Switzerland's universities and biotech and pharma prowess make it an attractive destination for researcher talent.
Boasting the world's most competitive economy — on the basis of factors such as business climate, institutions, infrastructure, higher education and innovation, according to the non-profit World Economic Forum — Switzerland also hosts some of Europe's finest universities, such as the ETH Zurich and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne. It also maintains a thriving pharmaceutical and biotech industry, along with impressive mountain scenery, fine watches and high-quality chocolate. Switzerland hosts the headquarters of several major drug-makers. The Basel area alone is home to the bases of Novartis, Roche and Actelion, and Geneva hosts headquarters for the pharmaceutical company Merck Serono.
Biotech and pharma
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Some 245 pharmaceutical companies operate in Switzerland, employing 35,400 people, including researchers.
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Revenues from Swiss biotech companies rose from 8.09 billion Swiss francs (US$8.37 billion) in 2007 to 9.34 billion Swiss francs in 2009, an increase of 15.4%.
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The number of biotechs in Switzerland rose from 119 in 2001 to 162 in 2009. Biotech employees totalled 19,071 in 2009. Between 20% and 30% of those are researchers.
Research and development (R&D) expenditures
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Around 3% of Switzerland's gross domestic product goes to R&D. Private industry accounts for 73% of that amount.
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The Swiss government, industry and academia collectively spent 16.3 billion Swiss francs on R&D in 2008, up 24% since 2004.
International researchers
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More than 50% of professors hired between 2005 and 2008 in Switzerland's 12 research universities are from outside Switzerland.
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45.7% of professors and 50.3% of assistants and scientific personnel are non-Swiss.
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Up to 56% of professors are predicted to be non-Swiss by 2018.
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Erich Nigg, director of the Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Rolf-Dieter Heuer, director-general, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
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Sanderson, K. Switzerland. Nature 468, 126 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7320-126a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7320-126a