The Swiss Science Council 2024–2027
The Swiss Science Council (SSC) has started the 2024–2027 term of office with five new members. At its meeting of 26 and 27 February 2024, it outlined the first key challenges for science, higher education, research and innovation policy in the coming years. The SSC also emphasised that education, research and innovation will require more federal funding and new impetus in the coming years than the Federal Council has foreseen.
"The relevance of education, research and innovation is increasing," stated SSC President Sabine Süsstrunk after the first meeting of the newly constituted Council. "We are convinced that the authorities and the administration will give more importance to scientific policy advice – and thus to the SSC – after the Covid-19 crisis. We perceive a willingness on the part of all those involved to improve cooperation."
"Research and innovation 4.0", "Improved coordination of education, research and innovation" and "Science with and for society" are the first keywords for which the SSC will specify the priorities of its 2024–2027 Working Programme in the upcoming weeks. It is already apparent that there will be an SSC work package on Artificial Intelligence, among other things, as this technology is massively changing education, research and innovation (ERI). The Council will also continue its efforts to implement its latest recommendations for the adequate digitalisation of the healthcare system and for mission-oriented research and innovation in Switzerland.
More funding for the ERI sector
It is with concern that the SSC has taken note of the Federal Council’s plans for the ERI sector (consultation on the ERI Dispatch 25–28) and of the latest decisions to cut loosely earmarked expenditure. On the one hand, the Federal Council wants Switzerland to maintain a leading position in the ERI sector, which is fundamental to the country's welfare. On the other hand, the financial decisions are primarily characterised by the difficult financial situation.
The ongoing non-association with the European Union's education, research and innovation programmes is a major challenge in itself. The SSC therefore fears that without an average annual real growth in funding of at least 2.5 %, Switzerland's leading position in the ERI sector cannot be maintained. The peril lies in the gradual erosion, with its repercussions only becoming evident once it is too late.
Advising the federal government since 1965
The Swiss Science Council SSC is the advisory body to the Federal Council for all issues related to science, higher education, research and innovation policy. The Council has for 59 years been working to optimise the Swiss education, research and innovation landscape. It is independent and does not award any funding. The SSC always takes a long-term perspective and is consistently committed to the good of the entire system.
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Open Letter of European STI Councils and Advisory Bodies and other Science Organisations on the Participation of Switzerland under Horizon Europe
Over the last years, the Swiss Confederation and the European Commission held complex negotiations about market access, which unfortunately did not result in a successful outcome. Hopefully, new ways will be found to overcome this difficult situation and clarify the relationship.
The signatories of this letter would like to underline the importance of continuing the long established and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Switzerland in the domain of research and innovation. Swiss participation in European FPs already started in the 1980s. As of 2004, Switzerland has been an Associated Country, with a short-term interruption as partially Associated Country between 2014 – 2016. Under the previous FPs, Switzerland has made important contributions in many fields, such as the health sector, climate, and quantum technologies. Furthermore, Switzerland is a founding member of the European Space Agency as well as COST and EUREKA and together with France host country to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
Switzerland is home to world-class research institutions and ranked among the most competitive and innovative countries for years. As an open nation to research and innovation, it contributes through its collaborations and co-authorships to the excellence of the European Research Area (ERA). Downgrading Switzerland to a Third Country would severely limit its expertise being brought into Horizon Europe projects tackling today’s and tomorrow’s global challenges. We are convinced that this would lead to a lose-lose situation, putting successful cooperation in strategic areas at risk and ultimately weaken the ERA as a whole.
Global competition in R&I is on the rise and becomes more and more multipolar; geopolitical tensions worldwide increased as well. At the same time, the world faces unprecedented challenges such as the post-Covid recovery and Climate Change. Therefore, Europe should stand together and unite its forces.
As Science, Technology, and Innovation organisations, we are sincerely convinced that a full association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe will ensure the continuity of a successful collaboration between the Swiss Confederation and the European Union in Research and Innovation.
Date of Publication: 07.06.2021 (Last Update of Signatories: 19.07.2021)
Signatories:
Austrian Science Council; Estonian Academy of Sciences; Flemish Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepeneurship; Latvian Council of Science; National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary; Research Council of Lithuania; The Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy; Academia Europea (The Academy of Europe); Aurora Universities Network; European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU); Coimbra Group; League of European Research Universities (LERU); The Guild; Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA); Universities of Applied Sciences for Europe (UAS4Europe); Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO); Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research (CESAER); Science Europe; Croatian Science Foundation; Dutch Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI); Max Planck Society; EuroTech Universities Alliance; Eucor – The European Campus; Foundation for Polish Science; Czech Science Foundation; Luxembourg National Research Fund; National Science Centre – Poland; IDEA League; Development and Innovation Council, Czech Republic; European University Association (EUA); Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS), Belgium; Vinnova – Sweden; Conseil des recteurs – Belgium
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