Who are we?
The Idiap Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit research foundation based in Martigny (VS), in the Swiss Alps. Idiap is recognized as of national significance by the Swiss federal government. Its activities encompass fundamental research, training (graduate and post-graduate level), and technology transfer activities in the area of artificial intelligence both theoretical and applied. Idiap celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021.
Institute's research fields include, among others, voice and visual recognition, machine learning, human-machine interaction, robotics, language analysis, social computing, genomics, or bio-imaging. Idiap's activities are divided into several complementary and multidisciplinary research groups. The Institute is affiliated with the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and is one of the most active independent research institutions in information technology.
Since 2008, Idiap has reinforced its connection with Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne through a joint development plan and a strategic alliance with the "ETH Domain". Several of Idiap's scientists hold an EPFL academic title and are teaching graduate and undergraduate courses. They also supervise students who pursue their doctoral thesis research at Idiap.
Three people are part of Idiap's management: the director, Prof. Andrea Cavallaro, the deputy director, François Foglia, and the financial director, Christophe Rossa.
Idiap's budget, which amounts to more than 12 million Swiss francs, is 54% financed by research projects awarded following competitive processes, and 46% by public funds. There are a little over 100 staff members in residence at Idiap, including senior researchers, researchers, research associates, post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, and visiting researchers. Administrative staff provides unique computational and research support services. Since 2007, all the personnel work at Centre du Parc in Martigny, where it currently occupies 2,500 m2 of premises over four floors.
Research Program 2021-2024
Planning document for the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SEFRI)
Impact areas and expertise domains
Our research is guided by our missions and values, that are perfectly summarized by our motto: AI for society. To add human value and have a long-lasting effect on our society, our research groups' activities are having an impact in the following areas:
To have a meaningful impact on society, thanks to their extensive experience and set of skills, our researchers are experts in several domains:
- Data science & informatics
- Human computer interaction
- Imaging & computer vision
- Machine learning
- Security & privacy
- Robotics & autonomous systems
- Signal processing
- Speech & language
Our technology portfolio provides a more in-depth perspective on the technological outputs of these impact areas and expertise domains.
Download our portfolio
Idiap, at a glance
Founding partners
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