About

The BedrettoLab (Bedretto Underground Laboratory for Geosciences and Geoenergies) is an underground laboratory run by ETH Zurich. It is located in the southern Swiss Alps within the 5.2‑km-long Bedretto Tunnel, which connects the Furka Base Tunnel in the northwest with the Bedretto Valley in the southeast, in the canton of Ticino.

The BedrettoLab operates through a governance structure that balances strategic oversight with efficient operational management. At the top, the ETH Oversight Committee and the Board of Directors provide institutional supervision and set the lab’s strategic direction. The Executive Committee implements these decisions and supports coordination across the laboratory.

Daily operations are managed by Lab Management, which oversees core administrative functions as well as technical maintenance, safety, communications, and IT support. Scientific and experimental activities are organized through Testbed Coordination, which manages testbed operations, safety, data handling, and support for research execution.

Together, these bodies ensure that BedrettoLab functions effectively as a high‑level underground research infrastructure for ETH Zurich, external collaborators, and industry partners.

Other Swiss underground laboratories are the Mont Terri rock laboratory, an international research project for the hydrogeological, geochemical and geotechnical characterisation of a clay formation (Opalinus Clay), and the Grimsel Test Site, focusing on research on the geological disposal of radioactive waste.