Through impact-oriented research, the University of St.Gallen (HSG) makes a valuable contribution to addressing the grand challenges of our time. Interdisciplinary issues in the field of responsibility and sustainability are examined from various perspectives, particularly at the intersections with our core disciplines.
In 2025, interdisciplinary research on responsibility and sustainability was further strengthened. HSG members published around 150 peer-reviewed articles in renowned scientific journals, generating new knowledge at the intersection of economic and social sciences and sustainability. Roughly half of HSG's publications in FT50-listed journals address sustainability-related topics. Furthermore, we were able to attract new early-career researchers conducting cutting-edge research in areas such as international public law, migration studies, public policy, and supply chain management. New research projects have been launched, including Competence Centre for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CCSP-HSG). The newly founded centre explores the effectiveness and best practices of sustainable investing while engaging with a global network of investors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and practitioners.
We asked faculty members appointed in 2025 how they intend to contribute to solving societal challenges through their research:
“Through my research, I aim to help make supply chains and production systems more resilient, resource-efficient, and more circular, thereby strengthening both the supply security and Europe’s position as a competitive business location.”
“Firms are both targets and actors in public policies that address societal challenges. My interdisciplinary research examines how this dual role affects responsible business conduct in digital and sustainable finance.”
“My research explores how migration can figure within globally sustainable, just and non-labor-extractive societal futures. I currently study how different hospital-related migration aspects are entangled across regions and historical legacies.”
“I examine legal responses to armed conflict and atrocity crimes to strengthen both States’ peace and security efforts, as well as the international legal order.”
In 2025, the University has secured approximately CHF 5.2 million in external funding for research projects addressing current and future sustainability challenges. The funded projects cover a broad range of topics, including the role of banks in the green transition, social innovation to combat desertification, or structural risks posed by dominant online platforms.
The largest share of funding comes from programmes of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). With regard to project funding from the three main funding bodies (SNSF, Innosuisse, EU), projects with a direct link to sustainability account for around 45 per cent of all projects awarded funding in 2025. Due to methodological changes in the calculation, the total sum is only partially comparable to the sums of previous years shown in the graph below. Additional third-party funding from private research funding bodies (e.g., foundations) is not included.
In 2025, researchers at the University of St Gallen (HSG) published around 150 peer-reviewed research papers related to the topic of responsibility and sustainability in renowned journals. These articles cover a broad spectrum of environmental, social, and ethical topics, always linked to one of HSG’s core disciplines. Please note that the methodology used to calculate the number of publications has changed since the last report. The new method is based on publications by permanent research staff with a print issue date in the respective year.
