Swiss Participation in International Research Infrastructures

The international research organisations provide major scientific and technological impetus through building and exploiting the world’s top-performing research infrastructures. For this reason the Confederation supports the integration of Swiss research in its international cooperation by joining international research organisations on the basis of international treaties.

Switzerland is an active member of ten international research organisations that conduct experiments and use world leading research infrastructures in their fields of expertise. Its participation in these organisation constitute the direct application of Objective 1a of the Switzerland's International Strategy for education, research and innovation of 16 July 2018, which aims to strengthen and extend Switzerland's international scientific research network. The strategy provides that "Swiss ERI stakeholders enjoy full access to leading research infrastructures".

Switzerland´s International Strategy on Education, Research and Innovation (PDF, 6 MB, 05.02.2019)Strategy of the Federal Council

Switzerland's participation in these ten research organisations is a fundamental aspect of its international ERI policy, both from a strategic and a financial perspective. It is within these organisations that top-level Swiss research can show its talent and that it is in these organisations that a number of world future scientific challenges are identified and addressed. Switzerland invests approximately CHF 100 million annually in these organisations, i.e. 2.5% of the Confederation's annual budget for research promotion.