The Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern is engaged in research with the aim to advance veterinary medicine for the benefit of animals, humans, and the environment. Core thematic areas of research have been specified to promote collaboration within and beyond the faculty. These include Animal Health and Welfare, Infectious Diseases and One Health, and Sustainability and Biodiversity.
The faculty maintains a Faculty Clinical Research Platform (FCRP) to foster early-career clinician scientists and facilitate collaborative clinical research. It also hosts the Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases (MCID), a strategic center of the University of Bern, aimed at determining the origins of infectious disease risks, preparing for emerging diseases and managing these risks.
The faculty plays an active role in the use and further development of all of the university’s core facilities, notably the Experimental Animal Center (EAC), the Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit (IBU), the Microscopy Imaging Center (MIC), the Next Generation Sequencing Platform (NGSP), and the Data Science Lab (DSL). This involvement enables the faculty to leverage state-of-the-art research infrastructure for veterinary and biomedical research, as well as contributing to its strategic advancement.
Research Project
The researchers investigate clinical features of endocrinopathies in donkeys and seek to enhance laboratory diagnosis through hormone analysis. They address welfare concerns, as the associated laminitis can be painful and may require euthanasia.
Solange Oesch
This study aims to answer whether inbred mice are less robust and less resilient to stress compared to heterozygous mice, and thus whether inbreeding compromises the animals’ health and well-being and the reproducibility of research findings.
Bernhard Völkl, Larisa Kaija, Pui Ching Chu, Hanno Würbel
Development of antiparasitic drug treatments for neosporosis, toxoplasmosis and related diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites, and vaccines against neosporosis in cattle, caused by Neospora caninum.
Andrew Hemphill
The project aims to draw conclusions on domestication processes and genetic adaptation to «life as a lab pet» in zebrafish.
Irene Adrian-Kalchhauser
Research
An interdisciplinary team from the Vetsuisse Faculty, together with researchers from FIBL, the University of Basel, and Miguel Hernández University of Elche, has been awarded a COST research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The project is investigating whether selected medicinal plants can improve the health of calves and reduce the use of antibiotics in newly relocated male calves before weaning.
Leonore Aeschlimann from the Institute of Animal Pathology was awarded this year's Albert Heim Foundation Recognition Award for her dissertation entitled «Artificial Intelligence and Immunohistochemical Analysis of the BRAF V595E Mutation in Canine Lower Urinary Tract and Prostate Tumors.» The prize, worth CHF 3,000, was presented on November 14, 2025, at the Natural History Museum in Bern.
Georgia Salanti and Volker Thiel have been included in the annual list of most cited researchers. This is not only a confirmation of the continuous excellence of their research, but also of the significant and far-reaching influence of the two MCID members in their fields.
Philipp T. Egli, PhD student at the Swine Clinic, received the award for best poster at the Farm Animal Network conference for his contribution entitled «Influence of various sow and farrowing parameters on colostrum quality in free farrowing».
PD Dr. Jens Becker from the Ruminant Clinic at the Vetsuisse Faculty in Bern and his project partners have received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation's “Weave” program in collaboration with the Swedish funding organization Formas as part of an interdisciplinary research project.
Laura R. Voitl, PhD student at the Institute of Genetics, won an award for her poster «Identifying Genetic Variants for a Mendelian Trait using Long Read Sequencing in Three Domestic Animal Species» at the Basel Computational Biology Conference (BC2).
The responsible Vetsuisse Commission has presented this year's award to Marina Maurizio (Institute of Animal Pathology, Bern) and Patricia Beer (Small Animal Surgery, Zurich). The award was presented on September 4 during the Science & BBQ Day in Zurich.
December 1, 2025
12:15 − 12:45
Hörsaal Anatomie / Zoom
December 2, 2025
12:15
Science@Lunch
Michael Toscano
December 3, 2025
12:15 − 13:30
115 Hauptgebäude Hochschulstrasse 4 3012 Bern
Mittagsveranstaltung
December 4, 2025
17:00
Hörsaal Bremgartenstrasse
Neurocenter Seminar
Juan Quereda
December 5, 2025
09:00 − 16:15
UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1
Hans Sigrist Symposium
Hauptgebäude, Hochschulstrasse 6, Raum 205
MCID Seminar
Marcel Salathé
16:00
Aula, 2. OG, Hochschulstrasse 4
Scientific Integrity
Elisabeth Bik
December 6, 2025
University of Bern
December 8, 2025
15:00
Hörsaal Paraklinik / online
Midterm Evaluation
Alba Neher-Mestre
December 9, 2025
Beat Thomann
14:00
online
VPHI Webinar
Exploring experiences and perspectives in a qualitative study in the Somali region, Ethiopia
Valerie Hungerbühler
15:00 − 18:00
Länggassstrasse 120, Bern
Mini Symposium
December 10, 2025
SSTMP Online seminar series
December 16, 2025
Xuanxuan Zhang
February 17, 2026
Morgane Geminiani
February 24, 2026
March 3, 2026
Eleonora Benetti
April 24, 2026
Vetsuisse Faculty
September 2, 2026
until September 4, 2026
House of Sports, Ittigen
EPIZONE annual meeting 2026
IVI