The Guild

The University of Bern (UniBE) is a proud member of The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild), which comprises 21 of Europe’s most distinguished research-intensive universities in 16 countries. This association is dedicated to enhancing the voice of member institutions, their researchers and students on the European Stage.

By actively participating in The Guild, UniBE has added its voice to those of its peers to have a unique collective influence on European research policy. Currently, our researchers are active in no less than 12 working groups within The Guild's structure, with topics ranging from diversity to open science, from health to space.

"Joining The Guild was part of UniBE’s internationalization strategy to enhance our standing as a player on the global stage. Membership facilitates our University's links to institutions with similar interests and support our quest to hit new international heights," says Christian Leumann, UniBE’s rector.

"We are in a special situation as a Swiss university because Switzerland is not directly affiliated in full to the European research-funding landscape," adds Leumann. 

From The Guild's perspective, UniBE brings a number of strengths to the table.

"UniBE is an extremely strong university, distinguished by research excellence across all fields and with world-leading expertise in a number of areas," says Jan Palmowski, The Guild's secretary general.

"UniBE has been influential in shaping The Guild’s key policy papers on Horizon Europe and on other topics, such as open science, and has been very influential in communicating its concerns as a Swiss university," he underlines.