The offices deal with specific key topics, thus also supporting the work of the committees.
The Bilingualism and Multilingualism Office is part of the General Secretariat, supporting the BFH in its mission to develop bilingualism and multilingualism. It provides advice and support for staff and students in bilingualism and multilingualism issues.
Bern University of Applied Sciences views equal opportunities as an important aspect of its corporate culture.
The Equal Opportunities Office advises the UAS management and the individual departments on all political, strategic and operational issues relating to equality and equal opportunities. It advises the UAS on the implementation of the regulations on gender equality and coordinates the equal opportunities action plan. It provides advice in cooperation with specialised institutions.
The University didactics + E-learning Office offers continuing education and support for all teaching staff at Bern University of Applied Sciences. It promotes quality teaching across all departments and helps inspire ongoing development. It provides support with questions concerning teaching and media-based learning.
It offers methodological training, workshops, counselling and coaching, publications and events. The specialist office also provides support for the use of e-learning platforms (Moodle and Mahara) and other digital media technologies and trends.
The Research Committee develops strategies and guidelines for applied research and development at Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) and oversees their implementation.
Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Corina Caduff is a voting member of the University Executive Board. She chairs the Research Committee. The Vice Rectorate Research comprises the Research Office, the Open Science Office, the Euresearch Office BFH and the Global Engagement Office.
Practice-oriented and research-based teaching is the core mission of the BFH. The Vice-Rectorate Teaching promotes interdepartmental cooperation with regard to Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes.
Practice-based and research-based teaching is a core remit of BFH. The Office of the Vice-President Teaching promotes interdepartmental collaboration and the strategic development of teaching with regard to both undergraduate and continuing education at BFH.
Vice-President Prof. Dr. Jochen Schellinger is eligible to vote as a member of the University Executive Board. He chairs the Teaching Commission and the Continuing Education Commission. The Vice-Rectorate Teaching includes the Teaching Office, the Continuing Education Office, the Virtual Academy Office, the Central Student Administration, the Vocational Baccalaureate Office, the University Library, and the Entrepreneurship Office.
Bern University of Applied Sciences provides an exciting range of sports activities and events for its students and staff. The University Sport Office develops, expands and communicates programmes in collaboration with the departments and external partners.
Office opening hours:
Mon–Thur 9 am–noon/2 pm–4 pm
Fri 9 am–noon
The Global Engagement Office GEO is the centre for international affairs at Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH). The office ensures the participation of BFH in international education programmes, supports the departments in implementing internationalisation and promotes staff and student mobility at BFH.
The Global Engagement Office GEO informs and advises students, lecturers and staff at BFH and its partners in Switzerland and abroad regarding internationalisation and mobility.
As part of its strategy, BFH has set itself the goal of consistently observing the principles of sustainable development in its teaching, research and operational management. As a practice-oriented university, BFH aims to place even stronger emphasis on equipping its students with the tools to help shape a sustainable future.
The Sustainable Development Office coordinates the tasks and activities of the specialist service of the same name and advises and supports on sustainability issues if necessary. It leads the support platform Students4Sustainability, the Certificate of Engagement in Sustainability (CES) as well as various projects, such as the development of the sustainability reporting for the BFH. In addition, BFH is responsible for the organisation of the Sustainability Day at the three Bern universities.
BFH has a specialist office for the implementation of the National Open Science Strategy. The focus is currently on the development of an Open Science Strategy for the BFH and the elaboration of measures for its implementation.
The Open Science Office is a point of contact for questions concerning Open Science.
The Quality Development Office supports the activities of the Quality Development Committee and represents the BFH's concerns at swissuniversities on behalf of the Committee.
The office works on the further development of the framework concept for quality development at the BFH and is responsible for carrying out and analysing evaluations for the attention of the Quality Development Committee.
The Data Protection Office provides advice on all legal questions related to data protection, particularly when it comes to producing data protection-related contracts and developing processes that involve managing personal data.
It provides support for any analysis and concepts required for the introduction of new IT and telecommunications technology, and maintains contact with the cantonal data protection office. The Data Protection Office is also part of the Ethics advisory group set up at BFH, which can be contacted to clarify ethical issues for research projects. In practical terms, the Head of the Data Protection Office performs the tasks of a data protection officer/advisor.
