Open Science Programme - swissuniversities

On 20 September 2024, the Federal Council announced to pursue several cost-cutting measures. These measures would include the discontinuation of project-related contributions (PgB).

swissuniversities has been informed that for now, financial resources for the 2025–2028 programmes can only be committed and allocated for the year 2025 (see also this website).

For the Programme Open Science II, an amount of 6.45 MCHF will be available for 2025. Projects may use funding received for 2025 until the end of July 2026. The Delegation Open Science has therefore decided to focus on a selected set of action lines (see below).

Information about the public financing of Higher Education Institutes as well as updates and statements from swissuniversities in this regard can be found on this website.

The Programme Open Science II continues the work of the predecessor programme Open Science I and aims to sustainably consolidate and strategically develop Open Science in Swiss Higher Education Institutions and research communities. The programme is based on the Swiss National Strategy for Open Research Data and the associated action plan as well as the Swiss National Strategy for Open Access. The programme was scheduled to run for four years but has been shortened to 2025-2026 due to financial policy developments.

The programme has been approved by the Higher Education Council of the Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions (German | French) and is structured into three dimensions:

Open Access to Scientific Publications (OA): Implementation of the goals and measures of the Swiss National OA Strategy. The following five lines of action will be implemented as part of the shortened programme: cost monitoring; negotiations with publishers; long-form and other publication formats; green Open Access; and diamond Open Access.
Open Research Data (ORD): Activities and measures of the Swiss National ORD Strategy and the associated action plan, which are under the responsibility of swissuniversities, will be continued and consolidated. The following five action lines will be implemented as part of the shortened programme: A1: Swiss Open Research Data Grants (CHORD); B3.2: ORD funding for existing infrastructures of strategic relevance; B5.2: ORD specialists / data stewardship at HEIs; B5.3: Swiss Research Data Support Network; and support for higher education institutions in project work for the ORD Strategy Council.
The third dimension, further innovative areas of Open Science, is dedicated in particular to the promotion of an Open Science-compatible knowledge and technology transfer between Higher Education Institutions and relevant stakeholders from industry and society. The following two action lines will be implemented as part of the shortened programme: cooperation with international organisations; and knowledge security.

Further information about the programme can be found on this website as well as in the programme application (German | French) and the implementation plan.

This brochure (German | French) offers a portrait of this university policy cooperation project on Open Science – from the strategic mission to the implementation and the impact of the programme.

The impact analysis has shown that the Programme Open Science I has proven to be a guarantee of success for the collaborative development of Open Science at Higher Education Institutions and has made flagship projects possible.

Since 2021, the swissuniversities Programme Open Science I is dedicated to the implementation of the National Open Access (OA) Action Plan at Swiss universities and has, since 2022, also included the implementation of the National Open Research Data (ORD) Action Plan. swissuniversities has submitted two applications for federal project contributions to the Higher Education Council SHK, which were approved in 2021 and 2022 and are now being implemented in two programme phases:

The aim of Phase A Open Access is to increase the proportion of open access publications at universities. A combination of measures is designed to make it easier for researchers to publish their publications freely. For instance, the development and networking of open access services and infrastructures, negotiations with major publishers and the promotion of alternative forms of publication all contribute to the sustainable implementation of OA in Switzerland.

Phase B Open Research Data implements the action lines of the ORD action plan for which swissuniversities is responsible. From 2022-2024, the action lines under the responsibility of the ORD Strategy Council and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences are also funded on a transitional basis.

Action line A of the ORD action plan promotes the development of ORD practices through competitive, research-focused projects;
Action line B is dedicated to the creation of long-term funding models for ORD services and infrastructures, the promotion of their consolidation and cost management.
Action line C aims to sensitise the research community to best ORD practices and to promote education and training in research data management (RDM) and ORD.
Action line D deals with incentives and rewards for researchers, as well as the legal and ethical aspects of ORD practices and their international compatibility.