Missions & Values

Idiap, recognized by the Swiss Confederation as an Institute of National Importance, has three inter-related missions:

Research

Idiap conducts use-inspired research and actively contribute to national and international scientific networks.

Innovation

Through its dedicated R&D engineers team, Idiap facilitates start-up creation via the IdeArk incubator and technology transfer to national and international companies and other organizations.

Education

Idiap currently funds and trains over 50 PhD students and hosts national and international master students and interns. Idiap researchers and engineers teach on several national and international university programs as well as advanced specialized summer and winter schools.

Idiap is also committed to Advance women in science and engineering, Promote diversity in the working place and Fight climate change. Idiap contributes to the national "Futur en tous genres" day to promote careers to young girls and offers a dedicated Fellowship Program for Female Researchers. Idiap promotes diversity including gender, sexual, religious, social and cultural identities. Furthermore, Idiap is assessing its carbon footprint to identify actions to reduce it.

Idiap's Gender Equality & Diversity Plan was validated by Idiap's management and serves as official guidelines by setting goals, actions and indicators. The plan is reassessed and adapted if necessary on a regular basis. This document is publicly available, as recommended by international research guidelines and can be downloaded here: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Idiap is an independent, nonprofit research foundation. The institute was founded in 1991 by the Town of Martigny, the State of Valais, the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, the University of Geneva, and Swisscom, with the support of the Dalle Molle Foundation. Inspired by Angelo Dalle Molle visionary approach, the institute’s vision is to promote quality of life through scientific progress made in relation to human and media computing. Therefore the motto: "Artificial Intelligence for Society".

Strategy 2024-2028

At the heart of our mission is the commitment to enhance quality of life through cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence. For the 2024–2028 period, we have defined a strategic pathway that leverages our research programs, research centers, and focus areas to drive meaningful societal impact. Read more about our Strategy here: Idiap Strategy 2024-2028.

Discover Idiap in 9 minutes with this talk from Andrea Cavallaro, director of Idiap