Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
Scientific Integrity: Added Constraint or Best Practice?
Scientific integrity in the chemical sciences
The journal Chimia, published by the Swiss Chemical Society, has published an issue focusing on scientific integrity. Edwin Constable, chair of the Swiss Expert Group on Scientific Integrity of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, provides an overview of scientific and research integrity, with a particular focus on the implications for the active chemical community in Switzerland. He also focuses on good scientific practice and highlights its benefits for researchers, institutions and the chemical sciences themselves. Another article by Christian Leumann, rector of the University of Bern until mid-2024, highlights the importance of scientific integrity for universities seeking to convey the credibility and acceptance of science to the public. Christian Leumann explains the necessity of continuously adapting existing regulations and presents Switzerland's recent progress in raising awareness towards scientific integrity.
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.
