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Leading center of knowledge and innovation
Since the 19th century, Switzerland has been a
recognized stronghold of inventors, innovators, engineers,
industrialists and entrepreneurs. To this day, it is a global
leader in the number of patented inventions per capita. It has
one of the highest state expenditures on research and
development (R&D) and the best intellectual property protection.
The high standards at Swiss research institutes and universities
are an incentive for many foreign scientists and international
research VIPs to work in the Greater Zurich Area.
Among the Top 3 worldwide
According to the latest issue of the IMD World
Competitiveness Yearbook and World Economic Forum's Global
Competitiveness Report, Switzerland is a front-runner in
international research and innovation. It is ranked among the
Top 3 by the following criteria:
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Quality of Scientific Research Institutions (Rank 1, WEF 2009) |
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Support of Scientific Research by Legislation (Rank
3, IMD 2009) |
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Basic Research (Rank 1, IMD 2009) |
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Company Spending on R&D (Rank 1, WEF 2009) |
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Nobel Prizes per Capita (Rank
1, IMD 2009) |
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Knowledge Transfer (Rank 1, IMD 2009) |
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Intellectual Property
Protection (Rank
4, WEF 2009) |
International reputation for leading-edge
research and development
The Greater Zurich Area’s hubs of science and
research are the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Apart
from these, there are a number of other well-known institutes
that make Switzerland an internationally renowned center of
science and development.
Innovation, research and development at the highest level
require international exchange among top professionals. At the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, where Albert
Einstein himself studied and taught, foreign researchers and
lecturers are commonplace; more than half of all its professors
hail from outside Switzerland.
 Research
Institutes in the Greater Zurich Area
Highest Nobel prize per capita ratio
worldwide
No fewer than 27 Nobel laureates such as the most
famous Swiss Nobel laureate Albert Einstein are directly
associated with the knowledge and research hub of the Greater
Zurich Area. In the past 20 years, Swiss Nobel Prize winners have
included physicists Heinrich Rohrer (1986), Georg Bednoz and
Alexander Müller (1987), chemists Richard Ernst (1991) and Kurt
Wüthrich (2002), and the medical doctor Rolf Zinkernagel (1996).
Broad-based technology transfer
The Greater Zurich Area is home to various
technology transfer agencies invested in establishing academic
innovation in the marketplace and take it to commercial success.
Their job is to facilitate knowledge sharing, science-to-market,
and networking between universities, R&D institutes, spin-offs,
start-ups, and investors and private companies.
OPET
– Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology
CTI
– The Innovation Promotion Agency
ETH
transfer – Technology Transfer Agency of ETH Zürich
Unitectra
– Technology Transfer Agency of University Bern and Zürich
TECHNOPARK-Allianz
(Aargau, Luzern, Winterthur and Zürich)
TEK
– Technology Transfer Agency ETH - SME
Technology
Transfer Paul Scherrer Institute
Business
Incubator in Linth/GL
Business
Incubator in Steinen/SZ
TECTEM
– Technology Transfer Agency of University St. Gallen
TFZ
– Technology Forum Zug
ITZ
– Innovation Transfer Central Switzerland
MCCS
- Micro Center Central Switzerland
Safe haven for intellectual property
Intellectual property protection is a top
priority in Switzerland; a comprehensive system of patent,
brand, design trademarks and copyrights at the Federal
Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) ensures foremost protection
for the products of innovation and creativity.
Switzerland is also a signatory to the WIPO (World Intellectual
Property Organization) convention, and thus protects
intellectual property worldwide. The public may access
information about registered Swiss trademarks centrally via the
IGE’s electronic copyrights registry. Prior to registering Swiss
trademarks the Trademarks and Trade Registry also offers help
with researching whether identical or near-identical trademarks
may prevent the planned registration.
IGE
– Federal Institute of Intellectual Property
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