Competence Centers are scientific networks coordinated according to strategic objectives by university and/or ETH institutes or parts of them. In many cases, they are joint centers of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

Competence Centers combine regional scientific know-how with corresponding business activities. They set milestones for the future and foster alliances between basic and applied research, and thereby spur innovation in business and society.

The following competence centers are part of the LSZ Business Network:
- Center for Imaging Science and Technology (CIMST)
- Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP)
- Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ)
- Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center (PSC)
- International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center
- Competence Center for Systems Physiology and Metabolic Diseases (CC-SPMD)
- SystemsX
- Tissue Engineering for Drug Development (TEDD)

The following centers also belong to the Business Network:
- Cancer Network Zurich (CNZ)
- Functional Genomics Center Zurich (FGCZ)
- NCCR Structural Biology