Welcome to the Hasler Foundation

The purpose of the Hasler Foundation is to promote information and communications technology (ICT) for the well-being and benefit of Switzerland as an intellectual and industrial centre. The Foundation aims to play an active role in ensuring that Switzerland continues to take a leading position in science and technology in the future.

The Foundation provides its support by financing or co-financing selected educational, research and innovation projects and undertakings in the field of ICT.

The Foundation is politically and religiously neutral and free of any commercial interests. Although it is a non-profit-making organisation, it is not a charity, in that its support is always results-based, in keeping with the purpose of the Foundation.

On our website, you can find out what and whom the Hasler Foundation supports, and how to make an application.

There is also a brief introduction to the foundation itself.

Important note
The Hasler Foundation uses special projects to support strategically important individual projects (amount of more than CHF 50k). Application for these special grants must be discussed with the managing director before they are submitted in order to clarify any questions. The applications – as far as research is concerned – are evaluated according to excellence criteria (similar to SNF) by several international reviewers.
Within the framework of these special projects, the Hasler Foundation would support research projects of teacher training colleges as well as researchers in educational sciences at universities, which deal with computer science didactics and specifically with didactic impact research. Joint projects of PHs and universities, which also serve the qualification in the 3rd cycle, are very welcome.

By submitting an application, you accept our privacy policy, which can be found on our website.

News

30.04.2025
Our Managing Director Sinja Christiani has been interviewed by IngCH on the relevance of IT education for our society (in German): IngFlash April 2025

17.03.2025
Our funding program Hasler Mercator Digitalization & Democracy is entering the next phase and we are impressed by the great response. Numerous applications were received and the application window is now closed. All applications received to date are now being reviewed, no confirmations of receipt will be sent out.

06.02.2025
New job opening: we are looking to strengthen our office – find all details here.

14.01.2025
New funding program Hasler Mercator Digitalization & Democracy launched, endowed with CHF 4M, jointly funded by the Hasler Stiftung and the Stiftung Mercator Schweiz. Project drafts can be submitted until March 16, 2025.

09.01.2025
As of January, Barbara Eitler joined our management office team. With immediate effect, she is taking over the duties of Luca Kaiser, who is leaving us at the end of January. From February, she will also take over further operational activities.

23.04.2024
The Hasler Foundation publishes its Annual Report 2023

26.03.2024
From 27.03.2024, the Hasler Foundation will only accept applications via this website. Submission by e-mail is no longer permitted.

07.03.2024
The Hasler Foundation will have a new Managing Director starting in August 2024. You can find more details here.

19.12.2023
The Hasler Foundation turns 75 in 2023. To celebrate this event, it has published a short story of these 75 years.

02.07.2023
After about 40 years, the Federal Council has decided on 28.06.2023 in the context of the total revision of the Matura Recognition Ordinance (MAV) to anchor computer science as a basic subject in the Gymnasium.
Professors Walter Gander and Urs Hochstrasser have described this interesting history in a very informative article.

17.04.2023
The Hasler Foundation publishes its annual report 2022.

06.02.2023
The Hasler Foundation has again supported a dossier in the magazine Schweizer Monat. The topic is Digital Disinformation.

19.05.2022
The Hasler Foundation publishes its annual report 2021.

11.11.2021
The foundation board decides to stop the instrument of funding early phase startups. Those that have received funding will continue to be supported.

20.05.2021
The Hasler Foundation publishes its annual report 2020.

20.05.2021
At its spring meeting, the foundation board elected two new members to the foundation board: Ms. Florence Schnydrig and Dr. Dorothea Wiesmann.

05.05.2021
The Ombudsman of the Canton of ZH publishes a guest article by the Managing Director of the Hasler Foundation on the topic of “Die kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren für die erfolgreiche Digitalisierung” in his activity report for 2020.

21.12.2020
The Hasler Foundation is proud about the publication of the new book: Versuch, Erfolg, Irrtum. Telekomgeschichte von Hasler zu Ascom. To accompany the publication a film was also produced.

24.11.2020
The Hasler Foundation launches a new three year research program on Responsible AI

14.05.2020
The Hasler Foundation funded a report (in German) on professions in informatics

14.05.2020
The Hasler Foundation publishes its Annual report 2019

12.05.2020
The Corona Special Programme of the Hasler Foundation ended on 08.05.2020. A summary in German can be found here.

03.07.2019
The on-line newsportal inside-it.ch reports (in German) about the results of the Professorship for Informatics Education at the Teachers College of the FHNW

02.07.2019
The Hasler Stiftung makes a press release about the Professorship for Informatics Education at the Teachers College of the FHNW that it had funded 2014-2018

08.02.2019
The Hasler Foundation funds a professorship at the pedagogical university of the canton Vaud.

06.02.2019
Press release of PH SZ, PH LU and Hochschule LU on the creation of an endowed professorship of the Hasler Foundation for the three universities

05.02.2019
The Hasler Foundation has digitized its historical annual reports since 1950 and makes them available on its German website. Please note that the reports are each several MB in size.

11.09.2018
The report of the expert group of the federal council on the future of data processing and data security has been published. It contains important arguments why Computational Thinking is one of the key competences to deal with the digital revolution. See pages 158 and following. Report is in German only.

23.08.2018
The Hasler Foundation now has an official twitter account @HaslerStiftung.  There, in the future, you will learn here about news of the foundation. So become a follower.