’s Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (TIK), he serves as Assistant Professor for Systems Optimization from August 2003 to January 2010. His research focuses on systems optimization at the intersection of computer science and biology.

  5. February 2010–August 2019

    Leading computer-science education

    He leads Advanced Studies Programmes at the University of Teacher Education Berne from February 2010 to December 2014. From January 2015 to August 2019, he heads its Computer Science and Media Education Lab.

  6. September 2019–2022

    Head of Research in Lucerne

    In September 2019, he becomes Head of Research and Vice Dean in the Department of Computer Science at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2022, he launches the Forschung im Dialog initiative to make research understandable and bring experts together with people in society and business.

  7. September 2026

    Research leadership in Lucerne

    In September 2026, he leads research and serves as Vice Dean in the Department of Computer Science at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2026, he and Hans A. Wüthrich publish the book “Tanz mit der Überforderung – Die Choreografie der souveränen Selbstführung.”

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Eckart Zitzler yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. About | Eckart Zitzler eckartzitzler.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. «Gute Forschung braucht Freude am Experimentieren und Problemlösen» - Informatik an der Hochschule Luzern hub.hslu.ch. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Publications | Eckart Zitzler eckartzitzler.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. ETH - SOP - PISA sop.tik.ee.ethz.ch. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Tanz mit der Überforderung: Die HSLU – Informatik macht Selbstführung zum Thema - Informatik an der Hochschule Luzern hub.hslu.ch. Checked 19 October 2026.