Universitat Bern

Universitat Bern, a Swiss public research university, receives federal research grants and holds occasional service contracts as a prime recipient, operating in the biomedical sciences, atmospheric measurement, and specialized research domains where no set-asides apply. The institution holds no federal contract vehicles and does not compete as a prime contractor under GSA schedules or GWACs; its federal footprint consists of direct project grants from research agencies and isolated purchase orders.

Universitat Bern's prime work splits between two distinct capability streams. The biomedical research portfolio dominates dollar volume and award count. Recent grants include a $2.086 million Defense Health Agency project grant (CFDA 12.420, Military Medical Research and Development) awarded September 1, 2026, running through August 31, 2030, investigating minor spliceosome snRNA dysregulation as a diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in prostate cancer, performed in Switzerland. A $989,167 DHA project grant (CFDA 12.420) awarded February 15, 2024 through February 14, 2027 focuses on the role of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer therapy resistance. Additional DHA project grants cover PARP inhibitor resistance (running through August 2027), intestinal secreted microRNAs in inflammatory bowel disease (through July 2026), and site-specific immunosuppression for joint allotransplantation (through February 2027). The second stream reflects specialized technical services: a $47,000 NOAA purchase order (awarded March 23, 2026, completing March 22, 2027) grants an unlimited license to the Bernese GNSS Software Package to enable NESDIS production of Global Navigation Satellite Systems radio occultation Level 1 and 2 data; and a $41,000 International Trade Commission purchase order (awarded September 20, 2022, completed September 30, 2023) provided consulting services to update a labor provisions dataset in trade agreements. The Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program (CFDA 12.800) has funded two astronautics research projects: one $100,000 project grant (September 15, 2022 through September 14, 2025) and a second dynamic vision sensor award (March 1, 2023 through February 28, 2027).

Customer concentration centers on biomedical research agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases leads by award count with seven awards; the Defense Health Agency holds five awards. The National Cancer Institute, Department of the Army Medical Command, and Department of the Air Force each account for three awards. By combined potential value, the Office of Naval Research leads with $213 thousand across two awards, though obligated dollars across all grants ($73.2 million) far exceed the stated potential-value ceiling ($301 thousand), indicating the source captures only a partial snapshot of active obligations. Universitat Bern serves sixteen distinct federal customer agencies overall, with biomedical research consuming the majority of engagement.

Universitat Bern acts as a sub-recipient on sixteen federal grant awards, subcontracting research tasks to U.S. research universities as prime grantees. Named prime grantees include Thomas Jefferson University (on a SHAPE cirrhosis-imaging study sub-award, January 27, 2026), University of Washington (bumped-kinase inhibitor drug development for toxoplasmosis and cryptosporidiosis, multiple sub-awards through May 2025), Yale University (177Lu-PSMA therapy imaging and dosimetry, July 7, 2025), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Harmonist data-sharing toolkit, July 30, 2024), University of Southern California (ENIGMA Parkinson's Initiative, February 29, 2024 and March 5, 2025), and Northwestern University (psychomotor disturbance in depression, June 13, 2024). Activity shows fluctuation — four awards in 2022, declining to three in 2023, rising to nine in 2024, six in 2025, and three in 2026 — with five awards totaling $47 thousand reaching completion within the next twenty-four months.