Published on 12 March 2025

Research institutions

In implementing research partnerships, the SDC works with universities, the Swiss federal institutes of technology and universities of applied sciences, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Swiss research institutions work with local institutions. — © SNFS

To achieve its strategic objectives, the SDC supports scientific research programmes in the field of international cooperation. Through these programmes, SDC-funded research provides new knowledge and innovative solutions aimed at promoting sustainable development, reducing poverty and global risks, and implementing the 2030 Agenda. Scaling up innovative solutions increases the impact of international cooperation, with some having the potential to influence far beyond traditional approaches.

Solution-oriented research for sustainable development

The «Solution-Oriented Research for Development» (SOR4D) research programme, co-funded by the SDC and the SNSF, aims to promote research with greater involvement of development actors, in order to respond more directly to their needs and strengthen their capacities. A total of 15 transnational research projects have been selected on the basis of their impact and scaling potential, and are currently under way. SOR4D's predecessor, the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d), co-funded by the SDC and the SNSF from 2012 to 2023, developed innovative approaches and technological tools.

TRANSFORM

In 2020, the SDC launched its own TRANSFORM research programme aimed at co-financing consortiums made up of Swiss and Global South research institutes to carry out research projects with a transformative effect on society, in order to speed up the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The TRANSFORM programme consists of four inter- and trans-disciplinary applied research projects: ComBaCaL, hands4health, AgriPath and Innovative Finance for Education to Leave no-one behind.

DYNAMIC

In addition, the SDC is supporting the DYNAMIC project to combat antibiotic resistance in children under the age of 14 in Tanzania and Rwanda, in collaboration with UniSanté Lausanne and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).

Research partnerships

Since 2019, the SDC has also been working with the Swiss federal institutes of technology through research-for-development partnerships, in particular ETH4D with ETH Zurich, and Tech4Dev with EPFL.