STAAR: Transparency in animal experimentation

The Swiss Academies are an umbrella organization of various scientific groups. They do not conduct any research themselves and therefore do not carry out any animal experiments either. Nevertheless, they have a variety of commitments in this field:

• the Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation (ECAE) acts as an expert and advisory body on animal experimentation. It discusses ethically challenging aspects and develops positions and recommendations. In addition, the Committee examines legal decrees in the field of animal experimentation and comments on national and international regulations, where appropriate. The Committee is run jointly by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) and the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). Further information on the SAMS’s commitment can be found here.
• The web portal “Animal experimentation explained ” answers the most important questions about animal experimentation from a research perspective. The portal is operated by the Swiss Laboratory Animal Science Association (SGV), supported by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT). The SGV is an independent member society of SCNAT.
• The Academies regularly organize events on specific aspects of animal experimentation. These include panel discussions, conferences and multiple-day events for high-school students or young researchers. Occasionally, animal experiments involving a low degree of severity are also conducted at such events.

The a+ delegate in the STAAR plenary assembly is Hanno Würbel, chair of ECAE and Head of the Division of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. He also participates in the STAAR working group.