Foundation
Governance
Purpose of the foundation
The foundation’s purpose is recorded in German in the Swiss commercial register. That German text is the authoritative version. The English alongside it is a working translation provided for readers, except for the closing paragraph, which is the official English wording from the Organizational Regulations.
Deutsch (verbindlich)
Stiftungszweck
Der Zweck der Stiftung besteht in der Förderung und Weiterentwicklung von Open Science als offenes, kollaboratives und gemeinwohlorientiertes Wissenschaftssystem. Die Stiftung versteht Wissen als gemeinsame Ressource der Gesellschaft (Allmende) und unterstützt Forschung, Bildung sowie Infrastruktur, die auf Offenheit, Transparenz, Reproduzierbarkeit und freien Zugang zu Wissen, Daten und Methoden und deren Erhaltung ausgerichtet sind.
Gefördert werden können Projekte, Innovationen und Institutionen, die zur Entwicklung und gemeinsamen Nutzung wissenschaftlicher Ressourcen beitragen. Der Stiftungszweck wird technologieneutral ausgelegt, um auch künftige wissenschaftliche und technologische Innovationen einzuschliessen. Die Einzelheiten der Zweckverfolgung und der operativen Umsetzung werden in Reglementen festgelegt.
Die Stiftung ist gemeinnützig. Sie verfolgt keine Erwerbszwecke und strebt keinen Gewinn an. Allfällige Erträge werden wiederum für die gemeinnützigen Stiftungszwecke eingesetzt.
English (translation)
Purpose of the foundation
The purpose of the foundation is to promote and evolve Open Science as an open, collaborative, and common-good oriented scientific system. The foundation regards knowledge as a common resource of society (commons) and supports research, education, and infrastructure aimed at openness, transparency, reproducibility, and the open access to and preservation of knowledge, data, and methods.
Projects, innovations, and institutions that contribute to the development and shared use of scientific resources may be supported. The foundation’s purpose shall be interpreted in a technology-neutral manner so as to include future scientific and technological innovations. The details of how the purpose is pursued and operationally implemented shall be set out in regulations.
The foundation is non-profit. It does not pursue commercial objectives and does not seek to make a profit. Any income generated shall be used again for the non-profit purposes of the foundation.
The foundation in the register
- Legal name
- Open Science Stiftung (Open Science Foundation)
- Legal form
- Charitable foundation (Stiftung) under Articles 80 ff. of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB)
- Legal seat
- Matten bei Interlaken, Canton of Bern, Switzerland
- Registered address
- Obere Bönigstrasse 100, 3800 Matten bei Interlaken, Switzerland
- Commercial register
- Handelsregisteramt des Kantons Bern
- UID / Enterprise number
- CHE-317.959.183
- Register reference
- CH-036.7.107.334-4
- Notarial deed of establishment
- 9 March 2026
- Date of registration
- 28 April 2026
- Auditor
- Fidura Treuhand AG (CHE-108.399.166), Zug, Switzerland
Tax status
The foundation is recognised as serving exclusively charitable purposes within the meaning of Article 56 lit. g of the Federal Direct Tax Act (DBG) and the corresponding cantonal provisions. Tax exemption is confirmed by the Tax Administration of the Canton of Bern.
The foundation is not currently registered for Swiss VAT (MWST), because the statutory turnover threshold under Article 10 of the Swiss VAT Act (MWSTG) is not exceeded.
Governing bodies
The Foundation Board is the supreme governing body. It is supported and checked by the bodies below, whose composition and duties are set out in the Organizational Regulations.
Foundation Board (Stiftungsrat)
The supreme governing body: three to seven members, which manages the foundation, decides on grant allocations and adopts its regulations. It signs collectively, by two members.
Scientific Advisory Board
Advises the Foundation Board on scientific matters. The Board must consider its comments and recommendations in its decision-making.
Supervisory Panel
Defines the mission, values and long-term strategy, maintains the candidate list for new Board members, and must consent to new regulations.
Management (Geschäftsleitung)
Runs day-to-day operations, headed by the Executive Director, who is appointed and dismissed by the Foundation Board.
Auditor (Revisionsstelle)
Elected by the Foundation Board. Reports on the annual accounts, which are submitted to the supervisory authority.
Documents
The Organizational Regulations are a bilingual instrument: German and English run side by side in a single document, adopted by the Foundation Board on 28 April 2026.
Organizational Regulations (Organisationsreglement)PDF, German and English, 31 pages, adopted 28 April 2026
The published version omits the signature page. The Foundation Deed (Stiftungsurkunde), which contains the purpose reproduced above, is held by the commercial register and is not published here.
Questions
For questions about the foundation’s governance, or to request a document, write to us. Registration details and the responsible supervisory authority are also set out in the legal notice.