1. Bern University of Applied Sciences
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  3. About the research
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About the research

Research at the BFH with its diverse research units offers the best conditions for interdisciplinary solutions.

Our core task

The Office of the Vice-President Research promotes interdepartmental research as well as the national and international strategic development of research initiatives at the BFH.

As a capable partner, we implement interdisciplinary projects with partners from business, science and the public sector. The BFH’s research focuses on the main study subjects of digitisation, entrepreneurship, international affairs, career development and project-related contributions, and is aligned with international research standards and principles.
 

Kontakt

Vizerektorat Forschung
Committee research

Facts + Figures

Our project partnerships

Annual report

In 2024 the Bern University of Applied Sciences maintains a total of 1,266 project partnerships and has external funds of CHF 54.9 million. It is respected for its high degree of practical orientation and application-oriented research.

With 486 research partnerships in the Canton of Bern, the Bern University of Applied Sciences is an important driver of innovation and development within the Canton and also beyond its borders.
 

Annual report 2024
Logo der PIONEER Association
BFH is a member of the European higher education alliance PIONEER.

A varied range of project funding

Research projects at the Bern University of Applied Sciences are financed by public sector contracts, by research contracts from industry, by Innosuisse and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The consistently high level of third-party funding shows that the BFH is a capable and reliable partner in research and innovation.

Projects

A capable partner

The Bern University of Applied Sciences cultivates project partnerships with partners from business, the public sector, universities and the ETHs, as well as with universities of applied sciences.

Research areas

Guidelines

Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)

The BFH is one of the first signatories of the Coalition for Research Assessment Reform (CoARA). By signing, the BFH commits to further developing the evaluation criteria for research, to advocating high quality and impact, and to recognising the diversity of research activities, practices and outcomes.

Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)

The DORA declaration

The BFH is a signatory of the “San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment” (DORA). This requires an open, appropriate evaluation of research that is not merely limited to bibliometric indicators. BFH is committed to the recommendations of the DORA declaration regarding handling of the impact factor when evaluating research and researchers.

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

Berlin Declaration on Open Access

The Bern University of Applied Sciences declares that one of its strategic goals is Open Access in line with the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities” signed by swissuniversities in 2006.

For this purpose, the BFH has an Open Science specialist service as well as the institutional repository ARBOR (Applied Research Bern Open Repository).
 

Academic integrity and good academic practice

Good academic practice is a central element of credible and internationally competitive research. The BFH is guided by the Code on Academic Integrity of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. In the regulations on academic integrity, it defines the corresponding principles, best practices, procedures and sanctions. Complementary measures such as the establishment of a Academic Integrity Board should help to consciously establish and live a culture of academic integrity at the BFH.

Guidelines: Academic integrity and good academic practice (PDF, 140 KB)
Code of Academic Integrity