Abegg Foundation, Bern University of Applied Sciences

The Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB) was founded in 2003 as the first all-encompassing academy of the arts in Switzerland. It undertakes teaching, research, further education and service provision in Music, Opera, Theater, Literary Writing, Art, Design and Conservation-Restoration. The Y Institute (Institute for Transdisciplinarity) organises and moderates exchange between the disciplines. About 1000 students in Bachelor or Master programmes, 170 in further education programmes and 500 teaching and research staff study and work at the academy. The HKB cooperates with numerous universities within Switzerland and abroad, and is represented in national and international organisations and associations. The courses of study on offer comprise eight Bachelor’s and nine Master’s Degrees and additional postgraduate programmes (Certificate, Diploma and Masters of Advanced Studies). Research at the HKB is characterised by the link between academic and artistic approaches. The HKB carries out research within four transdisciplinary focuses of Communication Design, Interpretation Research, Intermediality, and Materiality in Art and Culture. The HKB is one of six departments of the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH). It has an interdisciplinary PhD programme (Studies in the Arts SINTA), which is conducted in cooperation with the University of Bern.