Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL)

Switzerland

Address: Ackerstrasse 113, 5070 Frick, Aargau, Switzerland

Organic Agriculture, Agroecology, Sustainable Food Systems

FiBL is one of the world’s leading research and information centers for organic agriculture, with sites in Switzerland (Frick), Germany, Austria, France, and Brussels. It conducts research, provides advisory services, and is involved in training and education.

Domains taught:

Agriculture, Bioengineering, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, Data Analytics, Ecology and Sustainability, Engineering, Food Science, Manufacturing, Materials, Mathematics, Microbiology and Genetics, Physics, Process Control, Project Management, Quality, Software Engineering, Statistics

Diplomas*:

Diploma, Doctor, Master

Status:

Private

Partnerships:

Non-profit research institute. Extensive international network with organic farming organizations, universities, and research institutions. Collaborates on EU research projects.

Research:

Research on all aspects of organic farming, including soil fertility, plant protection, animal husbandry, socioeconomics, food quality, and climate change adaptation/mitigation in agriculture.

Famous Alumnis:

Urs Niggli

International recognition**:

Number of staff***:

300

Current students***:

Foreign students***:

10%

Cumulative former students***:

200

Pros

World-renowned expertise in organic farming research and advisory services. Strong international impact.

Cons

Primarily a research and advisory body. Educational activities often through specialized courses or university collaborations.

Best For

Researchers and postgraduate students specializing in organic agriculture, agroecology, or sustainable food systems.

Most Similar Schools Locally

Among national alternatives, Agroscope stands out for its focus on agriculture, food science and quality, and it is larger, enrolling about 100 students against roughly 50 here, and is public, whereas this institution is private.
Strickhof, Höhere Fachschule für Agrarwirtschaft sits close to this institution on agriculture, food science and quality; it is public, whereas this institution is private, and does not run the master's and doctoral programmes found here.
Another national school that puts agriculture, food science and quality at the centre is Schweizerische Müllereifachschule St.Gallen, and it is larger, enrolling about 80 students against roughly 50 here, and is also a private institution.
Where this institution leans on quality, bioinformatics and bioengineering, CSEM - Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique does the same, and it has almost the same size, at about 50 students, and is also a private institution.
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics works in much the same fields, chiefly bioinformatics, microbiology and genetics and bioengineering, and it is also a private institution and does not run the diploma programmes found here.

Most Similar Schools Abroad

Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, based in Spain, is built around agriculture, food science and bioinformatics much like this institution, and it does not run the diploma programmes found here, and is larger, enrolling about 100 students against roughly 50 here.
In France, ISARA Lyon teaches much the same core subjects, agriculture, food science and quality, and it is far larger, with about 1,000 students against roughly 50 here, and is also a private institution.
The closest overseas parallel on agriculture, food science and quality is Institut Supérieur d'Agriculture de Lille - JUNIA, located in France; it is far larger, with about 1,500 students against roughly 50 here, and is also a private institution.
For a study option in Italy with a comparable spread of agriculture, food science and quality, Istituto Tecnico Superiore Bioagromed is the reference point: it does not run the master's and doctoral programmes found here and covers life sciences as well.
Beyond national borders, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible stands out as a comparable school for agriculture, food science and bioinformatics; it has almost the same size, at about 50 students, and is public, whereas this school is private.

*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.

Agriculture, Climate Change, Food Safety, Organic, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Practices, Sustainable Product Design

> search our World Universities Directory here <

*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.

**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:

known locally
known locally and internationally
is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications

***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.

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