Benefits of basic research
Research with open-ended results is of vital importance to our society. The SNSF is launching a campaign to promote basic research featuring various Instagram posts and a series of animated videos on Youtube.
The core mission of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is to select and fund the best basic research projects. Its main goal: gaining new insights into humans and their environment - the basis for both technical and social innovation. Ultimately, basic research safeguards and sustains a prosperous society.
"Basic research is an investment in the future. Its benefits often only become visible years or even decades later," says Matthias Egger, President of the National Research Council of the SNSF. "With the social media campaign our aim is to show you why basic research is worth investing in."
In seven short video interviews, researchers from Switzerland tell us what makes basic research so important for them personally. A series of Instagram posts and animated YouTube videos highlight how the results of basic research can lead to useful applications. The explainer videos are already available to journalists:
Video: What’s intelligent about artificial intelligence?
Thursday, 13 June 2019
Video: Why kids skip school (& what to do about it)
Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Thursday, 20 June 2019
The SNSF principally funds basic research
The SNSF supports scientific research in all academic disciplines. This includes use-inspired research and programmes with clear objectives; but the majority of SNSF projects consist in open-ended basic research projects initiated by the researchers themselves. A rough estimate puts the share of basic research projects at approximately 80 per cent. However, the numbers vary depending on how one defines the term.