Executive Board of the University of Bern
In light of the rapid developments seen in science and society, the University of Bern is taking a close look at how it can also create value through knowledge in future.
By Prof. Dr. Christian Leumann, Rector
Dear readers, I am pleased to again be given the opportunity to report on what went on at our University in 2023.
Unfortunately, the past year was again marked by armed conflict. Not only the war in Ukraine continued unabated. The start of October also saw the start of unrest in the Middle East with the attack on Israel by Hamas and the resulting war that has so far resulted in countless deaths and injuries.
The University experienced at first hand just how deeply entrenched the hatred is at the start of October 2023, when a member of staff voiced completely unacceptable and inhuman opinions on the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. The University of Bern deplores and condemns all forms of violence and has taken the necessary consequences. It is doing everything in its power to safeguard the quality of research and teaching for the benefit of our students and to maintain the credibility of its institutes.
In 2023, we launched the “Fit for Future” program, with which we cast a critical eye on our structures, processes and ways of working, and align them to future requirements. Since our foundation in 1834, we have kept the same working structure of Rector’s Office, faculties and institutes. However, teaching and research have developed rapidly during this time, as has society and the expectations it places on academia to resolve current problems.
The major topics of today – such as sustainability, the loss of biodiversity, health and conflict situations – require new interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that individual faculties may not be able to address on their own. There are an increasing number of cross-cutting issues such as digitalization and researching climate impacts that result in research profiles that cannot be assigned to a single faculty. The question is, how can we deal with this? The next generation of researchers have transdisciplinarity in their veins. This is why it is important for us to carefully scrutinize our structures in order to make sure that we are fit for the future.
This applies to University administration too. How do we empower our employees to work with the latest digitalization possibilities efficiently? How do we ease the burden on our lecturers so they again have more time for their core tasks? What do the workplaces of the future look like, and how can we better deal with our well-documented lack of space without losing our appeal?
As part of a broad-based process in which all departments were involved, we defined twelve fields of action in which we are currently drawing up measures. The University Executive Board is not working on these measures behind closed doors – all stakeholders are involved. This is a process of change that we will have to look at candidly, without any taboos and with open-mindedness as to the results.
“The University of Bern is doing everything in its power to safeguard the quality of research and teaching”
Prof. Dr. Christian Leumann, Rector
In the past year, we have seen huge advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). We have to assume that the further development of AI will change the way we teach and research.
In teaching, it is important for us to introduce students to handling AI and to identify the limits of its usefulness and credibility together with them. AI is thus an integral part of our digitalization strategy, which is constantly being modified and refined.
In order to achieve the cantonal government’s objective of becoming an international hub for the medtech branch by 2030, Insel Gruppe, the University of Bern and the technology innovation center CSEM have been pooling their expertise since last year. In this way, we can make a further contribution to reinforcing the importance of Bern as a medical hub together with our partners.
Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has named the Biosafety Center at the Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Bern as a collaborating center. The Biosafety Center will now support the WHO with consultation, training and the development of guidelines and instructions. It is the world’s only WHO collaborating center in the field of biosafety that is part of a university.
In the spring, we were delighted to see the extension of the CHEOPS space telescope mission until 2029. CHEOPS is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland in the field of exoplanet research, and is coordinated by the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva. The University of Bern is also involved in other space missions, contributing to the development of the neutral ion mass spectrometer (NIM) as part of the ESA space mission Juice, among others.
But we are not only leaders in space research. Top-level research takes place in a wide range of areas – and with great success: Of the 67 projects selected in the tendering process for starting grants awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), eleven are from Bern. These projects cover a broad spectrum of the research carried out at our University, from researching the water cycle and the history of algebra, all the way through to the socioeconomic development of the Mediterranean region in the second pre-Christian millennium.
Underfunding on a cantonal level is becoming increasingly problematic. While our annual budget grows by 1% annually in line with our financial planning, we will have to implement salary measures of 3.3% for the ongoing year, which leads to a structural deficit in basic funding. As a result, our balance sheet is again in the red this year, far more so than in previous years. In order for us to continue to meet our service mandate in full and to achieve the strategic goals of the cantonal government according to the federal guidelines “Engagement 2030”, we are relying on the funding level being adjusted so that we can rectify this structural deficit.
The University of Bern welcomed 4,465 interested students to the Bachelor’s open days in 2023 – a new record! The interest in our institution gives me a real sense of pride about the University and what we do. With this in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt thanks to our lecturers, staff and students, whose commitment on behalf of the University of Bern creates scientific, social and economic value – exactly in line with our motto “Knowledge creates value”.