Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences SAMS
The SPHN Data Coordination Center (SPHN-DCC): Consolidating the SPHN infrastructures beyond 2024
Since 2017, the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN) initiative has been coordinating the development of data infrastructures for the responsible use of health data for research throughout Switzerland. The Swiss Academies of Medical Sciences (SAMS) and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics have been jointly responsible for implementing the mandate. After 2024, the foundations established by SPHN need to become permanently integrated into the Swiss research landscape.
A first Academies Report on the achievements of SPHN for the period 2016–2019 was published in 2021. This second publication summarizes the expectations and needs of the Swiss health research community for the long-term future of the SPHN-DCC. It furthermore sets out the technical, organizational, and financial requirements, giving special emphasis to the many interfaces of the SPHN-DCC with its partners in research, the healthcare system, and administration. As part of the developing Swiss research infrastructure and health landscape, the SPHN-DCC promotes data-driven medicine and personalized health at national and international scale.
Swiss Personalized Health Network (2023)
The SPHN Data Coordination Center (SPHN-DCC):
Consolidating the SPHN infrastructures beyond 2024
Swiss Academies Communications 18 (4).
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.