Swiss-Wide Mental Health Survey (SWiMS) 2024: National Report

The Swiss-Wide Mental Health Survey (SWiMS) was conducted in collaboration with 13 mid-level staff associations across Switzerland in 2024. We surveyed more than 2,500 mid-level academic staff across Switzerland – primarily doctoral researchers and postdocs – about their mental health and working conditions.

The findings are alarming:

• 22% show critical levels of depressive symptoms
• 24% feel burned out on a weekly basis
• Lack of career prospects is the most cited stressor (39% report being “completely” stressed about this, 59% among postdocs only)
• Over half are unaware of available mental health resources or doubt their effectiveness

This situation threatens not only individual well-being but also the quality of research and teaching. In a statement accompanying the publication of the survey, the co-presidency of actionuni proposes structural measures to the federal government, the cantons, and higher education institutions aimed at sustainably improving the mental health of mid-level faculty and their career prospects, as well as maintaining the quality of research.