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Programmes and Projects

Higher education institutions receive federal project contributions (in accordance with Article 59 of the Higher Education Act, HEdA) that enable them to conduct innovative projects – either jointly or individually – which are of Swiss-wide relevance to higher education policy. Half of the funding for the projects and programmes comes from the federal government and half from the higher education institutions.

As part of its planning, swissuniversities proposes the strategic direction of the programmes and projects every four years and applies for funding for them from the Swiss Higher Education Council.

swissuniversities coordinates the larger programmes and distributes the funds, among other things by means of project calls to the institutions eligible for contributions. In the case of smaller projects, one higher education institution assumes the lead role. Below is an overview of past, current and planned programmes and projects.

If you have any questions regarding the conditions of eligibility to contribute or participate, feel free to reach out to the mentioned contact persons. 

2021-2024

See information on German and French website.

2017–2020

On November 26, 2020, the Swiss Higher Education Coucil decided to extend the programmes P-1, P-5, P-7, P-8, P-9 and P-11 until December 31, 2021 because of COVID-19. Further information on the individual programmes and projects is provided on the relevant project pages.

No. Project Lead   Funding for projects 20172020 (CHF)
1

PhD programmes and development of third-cycle education
Summary
Project proposal (German/French)

swissuniversities   27,000,000
3 Strategy to Combat Lack of Qualified Workers in the Healthcare Industry
Summary
Project proposal (German)
Berner Fachhochschule   2,999,653
4 Swiss Learning Health System (SLHS). A national platform for health systems and services research, policy and practice
Summary
Project proposal (German)
Universität Luzern   4,400,000
5 Scientific information: Access, processing and safeguarding
Summary
Project proposal (German)
swissuniversities   30,000,000
6 swissuniversities Development and Cooperation Network (SUDAC)
Summary
Project proposal
swissuniversities   4,000,000
7 Equal opportunities and university development
Summary
Project proposal (German)
swissuniversities   12,000,000
8

Enhancing digital skills in teaching 2019-2020/2021-2024
Project proposal (French)

swissuniversities   20192020: 10,000,000
9 Development of academic skills in subject-specific didactics
Summary
Project proposal (German)
swissuniversities   24,000,000
10 Development of a National Network to Promote STEM Education – Teacher Training and Further Training for Teachers within all Types of Higher Education Institutions
Summary
Project proposal (German)
FHNW   3,000,000
11

Pilot programmes to strengthen the dual competencies profile of young talent at universities of applied sciences and arts (UASAs) and universities of teacher education (UTEs)
Summary
Project proposal (German)

swissuniversities   7,000,000
12 Swiss Centre for Islam and Society
Summary
Project proposal (German)
Universität Freiburg   1,600,000
13 AGE-NT Age(ing) in Society: National innovation network Summary
Project proposal (German)
FHO  

3,987,311

14 Innovation in Biocatalysis: Toolbox for Sustainable Bio-Based Production
Summary
Project proposal (German)
ZHAW   2,000,000
16 Proposal and Implementation of a Swiss Research Centre for Barrier-free Communication
Summary
Project proposal (German)
ZHAW  

578,000

18 Sustainable Development at Swiss Higher Education Institutions – Student Projects
Summary
Project proposal (German)

Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz

 

1,500,000

 

 

Special Programme: Increasing the number of medical school graduates
Summary
Report (German/French)

swissuniversities and participating institutions

 

 

100,000,000

 

2013–2016

The Swiss University Conference supported ten programmes and nine projects during this period (in accordance with the Federal Act on University Funding, (UFundA).

SUC programmes

No. Title Participating institutions Amount 2013-2016 (CHF)
P-01 Doctoral programmes all universities 22,917,000
P-02 Scientific information: access, processing and safeguarding all universities 36,312,000
P-03 Research in the humanities and social sciences all cantonal universities 4,368,000
P-04 Equal opportunities for women and men at universities / gender studies all cantonal universities 13,740,000
P-05 SystemsX.ch: The Swiss Initiative in Systems Biology Universities of Basel, Bern, Freiburg, Genève, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, Zürich, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zürich 48,775,000
P-06 Nano-Tera.ch Universities of Basel, Genève, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, USI, EPFL, ETH 15,556,000
P-07 Sustainable Development in Teaching and Research at Swiss Universities all cantonal universities 3,927,000
P-08 Swiss Public Administration Network SPAN Universities of Bern, Lausanne, USI, IDHEAP 4,908,000
P-09 Swiss School of Public Health SPPH+ Universities of Basel, Bern, Genève, Neuchâtel, Lausanne, Zürich, USI 6,871,000
P-10 Konsolidierung von Lehre und Forschung im Bereich medizinische Grundversorgung / Hausarztmedizin Universities of Basel, Bern, Genève, Lausanne, Zürich 3,000,000

Joint projects and innovation projects

No. Title Participating institutions Amount 2013-2016 (CHF)
KIP 02 Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics Universität Bern (Leading House) 1,987,000
KIP 03 Centre du droit des migrations Universities of Neuchâtel (Leading House), Bern, Fribourg 2,000,000
KIP 04 Center for Religion, Economy and Politics Universities of Luzern (Leading House), Basel, Freiburg, Lausanne, Zürich 2,000,000
KIP 05 Swiss Earth Observatory Network SEON Universities of Zürich (Leading House), Basel, Freiburg, Lausanne, ETH 1,500,000
KIP 06 Center for Advanced Surface Analysis CASA Universities of Lausanne (Leading House), Genève, EPFL 2,000,000
KIP 07 A Swiss Platform for Advanced Scientific Computing PASC USI (Leading House), all universities 12,000,000
KIP 08 Swiss Non-Human Primate Research Competence Center Universities of Freiburg (Leading House), Zürich 1,400,000
KIP 12 Centre de compétence en sciences du sport Universities of Lausanne (Leading House), Genève 4,000,000
KIP 18 Platforms for translational research in medicine (SwissTransMed) Universities of Bern (Leading House), Basel, Genève, Lausanne, Zürich, ETH, EPFL 7,000,000