Major Swiss research university strong in climate/ice core science, neuroscience, health research, and particle physics with 1,300+ consortium partners globally.
The University of Bern is a major Swiss research university with deep expertise in climate science, neuroscience, and life sciences. They are particularly strong in paleoclimate reconstruction using ice core analysis, computational neuroscience and brain simulation, and health research spanning from infectious disease to cancer biology. As a non-EU Swiss institution, they bring independent funding capacity and access to Swiss research infrastructure, while actively engaging in European collaborative research across an exceptionally wide range of disciplines. Their work frequently bridges fundamental science with applied domains like agricultural soil quality, public health, and space exploration.
Projects like deepSLice (ice core greenhouse gas records, EUR 2.3M ERC), EUSTACE (surface temperature), and multiple climate sensitivity and Paris Agreement-related projects demonstrate sustained leadership in understanding past and present climate.
Core participant in the Human Brain Project (HBP SGA1), with projects spanning neuroinformatics, neuromorphic computing, neurorobotics, and neurodegeneration research.
Broad health portfolio including OPERAM (multimorbid elderly care), PERFORM (febrile illness biomarkers), EHVA (HIV vaccine development), CARBALIVE (liver cirrhosis), and heart regeneration studies.
Projects like iSQAPER (soil quality assessment across Europe and China), SOILCARE (sustainable crop production), and SAPHIR (animal health immune response) show consistent agricultural engagement.
Multiple projects on neutrino oscillations, flavour physics, charged lepton flavour violation, liquid argon time projection chambers, and crystal calorimeters indicate a strong experimental physics group.
Machine learning appears 4 times in recent-period keywords and is absent from early work, with projects like BIGCHEM (Big Data in Chemistry) and increasing ML application across climate and health domains.
In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), Bern's portfolio centered on computational neuroscience through the Human Brain Project — brain simulation, neuroinformatics, neuromorphic computing — alongside foundational work in soil science and agricultural systems. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted markedly toward climate science (paleoclimate, ice cores, climate sensitivity, Paris Agreement), machine learning applications, and resilience research, with COVID-related work also appearing. The neuroscience thread continued but was increasingly complemented by a growing climate and sustainability agenda.
Bern is consolidating around climate science, paleoclimate data analysis, and machine learning — expect future projects to combine computational methods with environmental and climate research.
Bern operates as both a project leader and an active consortium member, coordinating 68 of 173 projects (39%) — a high coordination rate for a university, indicating strong project management capacity and willingness to take on administrative leadership. With 1,322 unique consortium partners across 74 countries, they function as a major network hub rather than a closed group. Their heavy use of MSCA and ERC schemes (individual fellowships and grants) alongside large RIA consortia shows they attract top individual researchers while also thriving in large collaborative settings.
With 1,322 unique consortium partners spanning 74 countries, Bern maintains one of the most extensive collaboration networks among Swiss universities in H2020. Their reach extends well beyond Europe into global partnerships, reflecting Switzerland's associated country status and the university's international orientation.
As a Swiss institution, Bern brings independent national funding streams and access to world-class Swiss infrastructure (notably CERN proximity for physics, Alpine research stations for climate) that complement EU project budgets. Their rare combination of deep expertise in both paleoclimate ice core science and computational neuroscience makes them uniquely positioned for interdisciplinary projects that others cannot staff internally. Their 39% coordination rate and EUR 94M in EC funding demonstrate that despite Switzerland's complex association status with Horizon programs, Bern is a proven, reliable lead partner.
