ETHZ is one of the premier European research universities with an outstanding research record (including 21 Nobel laureates connected to it). It is consistently ranked among the international top universities (position 6 at QS World University Ranking 2020). Key strengths of ETHZ are in life sciences, chemistry, engineering, and computer science.

The research group is experienced in the heterologous production of bioactive substances from diverse bacterial taxa, in the prediction and discovery of natural product structures from genome sequences (genomic mining), and in genetic engineering of polyketide and peptide pathways for metabolic diversification.