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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.

Education and careers

Becoming an expert and staying up to date

Clinical research offers diverse work opportunities for a broad range of professions. Clinical research professionals can, for example, become study nurses or investigators.

Yet embarking on a career in clinical research can be challenging, especially for young physicians. The new Clinical Research Careers website supports young physicians in Switzerland throughout their clinical research career with a variety of resources. The website contains searchable databases of training opportunities, career support, and funding opportunities as well as a catalogue of competencies. It also illustrates possible career paths by highlighting success stories of inspiring clinical researchers.

On the Clinical Research Careers website you will also find an overview of training and further education courses offered by our CTU Network that lead to professional qualifications or keep research professionals up to date. Training opportunities include all courses on good clinical practice (GCP) certified by swissethics, postgraduate training opportunities, and in-depth seminars. The website is a joint project of our Education Platform, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), and the association for university medicine in Switzerland (unimedsuisse).

The SCTO also organises various events for clinical research professionals, such as the SCTO Forum or the SCTO Symposium.

Furthermore, the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation EUPATI provides useful training material as well as an online resource library for patients and the public. The SCTO coordinates contact with EUPATI.

Not-for-profit organisations can publish their job vacancies on the SCTO's online job portal in order to find suitable clinical research professionals.

Further information about the requirements for courses on research ethics and GCP can be found on swissethics.ch.