Conducting clinical research across borders?
We promote international collaboration.

Associate member

The SCTO is an independent organisation and is based on a joint initiative of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences.

As of 2017, the SCTO is a research infrastructure of national importance funded by the State Secretariat of Education, Research and Innovation and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Organisation

New and better therapies, thanks to research

The Swiss Clinical Trial Organisation (SCTO) is a national research infrastructure and an academic reference institution for high-quality, patient-oriented clinical research in Switzerland. In 2017, the SCTO was designated a research infrastructure of national importance, and it is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Our primary objective is to catalyse valuable and innovative clinical research in Switzerland in order to make new and better therapies available to society.

Our Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) Network, comprising the CTUs of the five Swiss university hospitals and two cantonal hospitals, is a well-established and nationally coordinated clinical research infrastructure that provides all the services and support needed to conduct high-quality clinical research projects.

Each of our eight SCTO Platforms focuses on a different key area of clinical research. As nationwide centres of excellence with pools of experts who develop tools and guidance resources, our platforms provide practical solutions for researchers involved in academic clinical research.

The SCTO also provides support to national paediatric hubs through our active involvement in the Swiss Research Network of Clinical Pediatric Hubs (SwissPedNet). Additionally, we connect researchers in Switzerland to multicentre clinical studies and infrastructures in Europe through our participation in the European Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN).

For further information about our services and organisation, please read our latest annual report.