Centers and Interfaculty Units
The faculties and the Executive Board of the University of Bern are developing centers and interfaculty units on the foundations of a comprehensive university. These are understood to include interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary scientific networks, in which individual faculties and their researchers coordinate their work under joint strategic objectives.
Strategic Centers
Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics (AEC)
The Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics was founded in 2011 to foster high-level research and teaching in fundamental physics at the University of Bern. Its focus is on experimental and theoretical particle physics but also includes interdisciplinary activities, like medical applications. It also strongly engages in outreach activities. The center binds together the Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Laboratory for High Energy Physics and collaborates with other members of the science and medicine faculties. With over 120 members, the AEC is one of the largest university groups in particle physics in Switzerland and a strong international player in science and education.
ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research
The ARTORG Center creates innovative healthcare technology by combining biomedical engineering and medicine expertise. Multidisciplinary research groups develop cost-effective solutions to challenges in preventive medicine, diagnostics, therapy, chronic disease management, rehabilitation, and telemedicine. Through ingenuity, diversity, and teamwork at the heart of the Faculty of Medicine, ARTORG puts its expertise in the simulation of physiological processes, biomechanics, and smart technologies at the service of healthcare professionals, and via its own startup spin-offs and industry partnerships contributes directly to improved patient care.
Bern Center for Precision Medicine (BCPM)
The Bern Center for Precision Medicine (BCPM) was established in 2019 through the initiative and support of the canton, the university, and the university hospital of Bern (Inselspital). The BCPM is active in research, networking, and education. The Center is dedicated to advancing precision medicine approaches by fostering the research and development of medical treatments and therapy methods. It provides an interdisciplinary platform for researchers and clinicians from different departments and faculties. The Center offers training and education to the next generation of care takers and scientists. It realizes the long-term benefits of precision health care.
Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED)
The Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED) is an interfaculty center for research, teaching and consulting in regional economic development. Researchers from the research units Economics, Entrepreneurship, Geography and Tourism deal with research questions regarding the following research areas: (1) Location dynamics and regional economic policy, (2) Tourism and (3) Land use policy and real estate. The CRED is a scientific partner for regional, cantonal, national and international public and private institutions.
Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)
The mission of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) is to foster dialogue and interactions between the various scientific disciplines interested in the formation, detection and characterization of other worlds within and beyond the Solar System, our search for life elsewhere in the Universe, and its implications for disciplines outside of the sciences. Our members, affiliates and collaborators include astronomers, astrophysicists and astrochemists, atmospheric, climate and planetary scientists, geologists and geophysicists, biochemists and philosophers. We are active in implementing gender, origin, religion, etc. equality measures and public outreach.
Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
CDE is the centre of excellence for sustainable development. In the spirit of engaged and transformative science, we conduct research and teaching on behalf of a more sustainable world. Our aim is to chart pathways to sustainable development and to initiate transformations that are innovative, concrete, anchored in specific contexts, and supported by local actors – in Switzerland and internationally. We scrutinize the interplay of natural resources, land systems, and ecosystems, their social and political context, and the living conditions and human well-being. At the University of Bern, we are tasked with mainstreaming sustainability throughout the university’s research and teaching.
Center for Public Management (KPM)
The KPM Center for Public Management at the University of Bern was founded in 2002. It is a research center in the field of public management known throughout Switzerland and internationally. As an interfaculty unit of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law, it is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation between the disciplines of law, economics and political science. Core products of the center are basic research in the field of management of public institutions and tasks, the master's program Public Management & Policy (PMP) as well as the postgraduate programs Executive Master of Public Administration (Executive MPA) and the CAS course "Management and Policy of Public Institutions" (CeMaP). In addition, services are provided to the public sector in the form of analyses, expert opinions and evaluations.
Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID)
The Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID) is a strategic center of the University of Bern, founded in 2021 through a generous donation by the Stiftung Vinetum. The MCID is dedicated to the study and mitigation of healthcare, societal, ethical, and economic risks from infectious diseases and is committed to research, teaching and public outreach. It brings together high impact academic researchers at the University of Bern, Inselspital and associated institutes. The MCID is organized in seven, interconnected scientific discipline clusters, at the center lying three founding Core Activities: the BEready Cohort, the BioPreparedness BioBank and the Ethics and Policy Lab.
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) is a leading institution for climate research and brings together researchers from fourteen institutes and four faculties. The OCCR carries out interdisciplinary research that is at the forefront of climate science. The Oeschger Centre was founded in 2007 and is named after Hans Oeschger (1927-1998), a pioneer of modern climate research who worked at the University of Bern. The OCCR counts approximately 300 members. In their research, they focus on the impact of climate change on humans and ecosystems and think deeply about the human dimensions of these unprecedented changes.
World Trade Institute (WTI)
The World Trade Institute (WTI) is a leading interdisciplinary academic institution dedicated to graduate-level studies, research and outreach activities on international trade regulation and investment. As a centre of excellence at the University of Bern, we explore the interconnections between the fields of law, economics and political science. We recruit students, researchers, faculty and employees from around the world, creating a diverse culture and stimulating environment. With an established global network of partners, the WTI is at the forefront of interdisciplinary research in international trade regulation and investment. We explore, collect data and provide policy recommendations around how trade relates to topics such as migration, environment / climate change, investment, agriculture / food security, energy, commodities and development.
Centers with specialized roles
Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (ICFG)
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies (ICFG) is engaged in research, teaching and knowledge dialogue and focus on gender issues in terms of content, methodology and theory. More than 30 people from different disciplines currently work at the IZFG. The centre was founded in 2001. Two professors who are based at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities, respectively, head the interfaculty centre. On the website, you can know more about further education opportunities at the ICFG, our current and completed research projects and our knowledge transfer services.
Walter Benjamin Kolleg (WBKolleg)
The Walter Benjamin Kolleg integrates the inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching at the Faculty of Humanities. It is engaged in the promotion of young scholars, enhances academic cooperation through (inter)national collaborations, and offers space for the development of innovative fields of research. The "Friedrich Dürrenmatt Guest Professorship for World Literature" and the "Young Scholars" award have a strong public impact. The Kolleg is named after the cultural philosopher and writer Walter Benjamin, who received his doctorate in Bern in 1919 and whose creative thinking transcends the boundaries between established academic disciplines.