REHES: Research on Higher Education and Science in Switzerland

Background

REHES originates from the project "Research on Higher Education and Science in Switzerland" of the Competence Center for Higher Education and Science Research CHESS of the University of Zurich. This project came to the conclusion that research on Swiss higher education and science is, on the one hand, weakly institutionalized and, on the other hand, that the latter is currently confronted with increased and partly contradictory environmental expectations. These two aspects make an increased self-observation capacity of the higher education sector desirable from a scientific and higher education policy perspective. In the final report of the project, CHESS proposed to promote a bottom up organization of Swiss researchers (project report (PDF, 2 MB) in German).

Establishment of the REHES network

The CHESS proposal was well received and led to the establishment of the network "Research on Higher Education and Science" (REHES). This network includes researchers from several Swiss universities from different types of higher education institutions. In addition to several workshops, REHES members developed a position paper (PDF, 253 KB) in which thematic priorities and forms of institutionalization for research on higher education and science in Switzerland were elaborated. Currently, REHES is developing a working paper publication format that will make relevant research visible and provide an opportunity for authors to provide content feedback on publication projects at an early stage.