Martin Burkhart, Roland Meier, Bernhard Tellenbach
Cyber-Defence Campus, armasuisse Science and Technology
The National strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyber risks (NCS) underscores the vital role of cybersecurity research in enhancing Switzerland's resilience to cyber threats and fostering economic growth. Despite the national importance of cybersecurity research, the landscape itself is not well understood. With support from the SATW, Armasuisse CYD Campus carried out a quantitative study assessing the working power invested by universities in different cybersecurity research topics.
The study surveyed 22 Swiss universities, analyzing their efforts across 14 research domains defined by a taxonomy issued by the European Joint Research Centre. The results reveal a nationwide allocation of 297 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to cybersecurity research, with a significant concentration in the top three domains, namely software and hardware security engineering, cryptology, and network and distributed systems, which collectively absorb 174 FTEs. Conversely, the five least explored domains receive only 7.2 FTEs in total.
This study provides the first systematic and quantitative evaluation of the Swiss cybersecurity research landscape. It aims to guide policymakers, universities, and industries in addressing research imbalances, incentivising strategic areas and identifying potential gaps.