Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
Promoting diverse career pathways for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers
Reshaping career paths for doctoral and postdoc researchers outside academia: new OECD report with recommendations and policy options for that purpose. These recommendations focus on eight areas: promote engagement with employers outside academia, provide researchers with skills for diverse careers, valorisation of diverse career options, support career development for researchers, promote inter-sectoral mobility as well as reconfigure and support careers in academia. According to Verity Elston, co-director at the University of Lausanne’s Graduate Campus and chair of the international expert group that drafted the report: «The recommendations provide starting points for those of us who work in the development of doctoral and postdoctoral frameworks: whether we are in government departments, funding bodies, university administration or faculty management.»
Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences a+
Lighthouse Programmes in Sustainability Research and Innovation
Wuelser G, Edwards P (2025)
Lighthouse Programmes in Sustainability Research and Innovation
Swiss Academies Reports 20 (4)Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences a+
Ethical guidelines for animal experiments
The Swiss Animal Welfare Act permits the use of animals for certain scientific purposes; at the same time, however, it requires that the dignity of animals be respected and their welfare protected. For researchers, reconciling these various societal interests can be challenging. The ethical guidelines for animal experiments (2025) are designed to clarify the margin of discretion left by the legislation and to encourage researchers to reflect on the handling of animals in their experiments. The decisive factors for updating the previous version from 2005 were new scientific knowledge and research methods on the one hand, as well as changes in the legal framework on the other.
Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT
Roles of Scientists in Sustainability Transformations: A Guide for Reflection and Workshop Facilitation
Scientists, scientific experts, and knowledge brokers often find themselves in situations where they need to play new roles in society or are criticised for positioning themselves at the interface between science and other societal fields of action. The present guide aims to stimulate reflections on, and discussions of, various different roles that scientists perform.