Join the workshop with the laureates of the Marcel Benoist and Latsis Swiss Science Prizes
(4 and 5 November 2026, Bern)
The Marcel Benoist Foundation invites interested young people to attend a workshop with three Marcel Benoist and Latsis prizewinners, and to be part of the prestigious award ceremony. You will interact directly with the scientists, learn more about their field of research and scientific careers, and have a close exchange during a small workshop.
Switzerland’s two most prestigious science prizes, the Marcel Benoist and the Latsis Swiss Science Prizes will once again be presented together in November 2026. Often referred to as the ‘Swiss Nobel Prize’, the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize is endowed with CHF 250,000 and honours researchers whose work is “of benefit to human life”. The Latsis Swiss Science Prize honours scientists with an academic age of no more than 10 who have made outstanding scientific achievements in Switzerland. The prize is endowed with CHF 100,000.
The 2026 Marcel Benoist and Latsis Prize winners will be revealed to the public on 22 September.
Additionally, last year’s Latsis prizewinner Saskia Stucki from UZH and ZHAW will join the workshop in order to cover all scientific fields. She was awarded the prize for her interdisciplinary research in animal law, human rights, and environmental law, which seeks to establish legal frameworks for animal rights.
The programme is distributed over two days (details will be shared with the selected participants):
Workshop with the laureates, Wednesday, 4 November 2026, 13:30-approx. 19:00 (incl. after work drink), University of Bern
- Co-organized with the Science Olympiad and Schweizer Jugend forscht.
- Moderated by Reatch! Research. Think. Change. – an independent think tank for critical scientists and science enthusiasts in Switzerland.
- Supported by the French Embassy in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Panel discussion on academic entrepreneurship and award ceremony, Thursday, 5 November 2026, starting at 16:00, Bern
- Panel discussion at the Hotel Bellevue with Martin Vetterli, former President of EPFL, Martine Clozel, scientist and co-founder of two Swiss pharmaceutical research companies (Actelion and Idorsia), and Anna-Elina Pekonen, Head of Entrepreneurship Education at the University of Basel, on academic entrepreneurship (16:00-17:30).
- Award ceremony in the Federal Palace (18:00-19:15), followed by a cocktail reception.
Requirements:
- Education level:
- Last year of secondary level (Gymnasium, apprenticeship)
- or gap year or similar
- or student at bachelor’s level
- Age: no older than 25 years (exceptions may be granted in justified cases)
- Languages: The workshop and the panel discussion will be held mainly in English. However, contributions in German, French or Italian are also warmly welcome and the more languages you speak or understand (DE/FR/IT/EN), the better!
- Participation on both days (workshop, panel discussion and award ceremony).
- Otherwise, no prerequisites are necessary, and it does not matter what scientific background you have, just be open minded and curious!
Cost:
- Free of charge, including refreshment and an after-work drink, award ceremony with cocktail reception and travel reimbursement for both days (with public transport, effective cost only). Any accommodation costs must be covered by the participants.
Applications will be accepted until 4 October 2026. Applicants will be informed of the selection outcome by 19 October 2026. If you have not received any communication by then, please check your spam or junk folder and contact us in case you cannot find our e-mail.
Read >> here the report of the 2025 workshop.
In case of any questions, please contact info@marcel-benoist.ch.
