Overview

Since 2017, Swiss Post and the Human-IST Institute at the University of Fribourg have been collaborating closely to pursue research projects in various fields. The HIP Initiative, initiated in 2023, aims to further strengthen this partnership and promote innovative research endeavors accross the whole university.

The development and creation of new projects is supported through annual funding, in-kind contributions from Swiss Post, and facilitated collaborations by efficiently matching researchers with Swiss Post employees and vice versa. This initiative fosters a a mutually beneficial relationship, allowing both entities to leverage each other’s expertise. Scholars can challenge their research through real-world use cases, gain access to employees, and explore internal processes to investigate or validate research questions. Swiss Post can benefit from the scientific expertise of the researchers in the different faculties of the University of Fribourg.

This partnership, moderated by the Human-IST Institute, enables all researchers accross the University of Fribourg to develop activities with Swiss Post in the areas of innovation, applied research and continuing education. Freedom of research is guaranteed at all times, in accordance with the guidelines applicable at the University of Fribourg. Swiss Post does not influence the methods and research activities.

This is an exceptional opportunity for researchers to make a meaningful impact on society.

The yearly call for projects

The HIP Initiative promotes the development of new collaborative projects through an annual call for proposals. This call allocates 100,000 CHF amongst selected proposals, offering support to help kickstart ideas and demonstrate their feasibility and mutual interest. The objective of this call is to assist researchers with preliminary work that will enable projects to secure larger funding from external sources once the year-long support concludes.

For more information, please visit the Call 4 Projects page.