20 January 2026

2503 Biel, Switzerland

Aarbergstrasse 46

Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne

2nd Swiss Academic Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum

Bridging academia and society to power innovation for Switzerland’s future

Over the past decade, Swiss higher education institutions have initiated a number of measures to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and support students and researchers with commercializing their innovative ideas. 

Despite the rapidly growing ecosystem around academic entrepreneurship and innovation, the exchange among the various players has been largely informal and unstructured.

The Swiss Academic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (SAIEF) will strengthen the exchange and knowledge transfer around academic innovation and entrepreneurship support. SAIEF brings together all those who support students and researchers on their entrepreneurial journey, incl. innovation advisors, program managers and coordinators, entrepreneurship lecturers, and more. 

SAIEF is a collective initiative by a group of dedicated innovation champions from various Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences, and moves forward from the Swiss Forum for University and Student Innovation initiative.

The 1st edition of the Forum took place in January 2025 and brought participants from across Switzerland together to explore strategies to drive academic innovation and entrepreneurship.

Our Mission

The Swiss Academic Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (SAIEF) is the national platform that connects innovation and entrepreneurship practitioners across academic institutions, industry, and the wider Swiss ecosystem. 

By bridging education, research, and industry, SAIEF ensures that Switzerland remains a leading hub for academic-driven innovation and entrepreneurship, where talents turn ideas into impactful solutions that benefit both the economy and society.

Our Vision

To further enable Switzerland to be the global benchmark for academic-driven innovation, where education, research, and entrepreneurship seamlessly converge to create transformative societal and economic value.

Organizing Committee 2026

Phillip Bachmann

University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons (FHGR)

Samuel Boehni

Samuel Boehni

Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST)

Philipp Bubenzer

Philipp Bubenzer

School of Management Fribourg

Anita Buchli

Anita Buchli

ZHAW

Maria Friedrich

Maria Friedrich

ETH Zurich

Maria Luisa Fuchs

Maria Luisa Fuchs

University St. Gallen

Isabel Casado

Isabel Casado

EPFL

Eva Maria Hakanson

Eva Maria Håkanson

University of Zurich

Eliav Haskal

Eliav Haskal

University of Fribourg, NCCR Bio-Inspired Materials

Anne Headon

Anne Headon

University of Lausanne

Christian Hohmann

Christian Hohmann

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU)

Sebastien Hug

University of Bern

Julian Levallois

Julien Levallois

University of Geneva

Samuele Morales

Samuele Morales

University of Lugano

Lorenz Probst

Lorenz Probst

Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH)

Christian Elias Schneider

Christian E. Schneider

University of Basel

Organizer Contact