Video campaign for basic science

The SNSF invested approximately 80 per cent of its budget in basic research in 2019. Such research seeks to gain insights into human beings and nature. Insights that provide a basis for the technical and social innovation to which we owe our prosperity. To make the public more aware of the value of basic research, the SNSF launched a digital campaign in June 2019. In a series of videos, scientists talk about their reasons for conducting basic research. Four explanatory videos present knowledge which – when applied in practice – benefits society. For instance, how a gaming computer became a “super physician”. Or how to prevent truancy. The videos from the campaign had been viewed around 24,000 times by the end of 2019. “Basic research is an investment,” says Matthias Egger, President of the National Research Council. “But sometimes, it only pays dividends years or even decades later.”