Switzerland

Open Science is in Switzerland divided in two topics: Open Access and Open Research Data. The country is one of the leading countries of Open Access in Europe; especially on Green OA, Switzerland has the highest amount of published articles, only behind the United Kingdom. Also, in their most recent strategy on Open Access (covering the period 2021 to 2024), Switzerland takes a leading role by striving to making 100% of their publicly funded research Open Access.

On the other hand, the Swiss National Strategy for ORD and the associated Action Plan represent a further step for Switzerland towards Open Science  . Researchers and research communities are central to the ORD Strategy. Access to research data is handled in a variety of ways in different disciplines and institutions. One of the main objectives of the ORD Strategy is targeted at the development and support of ORD solutions based on ORD practices from the respective research communities. The ORD Strategy and Action Plan were developed jointly by swissuniversities, the ETH Domain, the SNSF and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and have open access to research data at their core. The partner organisations will continue their collaboration through the ORD Strategy Council established under the ORD Strategy.

The relationship between the EOSC and Switzerland is different from most countries in the SWOT analysis, due to the fact that Switzerland is currently not associated to Horizon Europe or of the EOSC Steering Board. This limits the connection between EOSC and Switzerland.

Mandated organisation

The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation has mandated ETH Zürich as mandated organisation in the EOSC Association. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, founded in 1855. The institution has a world-class reputation in both academia and industry. In the 2022 edition of QS World University Rankings, ETH Zurich achieved the 8th place in the world, thus being the fourth-best European university. ETH Zürich is formed by 16 departments. Freedom and individual responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness are described as its core values.

Contact: EU GrantsAccess, ETH Zürich, grants@sl.ethz.ch

National Structure

The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) supports scientific research in all academic disciplines — from physics to medicine to sociology. At the end of 2021, the SNSF was funding 5700 projects involving more than 20,000 researchers, which makes it the leading Swiss institution for the promotion of scientific research.

To ensure its independence, the SNSF was established in 1952 as a private foundation based on a government mandate. Its core task is the evaluation of research proposals. In 2021, it awarded 882 million Swiss Francs (approximately 918 million Euros) using excellence criteria. By allocating public research money based on the principle of competition, the SNSF contributes to the high quality of research in Switzerland.

In close collaboration with higher education institutions and other partners, the SNSF strives to create optimal conditions for the development and international integration of Swiss research. It pays particular attention to the promotion of young researchers. In addition to this, it accepts evaluation mandates in order to ensure that large research initiatives funded by third parties deliver the highest scientific quality.

Contact: Isabel Bolliger, Email: strategy@snf.ch

Rector’s conference

swissuniversities is the umbrella organisation of the Swiss universities. It represents the common voice of the Swiss universities and promotes cooperation and coordination between the universities and the various types of universities.

The Delegation Open Science of swissuniversities observes, anticipates, and coordinates the developments within the domains of Open Science and scientific information. In this capacity, it is responsible for steering the Open Science Programme (2021-2024). Furthermore, it is also responsible on behalf of swissuniversities for the implementation of the National Open Access Action Plan, the National Open Research Data Strategy and its corresponding action plan.

Contact: Co-coordinator Open Science Programme

Ariane Studer (ORD), Aude Bax de Keating (OA). Contact e-mail: open-science@swissuniversities.ch

CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) serves as Mandated Organisation of the European Intergovernmental Research Organisation forum EIROforum.