Switzerland to establish a National Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity

Bern, 11 November 2024

The Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions passed the Ordinance on Quality Assurance in the Area of Scientific Integrity on 8 November 2024. This resolved to establish a Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland. The Competence Centre consists of a council for scientific integrity and an administrative office. The Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions will assign the administrative office of the Competence Centre to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences (a+). The Higher Education Council appointed Edwin Constable the Founding President of the Council for Scientific Integrity. He was already President of the Scientific Integrity Expert Group of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. Edwin Constable is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Basel and an internationally renowned expert for scientific integrity in science and research practice.

Following a development phase, the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland will advise higher education institutions in Switzerland from 2026 with regard to scientific integrity, best practices and international developments. With the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland, the Higher Education Council has created a national reporting and advisory centre as a contact point for information relating to scientific integrity. Reports are submitted to the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland through higher education institutions and other institutions of the higher education sector. The Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland will also network the numerous specialist departments for scientific integrity already in existence in many institutions and ensure that circulation of and adherence to the Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity are further improved. While having an advisory function, the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland will not itself be an investigative or sanctioning body. The power to impose any sanctions will, as hitherto, remain with the higher education institutions. As a reporting office, the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland will also record data on the observance of scientific integrity, thus creating a comprehensive overview of the situation in Switzerland and facilitating an international comparison.

Observance of the rules governing scientific integrity is an internationally recognised quality criterion for research locations all over the world. Scientific integrity ensures the reliability of research findings and rigorous data collection and defines the responsibility of authors of scientific publications. Scientific integrity in Switzerland is anchored in art. 12 of the Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation (Forschungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz) as a central framework condition for research and scientifically based innovation.

Together with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), swissuniversities and Innosuisse (the Swiss Innovation Agency), the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences already enacted the Code of Conduct for Scientific Integrity in 2021, and this conforms to international standards and is applied throughout scientific circles. The Code of Conduct determines best scientific practices expected of researchers in Switzerland.

For further information please contact:

Prof. Dr Edwin Constable, President of the Competence Centre for Scientific Integrity Switzerland, +41 78 717 66 88, edwin.constable@unibas.ch