More than two years have passed since Switzerland's exclusion from Horizon Europe, the world's largest research and innovation funding program, which has budgeted more than 92 billion francs for the period 2021 - 2027.

As of May 26, 2021, with the breakdown of negotiations on the Institutional Agreement, Swiss researchers have reduced their collaborations in European research projects by one-third and can no longer draw on funding funds provided by Horizon Europe.

The Federal Council has intervened with compensatory measures to keep the level of research and innovation in Switzerland competitive, which financially translates into investments of 1.2 billion Swiss francs for 2021-2022 and 625 million Swiss francs for 2023.

These are important measures, but they cannot offset the negative effects of Switzerland's exclusion from Horizon Europe. The first consequences of non-participation are already being felt: on a practical level, researchers at Swiss universities can no longer direct European projects or apply for grants or fellowships from the European Research Council. Swiss candidates and applicants are beginning to consider foreign institutions more than in the past for the awarding of professorships. Researchers and companies risk leaving the country, moving to where they can apply for EU grants.

In the long term, non-participation in the framework programs risks leading to an isolation of the Swiss scientific community from the rest of Europe and a general weakening of its network of contacts and partnerships. Indeed, international collaboration is the basis for the advancement of scientific research, and exclusion risks limiting access to research networks that foster the exchange of ideas and knowledge.

In a recent position statement, swissuniversities also pointed out the many disadvantages in excluding Switzerland fromHorizon Europe. Disadvantages that not only affect universities, but have implications for the entire Swiss economy and society as a whole. Indeed, innovation and research are the foundations for generating skilled jobs and providing opportunities for young people in training: essential conditions for sustaining the high competitiveness of the national economy.

The recent readmission of the United Kingdom to Horizon Europe is good news for British men and women researchers. At the same time, it offers hope to Swiss universities that negotiation efforts between Bern and Brussels may soon lead to full readmission to European funding programs.

On the issue of Switzerland's exclusion from the European Horizon Europe funding framework program, SUPSI Director General Franco Gervasoni recently commented in an interview with Corriere del Ticino

The interview is available at this link.