Court upholds researchers’ right to privacy

The public’s right to information does not supersede researchers’ right to privacy, the Swiss Federal Court has ruled. At issue was a dispute between the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and assisted suicide organisation Dignitas.  The dispute concerned the SNSF‘s National Research Programme 67, which allocated CHF15 million ($15 million) to research on the topic “End of Life”.  Through the lawsuit, Dignitas, Exit Romandie, Exit German Switzerland, Lifecircle and EX International had hoped to expose the bias they believe exists in this SNSF research project.  NRP 67 began with a call for proposals in 2011. In 2013, Dignitas had requested information about nine of the 33 research projects falling under the project’s umbrella. Although the SNSF provided partial access to the research proposals of the nine projects, it refused access to the synopses and comments of reviewers who evaluated the project proposals.  According to SNSF Director Daniel Höchli, ...