Prof. Robert Boes graduated in 1996 in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. He obtained a Doctorate in hydraulic engineering from ETH Zurich in 2000. At Austrian power utility Tiroler Wasserkraft he was responsible for dam, hydropower and flood protection projects. Since 2009 he is professor for hydraulic structures and Director of the Laboratory of Hydraulics at ETH Zurich.

He is president of the Swiss Committee on Dams and board member of the Swiss Association for Water Resources Management, the Water Agenda 21 network of Swiss water management stakeholders, and the Energy Science Centre of ETH Zurich.