Swiss Climate Research Logo

History and Objectives

Swiss Climate Research is a consortium of leading Swiss institutions in Climate and Climate Change research. Swiss Climate Research emerged from the National Center of Excellence in Climate Research (NCCR Climate 2001-2013, Swiss National Science Foundation). Founder members of Swiss Climate research are the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern (www.oeschger.unibe.ch), the Center for Climate Systems Modeling at ETHZ (www.c2sm.ethz.ch/), MeteoSwiss (www.meteoswiss.admin.ch) and ProClim of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (www.naturalsciences.ch/organisations/proclim).

Swiss Climate Research is committed to continuing education. The flagship events are the Swiss Climate Summer Schools that are jointly organized and have taken place since 2002. The Summer Schools are open to young researchers worldwide. Participation is highly competitive and limited to 70 participants.

23rd Swiss Climate Summer School 2025

Sustainable pathways to net zero

24 - 29 August 2025
Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Scope of the Summer School

The 23rd Swiss Climate Summer School focuses on the theme “Sustainable pathways to net zero”. Pathways to decarbonisation have trade-offs with energy security, land use, food production, biodiversity, and need to consider equity and social acceptance. The main questions to be addressed during the summer school 2025 are:

  • What are the status and key drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss?
  • What are sustainable pathways to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions on a global and domestic level in different political contexts?
  • What strategies and solutions exist for climate mitigation, energy transition and biodiversity conservation globally and in different countries?
  • What is the role of science in socio-political transformation processes?

This summer school addresses early stage researchers from climate and earth system sciences to biodiversity, energy, social, political, and economic sciences. The one-week summer school is organised akin to a conference and is structured around keynote lectures by internationally renowned experts with ample time for discussions, poster sessions, workshops, and concluding fireside chats that involve lecturers and participants. All summer school participants are expected to present a poster of their research to discuss their own research.

The summer school is organised back-to-back with the Energy Summer School “Navigating the Energy Transition in an Insecure World” by the Energy Science Center of ETH Zürich from 31 August - 5 September 2025 to allow interested early stage researchers to attend both schools and expand their knowledge on different aspects on the path towards a net zero society.

Detailed information and application form

Past Events

22th Swiss Climate Summer School 2024

Climate Change: From the Dawn of the Anthropocene to Options for the Future

1 – 6 September 2024
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

21th Swiss Climate Summer School 2023

“Climate-​Water-Energy-Food-Nexus”

3 – 8 September 2023
Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Details

20th Swiss Climate Summer School 2022

Extreme weather and climate: from atmospheric processes to impacts on ecosystems and society

28 August - 2 September 2022
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

19th Swiss Climate Summer School 2021

“Vegetation, Land Surfaces and Climate Interactions”

29 August – 3 September 2021
Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Details

Swiss Climate Summer School 2020
Postponed to August 2022

Extreme weather and climate: from atmospheric processes to impacts on ecosystems and society

Postponed to August 2022
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

18th Swiss Climate Summer School 2019

Carbon and climate in the Paris world: getting out of the fossil fuel carbon budget crunch.

8 September – 13 September 2019
Congressi Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Details

17th Swiss Climate Summer School 2018

Earth system variability through time

26 August - 31 August 2018
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

16th International Swiss Climate Summer School 2017

High-resolution climate: observations, models and projections

3 September - 8 September 2017
Congressi Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Details

15th International Swiss Climate Summer School 2016

Climate Risks - Coping with Uncertainty

28 August - 2 September 2016
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

14th International Swiss Climate Summer School 2015

Extreme events and climate

23 August - 28 August 2015
Congressi Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

Details

13th International Swiss Climate Summer School 2014

Linking Land Use, Land Cover, and Climate

31 August - 5 September 2014
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

12th International Swiss Climate Summer School 2013

From Climate Reconstructions to Climate Predictions

1 - 6 September 2013
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

11th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2012

The Water Cycle in a Changing Climate: Observations, Scenarios, Impacts

9 - 14 September 2012
Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ticino, Switzerland

Details

10th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2011

Climate Change, Extremes and Ecosystem Services

4 - 9 September 2011
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

9th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2010

Adaptation and Mitigation: Responses to Climate Change

29 August - 3 September 2010
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Details

8th International NCCR Climate Summer School with participation of IGBP-PAGES 2009

Climate variability, forcings, feedbacks and responses: the long-term perspective

30 August - 4 September 2009
Grindelwald, Switzerland

7th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2008

Key challenges in climate variability and change

31 August - 5 September 2008
Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ticino, Switzerland

6th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2007

Land Surface - Atmosphere Interactions in a Changing Climate

26 - 31 August 2007
Grindelwald, Switzerland

5th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2006

Adaptation and Mitigation: Responses to Climate Change

27 August - 1 September 2006
Grindelwald, Switzerland

4th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2005

From the Holocene to the Anthropocene: Climate of the Last 1000 Years

27 August - 2 September 2005
Grindelwald, Switzerland

3th International NCCR Climate Summer School 2004

Variability: From Observation to Prediction

29 August - 3 September 2004
Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità, Ticino, Switzerland

2nd International NCCR Climate Summer School 2003

Climate Change: Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems

30 August - 6 September 2003
Grindelwald, Switzerland

1st International NCCR Climate Summer School 2002

Climate Variability, Predictability and Climate Risks

7 - 14 September 2002
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Contact and Board Members

University of Bern
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research
Hochschulstrasse 4
3012 Bern
info.oeschger@unibe.ch

Board Members

  • Prof. Stefan Brönnimann, UniBE-OCCR
  • Prof. Harald Bugmann, ETHZ-C2SM
  • Dr. Mischa Croci-Maspoli, MeteoSwiss
  • Prof. Martin Grosjean, UniBE-OCCR
  • Prof. Karin Ingold, ProClim
  • Prof. Reto Knutti, ETHZ-C2SM
  • Dr. Filippo Lechtaler, ProClim
  • Prof. Olivia Romppainen, UniBE-OCCR
  • Dr. Tina Schnadt, ETHZ-C2SM
  • Prof. Thomas Stocker, UniBE-OCCR
  • Prof. Heini Wernli, ETHZ-C2SM