The Swiss Summer Schools, also referred to as Villars Summer Schools, are one-week out-of-town course/conference-type events for MSc, PhD and postdoctoral students with a focus on selected topics. They offer a platform for the active scientific exchange between students and lecturers, and between the participants themselves. The students are expected to actively be involved by presenting a poster or a short communication on their research.

Researchers from industry as well as students from abroad are most welcome to participate.

There will be a series of special lectures presented by researchers from industry. After the lecture, and throughout the evening, the lecturers will be available for discussion with the participants.

The Villars Summers Schools have a long tradition and date back to the séminaires du 3ième cycle of the 1960ies. Until recently, they were organized by a consortium of universities (Bern, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Genève, and the EPFL; later joined by the University of Zürich) and are now held as a national event organized by the Swiss Chemical Society as part of its SCS Seminar Series.

  For the report on the 2019 Villars Summer School see CHIMIA 2019, 73(11), 950-951