Executive Board
The University of Bern enjoys an excellent reputation both in Switzerland and internationally and has dedicated employees. Its greatest challenge is proving to be the situation concerning the University’s infrastructure, which needs to be expanded and modernized for the University to be able to maintain its top-ranking status.
By Markus Brönnimann, Administrative Director
First of all, I’d like to take an opportunity to express my gratitude to all office heads as well as the staff of the Administrative Director’s Office, who were able to keep things running smoothly for a year while the position of Administrative Director remained vacant. Together and under the leadership of Bernhard Steinmann, they successfully managed to cope with this highly unusual situation.
The team was complete once more when I took up my new post as Administrative Director of the University of Bern in June. As a newcomer, my first impression of my staff was this: They are extremely cost conscious and economical. They are the guardians of many different rules and requirements. Their approach to this task is very solution- and serviceoriented, however. Last but not least, I was struck by their respectful conduct and enormous sense of loyalty toward the university as an institution. Having the chance to work in an environment such as this is a pleasure.
Attractive, easy-to-operate infrastructures are crucial for an educational institution. While the “Murtenstrasse 24 / Insel Nord” project represents a major step in that direction, it will still be more than a year before we’re able to move in. We’ll still have to wait a while for the other major construction projects (construction sites 03 and 07 at the Inselspital, Muesmatt and the Small Animal Clinic), as well. To tide us over, the University will need temporary solutions that are available on short notice. On this note, one big highlight is undoubtedly our use of the new UniAlhambra lecture hall. The overall building situation remains tense, however, and we need to be very careful on this point in order to keep our competitive edge.
Digitalization is currently having an enormous impact on knowledge organizations, in particular. In response to this, the University Executive Board opted to prepare a comprehensive digitalization strategy that includes specific measures. The Administrative Director’s Office’s role in this is mainly to ensure that the right infrastructures are made available and to safeguard the University’s ability to implement the strategy.
“Our researchers were extraordinarily successful in their efforts to attract research grants.”
Markus Brönnimann, Administrative Director
The University’s total revenue rose by 3.8 percent to CHF 917.5 million. The year-end result attributable to basic funding amounts to CHF 15.2 million.
The University of Bern enjoys an excellent reputation in the region, as can be seen in the stable amount of basic funding (CHF 322 million, + 1.7%) provided by the canton, a reliable partner of the University. Yet another slight increase in our student body shows that the University is held in very high esteem by students as well.
Finally, the University of Bern also enjoys an outstanding reputation both internationally and within the scientific community. Our researchers were extraordinarily successful in their efforts to attract research grants (CHF 205 million, + 7.1%), which is enough to finance approximately 2,700 additional University jobs that are not funded by the canton. The public sector is, however, responsible for providing them with the infrastructure they need.
The University’s stable financial situation puts it in a position to implement its strategic projects over the course of the next few years, with the main projects being “Medicine +100”, “Complete Pharmacy Course”, “Center for Precision Medicine” and the digitalization strategy I mentioned above.