The SDSC to support 50 data science and AI projects, following first successful National Calls
- 124 pre-proposals received through National Calls for projects highlight the strong demand for data science and artificial intelligence (AI) in diverse sectors.
- 215 submitting partners include higher educational institutions, research facilities, public administrations and the private sector across Switzerland.
- The next SDSC National Calls are set to launch in May 2025.
Lausanne, Zurich, Villigen. March 12, 2025 – The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) has announced its support for 50 proposals, carefully selected through the review processes of its first National Calls. The new collaborations will begin in 2025 and last for up to two years. Partners will receive in-kind data science and AI expertise from the SDSC.
“The main goal of our National Calls is to foster projects and partnerships that generate significant research, economic and societal benefits across Switzerland,” said Prof. Guillaume Obozinski, Deputy Director and Chief Data Scientist of the SDSC. “We are pleased that our inaugural National Calls attracted diverse submissions in transformational domains like biomedical and environmental sciences, energy, sustainability and digital administration, with collaboration opportunities in research, end-user innovation and Open Research Data (ORD) infrastructure nationwide.” [1]
The selected collaborations are:
- 25 collaborative Research Data Science projects will receive in-kind data science expertise in statistical data science, machine learning, AI, computer vision, and natural language processing (NLP) to develop models, algorithms and analyses tailored to the specific research domain.
- 10 end-user Innovation projects will be provided with in-kind data science and engineering skills to maximize the impact of academic or research innovations in end-user contexts, benefiting public institutions, industrial, and economic stakeholders.
- 7 collaborative ORD Infrastructure projects will benefit from in-kind support in sensitive data management, ensuring FAIR data governance, software engineering, knowledge modeling, semantic technologies, and interoperability through standardized tools, aligned with the Swiss National ORD Strategy.
- 8 collaborative Open Data Renku projects will leverage and extend the SDSC Renku platform to enhance ORD practices of research groups and communities.
Selection criteria included the level of innovation, expected scientific and societal impact, feasibility, sustainability of data resources and data science tools produced, and contribution to the Swiss Open Research Data ecosystem.
Prof. Olivier Verscheure, Executive Director of the SDSC, emphasized: “These results reaffirm our role as a national Research Infrastructure and strengthen our strategic position at the forefront of data science and AI within Switzerland’s dynamic innovation ecosystem.”
Explore all 50 projects including collaborators here.
Join the 2025 National Calls
As a part of its National Research Infrastructure mandate, the SDSC will continue annual calls, providing expertise and services towards the design and implementation of ambitious data science concepts, including research data infrastructures and data science platforms. Its next National Calls for projects are set to launch in May, with more details coming soon. We invite you to explore active and completed SDSC research project work and innovation case studies, offering inspiration for future submissions.
[1] More detailed information about the various 2024 National Calls: here
About the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC)
The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) is a national research infrastructure in data science and artificial intelligence (AI). Its mission—to enable data-driven science and innovation for societal impact—drives its initiatives in research projects, knowledge and technology transfer, and education. With a large multidisciplinary team of professionals in Lausanne, Zurich and Villigen, the SDSC provides expertise and services to various domains, such as health and biomedical sciences, energy and sustainability, climate and environment, and large-scale scientific infrastructures. The SDSC also offers initial and executive education programs through EPFL and ETH Zurich. For more information please visit: www.datascience.ch
For more information, please contact:
Uta Ünal, Head of Communications
uta.uenal@sdsc.ethz.ch
Catherine Hugon, Head of Executive Affairs
catherine.hugon@epfl.ch
