Finding practical solutions
Negotiations between Switzerland and the EU on education and research agreements have been suspended. How is ETH Zurich handling the situation?
The negotiations with the EU concerning Switzerland’s participation as an associated state in the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and in the Erasmus+ education programme have currently been suspended. This was confirmed over the past two days by the EU Commission and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and has consequences for Switzerland’s cooperation in research and student exchange with Europe.
The State Secretariat SERI writes in a memo published online that the Federation is working towards
- working out a solution with the EU by September 2014 that will allow researchers in Switzerland to participate in Horizon 2020. A solution is also to be found for individual projects. The first agreements for research projects of consortiums are to be signed in September, and
- developing a solution with the EU by June 2014 that will allow students to participate in Erasmus+. The first project agreements on mobility and partnership projects will need to be signed in June.
Roland Siegwart, Vice President Research and Corporate Relations of ETH Zurich, understands very well that the current situation is unsettling researchers and students: after all, the first entry deadlines for project applications in Horizon 2020 and Eramsus+ are already in one month and much is at stake for universities, including ETH Zurich.
“The important thing is that researchers and students continue to apply for European education and research programmes,” says Siegwart. “We are still confident that politicians and diplomats will find a practical solution so that our researchers and students can be involved in the European programmes.”
Current financing secured
Researchers in Switzerland should therefore continue to participate actively and without restrictions in the current calls for Horizon 2020. The financing for the researchers in Switzerland in the current seventh framework programme for research is, according to the SERI, secured by the EU Commission until the end of the research projects.
In the scope of the education programmes, mobility grants will be paid out to students in full until the end of the 2013/14 term, and projects from education programmes which were started by the end of 2013 will continue to be valid. “It is extremely important for ETH that students from Europe can come to Zurich and that our students have access to European universities,” says Roland Siegwart.
In total 247 Erasmus students from the European education area applied for the 2013/14 term (previous year: 335) at ETH. Conversely so far 141 (previous year: 131) ETH students are registered for a stay abroad within the Erasmus programme. The application window for an exchange under the Erasmus programme for the 2014/15 academic year is – and continues to be – open until 1 March 2014.
Much is at stake
It is clear that a lot is at stake for universities like ETH Zurich. It is important that researchers at ETH and in Switzerland will continue to be able to submit projects with the European Research Council (ERC) and also conduct them at a Swiss university if they are successful. The ERC, however, only considers applications from member states and associated states.
Researchers from ETH Zurich alone have been supported to the tune of CHF 200 million in excellence grants from the ERC, the so-called ERC grants (Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants and Advanced Grants), since 2007. The case is similar with the Marie Skłodowska Curie scholarships for young researchers: some CHF 54 million has gone to ETH researchers since 2007. ETH has been granted approximately CHF 155 million since 2007 for cooperation in research projects. All subsidies combined, ETH Zurich has received some CHF 410 million since 2007.
Researchers in Switzerland have been on an equal footing with researchers from EU member states within the framework of European research programmes and initiatives since 2007 and the first association agreement. This agreement needs to be renewed every six years, i.e. in 2014. Without such an agreement, Swiss researchers cannot assume leading and coordinating tasks within cooperation in research: this applies for cooperation projects and for ERC grants.
Promotion of innovation affected
Characteristic for Horizon 2020 is also the fact that sustainable development and innovation in the collaboration of research and industry will be supported even more strongly than in the past; areas that are the traditional strengths of ETH Zurich. For instance, 112 spin-offs have been established from ETH projects since 2009 alone.
The suspension of the negotiations is related to the referendum on 9 February: on that referendum Sunday, the Swiss electorate voted for the currently applicable freedom of movement of persons to be replaced by maximum annual volumes and quotas for foreigners within three years.
However, for the education and research programmes, the EU also refers to the freedom of movement of persons as a key component of the bilateral treaties and is waiting to see how Switzerland will proceed with the expansion of the freedom of movement of persons in Croatia. However, the new constitutional regulations rule out concluding new agreements that are not compatible with introducing quotas for foreigners.