Science and technology in Switzerland play an important role in the Swiss economy as very few natural resources are available in the country. The Swiss National Science Foundation, mandated by the Federal government, is the most important institute promoting scientific research. The raw output of scientific research from Switzerland consistently ranks within the top 20.
Institutions
Universities
The first university, the University of Basel, was founded in 1460 and today the country has twelve universities.
With 57% of its researchers coming from other countries, Switzerland is the country with the world highest proportion of foreign researchers.
Scientific
Astronomy and space program
Switzerland Space Agency, the Swiss Space Office, has been involved in various space technologies and programs. In addition it was one of the 10 founders of the European Space Agency in 1975 and is the seventh largest contributor to the ESA budget. In the private sector, several companies are implicated in the space industry such as RUAG Space or Maxon Motors. Claude Nicollier is a Swiss Astronaut and flew several missions with the United States space program. In the field of astronomy, Michel Mayor discovered in 1995, 51 Pegasi B, the first extrasolar planet orbiting a sun-like star.
Mathematics
is considered to be the preeminent mathematician of the 18th century and one of the greatest of all time. A statement attributed to Pierre-Simon Laplace expresses Euler's influence on mathematics: "Read Euler, read Euler, he is the master of us all." Euler made important discoveries in fields as diverse as calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion of a mathematical function. The Bernoulli family produced many notable scientists.
Physics
was probably one of the greatest physicists of all time. He is known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2 and also contributed in many other areas. Einstein was named "Person of the Century" by Time. More recently, in 1987, Karl Alexander Müller received the Nobel prize for his work on High-temperature superconductivity. Furthermore, the CERN is located in Switzerland near Geneva.
was a Swiss physician who was the first researcher to isolate and characterize Nucleic acid. Today, a research institute in Basel is named after him. Emil Theodor Kocher was known for his work in the physiology, pathology and surgery of the thyroid. The neurologist Walter Rudolf Hess mapped the areas of the brain that were responsible for the control of several vital bodily functions. The biochemist Werner Arber is known for his discovery of restriction endonucleases which are essential for all modern biotechnology. The Swiss born Edmond H. Fischer discovered how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins. Rolf M. Zinkernagel is famous for his work on the immune system.
Psychology
was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration.
