The University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) is one of the 7 Universities of Applied Sciences in Switzerland (Fachhochschule, haute école spécialisée, university of applied sciences). It has a university statute, focused on professional training and applied research. Together with the University of Southern Switzerland (USI), to which it is closely linked in terms of collaboration activities and common institutions, it is the only Italian language university pole in Switzerland, with almost 4,000 students in the Lugano region.
The distinguishing features of SUPSI are that it provides study opportunities to those who have already gained some professional experience and who continue to operate in a professional capacity, that the teaching program incorporates full-time lecturers-researchers and part-time professional operators, that it offers a wide range of continuous courses to those operating professionally, and that it conducts applied research projects in collaboration with companies and institutions in the region.
The service contract stipulated with Canton Ticino specifies that SUPSI continuous courses, third party services and much of the research work is financed by participants and commissioning parties. The Canton and the Confederation finance the basic teaching and some of the research. Excluding the affiliated schools, SUPSI has more than 400 collaborators, equivalent to almost 300 full-time posts, and a budget of CHF 50 million, roughly half of which comes from the Canton, one fifth from the Confederation and one third from other sources. Counting the affiliated schools, there are almost 2000 students in Bachelor degree cycles, more than 4000 attending continuous courses, and approximately 100 current research projects.
Having affiliated the Fernfachhochschule Schweiz (FFHS) in 2004 - this is a distance learning university of applied sciences, funded by Canton Valais and recognized by the Confederation - SUPSI basically pursues two complementary strategies:
– a regional strategy, as the only Italian language SUP in Switzerland, collaborating closely with the University of Southern Switzerland (USI) and creating a bridge toward Italy;
– a national strategy, as leader in SUP distance education, by means of the FFHS, to help overcome the problems of isolation and critical mass, and to emphasize the unique multi-lingual nature of SUPSI.

The institute involved in this project is the Dipartimento Tecnologie Innovative (DTI)

The University of Lugano (Università della Svizzera italiana-USI) was founded in 1996. As a public institution independent of state control, it joined the nine cantonal universities and two federal institutes of technology that form the Swiss university system. It distinguishes itself as the only university outside Italy where the official language of tuition is Italian.
Today, USI comprises four Faculties: Economics, Communication Sciences and Computer Science in Lugano, and Architecture in Mendrisio, for a total student population of approximately 1550 from 35 different countries, and a total teaching staff of 300 professors and assistants.
Benefiting from a unique geographic, political, and cultural location, USI has gained distinction as a multilingual and multicultural university, with a broad international outlook. It enjoys privileged relations with several Italian universities, particularly with those located in Northern Italy, and has built special collaborative or exchange partnerships with a number of foreign universities in Europe and elsewhere.

The institute involved in this project is the Facoltà di Scienze Informatiche

Die Fachhochschule Zentralschweiz (FHZ) ist eine der sieben Fachhochschulen der Schweiz. Sie wurde 1997 gegründet und setzt sich aus fünf Teilhochschulen zusammen: Der Hochschule für Technik+Architektur HTA Luzern, der Hochschule für Wirtschaft HSW Luzern, der Hochschule für soziale Arbeit HSA Luzern, der Hochschule für Gestaltung+Kunst HGK Luzern und der Musikhochschule MHS Luzern. Die FHZ bietet in der Region Zentralschweiz bedarfsgerechte Aus- und Weiterbildungen auf Fachhochschulstufe an. Als grösste Bildungsinstitution der Zentralschweiz bildet sie rund 2800 Studierende aus; rund 1500 Personen nutzen die Weiterbildungsangebote.

The institute involved in this project is the