Switzerland, one of the smallest yet richest countries in the world, is facing a call to improve its educational research and development (R&D). This is the general conclusion of the “National Review of Educational R&D – Switzerland”, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). After an admirable record in the last decades, innovation in Switzerland is now threatened by a slowdown. On the one hand, the complexity of the education system (where responsibility is shared by the confederation, the cantons and the municipalities) appears problematic for educational R&D management. Further, Switzerland’s educational R&D is typified by limited opportunities for new researchers and limited incentives for innovative research, hindrances arising from the contrast between very high remuneration for educational researchers and relatively low overall investment in the country’s educational R&D. The report also cites the internationalisation of research and the transfer of research on policy-making to educational practice as other areas requiring more consideration. As a result, the review recommen

• more harmonisation and monitoring of the Swiss educational R&D;
• maximising current expenditure for and performance of its educational R&D institutions;
• better response to the needs of policy makers and practitioners amongst Swiss researchers;
• dialogue promotion among all stakeholders, which should set up national research priorities, and improve forms of funding, capacity building and internationalisation of research.

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