NRP 75 “Big Data”

The National Research Programme “Big Data” (NRP 75)  was designed in 2014/2015 . It complements national strategic programmes supporting digitisation, such as the Swiss digital strategy of the Federal Council , the cross-industry initiative DigitalSwitzerland, the Swiss Digital Initiative as well as dedicated research initiatives such as Digital Lives.

NRP75 was allocated CHF 25 million that enabled the funding of a portfolio of research projects that satisfied stringent criteria of scientific excellence. They ran between 2017 and 2021 and belonged to three categories:

• fundamental innovations in the computing infrastructures necessary for big data applications,
• use-inspired research projects developing concrete, real-world applications,
• research on the interplay between big data and society, including legal, ethical and societal aspects.

Four goals were set in the call for proposals of NRP 75:

• achieving advances in computing and information technology,
• addressing societal, economic, regulatory (both local and global), and educational challenges,
• enabling of applications,
• strengthening of research capacities.

The programme brought scientific advances that contribute to more efficient big data infrastructures, developed concrete applications in several domains, provided insights into ways to address societal aspects, and strengthened the big data research and innovation capacities in Switzerland.

National Research Programmes

NRPs enable thematic research consortia to address topics of importance to Switzerland. They are proposed from the bottom up by administration units, research institutes or individuals to the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation. They are approved by the Federal Council and implemented by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Key facts

Timeline

2014                Proposal of a National Research Programme (NRP) on big data

2015                Mandate by the Federal Council to the Swiss National Science Foundation to conduct NRP 75

2015                Call for research projects and selection

2017–2021      Research work

2022                Synthesis work and dissemination of the results

2023                Publication of the Programme Résumé of NRP 75

Numbers

Budget            CHF 25 million

Projects           34 research projects and 3 cross cutting activities

Organisation

NRP 75 Steering Committee

• Professor Christian S. Jensen, Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University (President)
• Professor Sihem Amer-Yahia, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Informatique de Grenoble LIG, Université Grenoble Alpes UGA (since 12.07.2016)
• Professor Sabrina de Capitani di Vimercati, Computer Science Department, University of Milan
• Professor Friedrich Eisenbrand, Institute of Mathematics, EPFL (since 01.01.2021)
• Professor Joerg Huelsken, Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research ISREC, EPFL
• Professor em. Erkki Oja, Department of Computer Science, Aalto University
• Professor Reinhard Riedl, Digital Technology Management Institute, Bern University of Applied Sciences
• Professor Caroline Sporleder, Institute for Digital Humanities, Georg-August-University of Göttingen (until 31.12.2019)
• Professor Rolf H. Weber, Faculty of Law, University of Zurich

Delegate of the Division Programme of the National Research Council for NRP 75

• Professor Bert Müller, Biomaterials Science Center, University of Basel (since 01.01.2021)
• Professor Friedrich Eisenbrand, Institute of Mathematics, EPFL (until 31.12.2020)

Representative of the Confederation in NRP 75

• Dr Uwe Heck, Federal Chancellery, Digital Transformation and ICT Steering Division (since 01.01.2019)
• Willy Müller, Federal IT Steering Unit (until 31.12.2018)

NRP 75 Programme Manager

• Boris Buzek, Swiss National Science Foundation, Berne (since 01.11.2022)
• Dr Stefan Husi, Swiss National Science Foundation, Berne (from 1.11.2020 to 31.10.2022)
• Dr Christian Mottas, Swiss National Science Foundation, Berne (until 31.10.2020)

Head of Knowledge and Technology Transfer

• Beatrice Huber, Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), Zurich (since 01.12.2018)
• Dr Béatrice Miller, Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), Zurich (until 30.11.2018)