Leading House Africa

Swiss TPH, supported by the University of Basel, is the Leading House for bilateral research collaboration with partner institutions in Africa. Mandated by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) in 2017, the Leading House Basel promotes and fosters scientific cooperation with key institutions in Africa for the funding period 2021-2024. In 2024, Swiss TPH, supported by the University of Basel's Innovation Garage and the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) at University of Bern, was confirmed to continue as the Leading House Africa from 2025-2028.

The funding instruments within the programme are open to researchers of all Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences and public research institutes. Details on upcoming activities and the schedule for research and innovation proposal calls will be available here soon.

• To improve mutual knowledge and make Switzerland better known as a prime location for education, research and innovation (ERI), by improving circulation of talents and direct cooperation between institutions.
• To support  efforts by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), upon request, to strengthen its collaboration with similar partner agencies, particularly the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), the “Fonds pour la Science, la Technologie et l'Innovation” (FONSTI) in Côte d’Ivoire and the Technology and Innovation Agency (TIA) in South Africa among others.
• To increase collaboration in the field of innovation through new or existing instruments, as a way to develop the capacities of Swiss and African ERI stakeholders and support entrepreneurship and develop instruments aiming at innovation and explore options with industry partners.