Twelve years of NCCR PlanetS communication - Promoting planetary sciences in Switzerland

The NCCR PlanetS is a Swiss national collaboration of 4 higher education organisations with divisions specialised in planetary sciences (from Solar System, to exoplanets). Funded for a total of 12 years, its missions are divided being enabling planetary science, and developing structural aspects in support of the science. One of these structures has been the communication platform, which mission over the last 12 years, has been to promote the planetary science done across Switzerland, to a wide variety of target audiences: from the general public, to schools, journalists, stakeholders, politicians, and more.

I will present some of the many communication activities developed, and actions carried during those twelve years. In a few numbers, the communication of the NCCR PlanetS has been: 

• Communication in 3 languages (English, German, French)
• 20+ press releases per year
• up to 150 000 visitors per year, in attended/organised general public events
• museum exhibitions and experiments development for the public, including planetarium shows
• a citizen science project with millions of light-curves analysed
• special projects with Swiss iconic partners: from children’s books, to coffee cream lids and post stamps
• tens of events with and for diplomatic partners
• and much more...

In this oral presentation, I will also reflect on the challenges faced by the NCCR PlanetS such as the multiple national languages, but also the success and shortcomings of our evolving strategy. This gave us unique insights and lessons on what should be done from the start, or what is superfluous and doesn't lead to the most "return on investment". Finally, I will tackle our plan for the "grand finale" as our funding comes to an end in May 2026, and how we prepare the transition to the next step...

The National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) are a funding scheme of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). They are initially funded for 4 years, up to 12 years. The NCCR PlanetS, focused on planetary sciences, is a collaboration of the University of Bern (leading house), the University of Geneva (co-leading house), the University of Zurich (associate) and the ETH Zurich (associate). As of April 2025, the NCCR PlanetS encompasses over 200 scientists, engineers, and other support staff.