The NCCR set up one of the first inter-institutional doctoral schools in Switzerland under the name of "Graduate School in Plants and their Environment"; the universities of Neuchâtel, Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg and Zurich participated in the school. This programme served the CUSO (Conférence universitaire de Suisse occidentale) as a model for other initiatives. In 2009, the University of Neuchâtel integrated the programme into the Institute of Biology. It remains open to students from other universities, who make up about 25% of the student body.