Atlas report
AI researchers in Switzerland
ETH Zurich is the largest, with 2 252 indexed researchers, 2.1 times École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
The short answer
8 518 researchers in the index have an institution in Switzerland, the 14th largest count among 132 countries.
Per million inhabitants, Switzerland has 957 AI researchers in the index against 89 worldwide, 10.8 times the world figure.
Switzerland holds 1.2% of the researchers with a known country and 0.1% of the world's population, 10.8 times its demographic weight.
What stands out
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is the subject newcomers in Switzerland pick up fastest: 127 started on it since 2024, and its share of new entrants is 2.2 times its share in the previous window.
The subject where Switzerland weighs most against the rest of the world is Neural Networks and Applications: 2.3% of its subject assignments work on it, 1.8 times the world share of 1.2%.
Industry employs 13% of Switzerland's indexed AI researchers; worldwide the share is 8.9%, so the country runs at 1.4 times the average.
Switzerland gained 1 846 new researchers since 2024, 1.3 times the 1 389 of the three years before; the world ratio is 1.8.
Subjects
The single most common subject is Topic Modeling, on which 6.4% of Switzerland's subject assignments fall.
Subject reports: Natural Language Processing Techniques, Generative Adversarial Networks and Image Synthesis, Multimodal Machine Learning Applications, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI).
| Subject | Researchers | Share here | Share worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Modeling | 984 | 6.4% | 7.9% |
| Natural Language Processing Techniques | 626 | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Advanced Neural Network Applications | 501 | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| Generative Adversarial Networks and Image Synthesis | 401 | 2.6% | 2.6% |
| Multimodal Machine Learning Applications | 376 | 2.5% | 3.9% |
| Neural Networks and Applications | 345 | 2.3% | 1.2% |
| Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) | 278 | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| Complexity and Algorithms in Graphs | 112 | 0.7% | 0.3% |
Newcomers by year
Measured on 2025 alone, entry into Switzerland ran at 0.8 times its three-year average, where the world ran at 0.8.
| First publication | New in Switzerland | Share of the world's newcomers |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 313 | 1.6% |
| 2020 | 361 | 1.7% |
| 2021 | 446 | 1.8% |
| 2022 | 503 | 1.5% |
| 2023 | 440 | 1.5% |
| 2024 | 487 | 1.6% |
| 2025 | 388 | 1.5% |
Institutions
47% of the country's researchers sit in three institutions, led by ETH Zurich.
ETH Zurich is the largest, with 2 252 indexed researchers, 2.1 times École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country. Everyone else sits in places too small to name without pointing at individuals.
| Institution | Researchers | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|
| ETH Zurich | 2 252 | 26% |
| École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | 1 090 | 13% |
| University of Zurich | 678 | 8.0% |
Compared with its peers
The two countries closest in size are Spain and Netherlands. Same order of magnitude, different profile. The gap that stands out is the researchers per million inhabitants: 957 here against 309 for those two.
| Switzerland | Spain | Netherlands | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Researchers | 8 518 | 8 572 | 7 878 |
| Per million inhabitants | 957 | 177 | 440 |
| In a company | 13% | 5.9% | 6.0% |
| Early career | 55% | 44% | 51% |
| Newcomers, recent against previous window | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
Method
A country is where the institution sits, so someone who has moved and not yet published from the new address still counts at the old one. Counts move between two refreshes because the index grows every night. The method page sets out the sources and what each field leaves out.
Common questions
- How many AI researchers are there in Switzerland?
- As of October 2026, the index holds 8 518 researchers whose institution sits in Switzerland, 1.2% of everyone with a known country. Only people who published AI research are counted, which makes the figure a floor.
- Where do you find AI researchers in Switzerland?
- ETH Zurich, 2 252, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1 090, University of Zurich, 678. Their most common subject is Topic Modeling, 6.4% of the country's subject assignments.
- What is Switzerland strongest in?
- Neural Networks and Applications, at 1.8 times the world share.
- Is the pool of AI researchers in Switzerland growing?
- Yes, slower than the world. Since 2024, 1 846 people in Switzerland published for the first time, against 1 389 over the three years before, a ratio of 1.3 where the world sits at 1.8.
The names behind the numbers
Every count on this page is a list in the index.
Search it by subject and country to find who leads the work today, and set an alert on the ones about to come free, for $179 a month or 149 € in the euro area. Or hand the search over and pay only when someone joins.