SCNAT and its network are committed to a sustainable science and society. They support policy-making, administration and business with expert knowledge and actively participate in public discourse. They strengthen the exchange across scientific disciplines and promote early career academics.

Image: Sebastian, stock.adobe.com

Roadmaps for research infrastructures

Seven thematic roadmaps for research infrastructures were published in 2021-2022 on a mandate by the Confederation. SCNAT and the scientific communities are now working on their update by the end of 2024 to serve as basis for the process leading to the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2027 for the ERI Dispatch 2029–2032.

Roadmaps SCNAT
Roadmaps SCNAT

The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) prepares every four years the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures. This provides a basis for decision-making on the investment of federal funds in research facilities of national interest. The Roadmap is integrated into the ERI Dispatch, which the Federal Council then submits to Parliament for approval.

On a new mandate by SERI, SCNAT is currently updating the seven thematic roadmaps in the following scientific fields:

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Geosciences
  • Particle physics
  • Astronomy
  • Photon Science
  • Neutron Science

From Round Tables to Roadmaps

The biologists, chemists, and geoscientists update their roadmaps in a bottom-up process coordinated by SCNAT via disciplinary round tables inspired by the round table that the Platform Mathematics, Astronomy and Physics (MAP) of SCNAT established earlier. The four roadmaps in physics are elaborated more independently by specialised societies or commissions.

Schematic representation of the process of the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures with special emphasis on the preparatory phase assigned to SCNAT.
Schematic representation of the process of the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures with special emphasis on the preparatory phase assigned to SCNAT.

The thematic roadmaps offer a vision for the future of the scientific disciplines in Switzerland. They identify research infrastructures that will be of importance in the coming years in order to achieve the goals of Swiss researchers. They serve the identification, selection and evaluation of the national and international infrastructures to be included in the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2027 in view of the ERI Dispatch 2029–2032.

Roadmaps