In Switzerland, an investigation into the links between the academic research community and the tobacco industry

More than half of Swiss universities have had ties with the tobacco industry in the past six years, according to a survey by Transparency and Truth.[1]. This analysis is based on an assessment conducted by the prevention association OxySuisse, primarily funded by the Swiss Confederation's Tobacco Prevention Fund. The organization reports that it took more than two years to gain access to the contracts and documents governing collaborations between academic institutions and tobacco companies. In the context of current international scientific scandals, OxySuisse is raising the alarm about a risk to the scientific integrity of the Swiss academic community and has established a secure mechanism for whistleblowers.

More than half of the targeted institutions have links with the tobacco industry, and four refuse any transparency.

OxySuisse, which campaigns "for a Switzerland free from the influence of the tobacco industry," sent access requests to documents from 31 universities, universities of applied sciences, federal institutes of technology, and university hospitals across the country. These requests were submitted between April 2024 and February 2025, based on federal and cantonal transparency legislation, and covered contracts entered into by these institutions during the period 2019-2024. The document requests were supplemented by extensive searches of the websites of the universities and tobacco manufacturers, as well as online platforms such as LinkedIn, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Google. This approach made it possible to identify certain collaborations or links with the tobacco industry that had not been disclosed by the institutions studied. The data were analyzed to determine the existence and nature of collaborations between these teaching and research institutions and the tobacco industry, as well as the level of transparency of the institutions, assessed in particular by the transmission of the requested documents.

It emerged that among the organizations that responded, Sixteen of them cooperated a total of 29 times with the tobacco industry during the investigation period covered, including 23 times with Philip Morris.. Institutions within the domain of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Domain) are the most involved, with 11 collaborations, followed by cantonal universities (10) and universities of applied sciences (7). One collaboration involves university hospitals.

The forms of cooperation identified are diverse: joint research and publications, teaching activities, industry-funded workshops, research contracts and joint doctoral theses.

The case of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) illustrates these relationships. Its spokesperson stated that no contracts had been signed with tobacco companies in the last five years. However, collaborations with Philip Morris International are evident through master's theses, paid internships, and consulting mandates. According to the investigation, more than 30 students have written their theses at Philip Morris in recent years, and a similar number have completed internships there.

Other institutions are also mentioned, including ETH Zurich, the universities of Bern, Fribourg, Lucerne, Neuchâtel and St. Gallen, as well as several universities of applied sciences and the University Hospital of Basel. In most cases, Philip Morris appears as a partner.

Studies conducted for the tobacco industry raise serious social and ethical issues. For example, in 2020, economics professor Christoph Schaltegger of the University of Lucerne conducted a study commissioned by Swiss Cigarette, the association representing the three multinational tobacco companies operating in Switzerland (BAT, JTI, and PM). The study's main conclusion was that smoking generates a net economic benefit for Swiss society, primarily due to the premature death of smokers, who remain in the old-age and survivors' insurance system for shorter periods. Although these findings were reported by SRF (the German-language public broadcaster) during the height of the political campaign surrounding the "Tobacco-Free Children" initiative, the study was never published or peer-reviewed.

As public institutions, universities are required to disclose this information in accordance with applicable transparency legislation. However, four institutions refused to provide the contracts related to these collaborations, in violation of the transparency law. In several cases, OxySuisse had to initiate legal proceedings to gain access to the documents, and some of these proceedings are still ongoing.

The Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, for example, collaborated with Philip Morris on a project related to artificial kidneys but refuses to publish the corresponding contracts, despite a decision by the cantonal authorities in favor of their disclosure.

Other institutions, such as the Paul Scherrer Institute, Empa, and the Geneva School of Landscape, Engineering and Architecture (Hepia), have signed confidentiality agreements with the tobacco industry, even when no joint research has yielded results. Empa now specifies that it prohibits its staff from any cooperation with this sector.

Industry uses research and academic prestige to steer and disrupt scientific debate

The tobacco industry has long infiltrated scientific research, aiming to defend its commercial interests through manipulation, disinformation, and the discrediting of independent studies. For example, in the Rylander case at the University of Geneva, a professor secretly collaborated with Philip Morris for over thirty years to downplay the risks of secondhand smoke, and the controversial University of Zurich study on plain packaging, published just as the first countries were adopting the measure, was funded by Philip Morris.

Collaborations between the tobacco industry and Swiss universities lend the latter a scientific legitimacy that it can then use to improve its public and political image, weaken prevention measures by influencing debates and risk perceptions. It is also a way for the industry to promote its "new products," such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches, as "alternatives" to the dangers of tobacco. Yet, the facts highlight the gap between the manufacturer's rhetoric of a "smoke-free world" and the reality of its practices. Philip Morris, for example, increased global sales of its flagship cigarette brand, Marlboro, by 3.7% in 2024.[2].

These collaborations between research and teaching institutions and the tobacco industry demonstrate a worrying commodification of these structures, which are otherwise funded by public money. They compromise the credibility, independence, and integrity of science.

A necessary framework to prevent industry from exploiting the structural weaknesses of the Swiss university system

These collaborations are taking place in a context of declining public funding for research, prompting universities to seek private funding. Most higher education institutions also lack clear rules regarding collaboration with the tobacco industry.

The tobacco industry is not a partner like any other, due to the nature of its products, which kill 9,500 people in Switzerland every year. In a country where advertising and this type of agreement are not prohibited, OxySuisse calls for transparency in collaborations with all commercial entities, following the position taken by ALLEA (All European Academies).[3], to the establishment of strict national ethical rules and to raising awareness among the relevant ethics committees about the specific risks associated with collaborations with the tobacco industry.

In parallel with the publication of the report, OxySuisse has put in place a secure reporting system which allows researchers and members of higher education institutions to confidentially report violations of scientific integrity in collaborations with the tobacco industry.

Switzerland is ranked 99th out of 100 in the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (GTIII) 2025, an international ranking that assesses the influence of the tobacco industry on public policy.[4]. This means that after the Dominican Republic, Switzerland is the country where the tobacco industry has the most political, social and economic influence and can therefore weaken any public health policies that slow down its sales.

Recently, More than one hundred Swiss health professionals have sent an open letter to the Federal Council and Parliament calling for the "immediate" ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). and the application of its provisions, in particular Article 5.3 which states that public decision-makers must protect their health policies from any interference from the tobacco industry.

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[1]Canevascini M, Diethelm P, Lonchampt S., Swiss universities: low-hanging fruit for the tobacco industry? Investigation of the relationships between academic institutions and the tobacco industry in Switzerland, OxySuisse, Transparency and Truth, published in February 2026, accessed on February 19, 2026

[2]UNIVERSITIES UNDER INFLUENCE How the tobacco industry infiltrates Swiss academic institutions, Transparency and Truth, published in February 2026, accessed on February 19, 2026

[3]ALLEA, “Ethical Problems for Research Institutions Collaborating with Commercial Entities”ALLEA, published in February 2025, DOI: 10.26356/ALLEA-ETHICAL-PROBLEMS-RESEARCHINSTITUTIONS

[4]Assunta M., Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), published in November 2025, accessed on February 19, 2026

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