To represent Swiss bioinformatics and carry out its mission, SIB draws its strength from a community of over 80 research and service groups. These are led by Group Leaders that are either employed by SIB or based in major schools of higher education and research institutes in the country. Find out how to become a Group Leader and the other ways in which you can take advantage of our network, as an embedded bioinformatician in a wet lab or as a member of our bioinformatics intersection at LS2.

A career at SIB

Our community of 900 members includes 200 employees who work across Switzerland, carrying out our executive and support functions. These are performed both at the SIB Hub on key projects or as part of affiliated groups at our partner institutions such as to develop the leading open databases and software tools we offer to the life science community. 

Join us

How to become a Group Leader

If you are leading a research group involved in service, research, infrastructure or development in bioinformatics, in a Swiss school of higher education and/or research institute, you may be eligible to join SIB as a Group Leader.  

Meet our Group Leaders  

Scientific excellence is at the very core of our selection process. Provided our selection criteria are met (incl. your group produces new bioinformatics resources or is a core facility providing bioinformatics support, your willingness to engage in SIB’s activities), the Group Leader membership request is voted on by the Council of Group Leaders on the basis of a majority, and should be approved by the Foundation Council 

The procedure takes place twice a year: by 31 March and 31 October for a renewable period of 4 years. For more information, please contact us 

Upon joining SIB, new Group Leaders become members, as does their team, of our community of 900 scientists in Switzerland.  

Benefits for SIB Members

An illustration of Aurel Marki representing scientists, DNA, molecules,
Have your work promoted

through high-visibility channels (social media, website, newsletters and press releases) by the Communications and Scientific Events team, helping you to reach your target audience.

Stay informed

with monthly updates on the latest from the community which includes news, events, grants, training, job opportunities and more to help you stay ahead of the field and seize new opportunities.

Network and boost your research

at our conferences (SIB days, [BC]2) and events. Meet with scientists from diverse horizons, learn new skills, discuss challenges and present your work – in a friendly atmosphere!

Gain recognition

from your peers through initiatives such as the SIB Remarkable Outputs – the yearly list of ‘must-read’ works by members – and the Bioinformatics Awards.

Find the expertise you need, fast

We connect you with our center of excellence or groups within the network to benefit from their expertise e.g., in data stewardship and management, analyses, software development, biocuration, across all areas of bioinformatics.

Get legal assistance for your project

Our Legal and Technology Transfer Office (LTTO) team supports you in a wide range of areas, e.g., the establishment of licensing agreements, scientific collaborations, and personal data sharing.

Increase the impact of your resources

Our Biodata Resources team coordinates the portfolio of our open software and databases and their selection process, monitors their key indicators, strives to add value to the resources in terms of UX and user research, search engine indexing, and more.

Navigate science funding

Our Finance & Grant management team can manage your funds incl. financial reporting and audit support. It also provides grant management services (e.g., SNSF, EC, NIH, Innosuisse) from proposal submission to project reporting and follow-up.

Cast a wide net to recruit talents

Our People & Culture team can promote your vacancies through SIB’s recruitment channels.

Boost your scientific events

whether through sponsoring, coordination or communication. The Communications and Scientific Events team can help you in a variety of ways.

Benefit from a comprehensive training programme

organized by the Training group and taught by SIB experts: in-person, streamed, openly accessible recordings or e-learning modules about the latest advances in our field.

Join the SIB PhD Training Network

A community and training support for PhD students carrying out their research in bioinformatics or computational biology in Switzerland. More info

Want to give back to the community by getting involved?

  • Share your bioinformatics knowledge and become a trainer in the Training programme.
  • Stay tuned for our calls to participate in committees, such as the SIB Award Committee, the Scientific Committees for our conferences, and topic-specific groups or initiatives, such as the Diversity focus group or the EcoImpact focus group.
  • Take part in after-work activities organized by your local Social Committee or set one up in your city.
  • Create a focus group or join an existing one (e.g. epigenomics, semantic web of data, single-cell omics) to share with peers on specific scientific topics.

When bioinformatics meets the wet lab

There are more and more bioinformaticians physically collocated with researchers in wet labs: so-called “embedded bioinformaticians”. Their presence in the research groups is a real advantage, as they can provide direct guidance on how to design experiments, how to manage and analyse data and the optimized use of the various bioinformatics tools.

Embedded bioinformaticians

If you are a bioinformatician working in a non-SIB Group or in an institution that is not among our institutional partners, you may still be eligible to become a member. By becoming an SIB Member as embedded bioinformatician (see box) you can take advantage of our expert network, which you can consult continuously to benefit from state-of-the-art expertise and support in the field. You first need to establish a collaboration with one of SIB’s Groups.

Apply here to become an SIB embedded bioinformatician.

LS2 Intersection Bioinformatics

In 2019, LS2 Life Sciences Switzerland and SIB created the LS2 Intersection Bioinformatics, to materialize the fact that bioinformatics and life sciences feed from each other. It is aimed at Swiss-based life scientists with an interest in bioinformatics.


Through activities that are determined by its board, this intersection: 
1) creates additional bridges between the two disciplines, 
2) fosters collaborations between SIB Members and LS2 Members, and 
3) accelerates the development of methods and tools supporting the latest experimental developments.

Members of this newly formed intersection benefit for instance from reduced registration fees to the [BC]2 conference, from tailor-made regular highlights of the latest news from the Swiss bioinformatics community, and more.

New members can apply for the LS2 membership here and select "Intersection Bioinformatics" in the online application form.