The Energy Science Center (ESC) aims to facilitate the deployment of an environmentally friendly, reliable, low risk, economically viable and socially compatible sustainable energy system. The ESC enhances cooperation between ETH Zurich, industry, government, and society on energy related issues, offering a platform for nourishing the exchange of information between the engineering sciences and the social sciences as well as for directing joint projects. The ESC synergistically combines key expertise in various disciplines to address large-scale problems successfully and to form flagship projects. These programmes will be large, financially intensive projects that have a visibility far beyond ETH Zurich and should promote energy research to a large extent.