Swiss universities lose more than money through Horizon Europe exclusion

How has the disagreement between Switzerland and the EU affected your universities?

Yves Flückiger: Both of our universities are dealing with uncertainty, and this is very tough for our researchers. Research projects are not prepared overnight, so it is difficult when, halfway through, there is some doubt about the funding or the rules change. And it has been and remains very difficult for the universities to manage this uncertainty.

What other impacts have you seen?

Yves Flückiger: When we talk to EU researchers about taking up positions at our universities, we know they will have access to more funding if they stay within the EU, so we have to make an extra effort to remain attractive. For example, we need to offer new research infrastructures that cannot be found elsewhere, in order to offer them the platform that they need to do top-level research.

Michael Schaepman: We should distinguish between quantifiable loss and unquantifiable loss. The quantifiable loss, for example, is that we are no longer part of the European Research Council (ERC), so our researchers can no longer submit proposals at the level of European competition. We have a back-up scheme, established by the Swiss National Science Foundation, which solves part of the financial problem, but there are unquantifiable aspects that continue to hurt.

For example?

Michael Schaepman: We are missing the beneficial effects of competition. The people who win the equivalent of an ERC grant in Switzerland are excellent researchers, but we cannot say whether they would have won in a pan-European competition. We are also losing social interactions, and missing out on large projects where we can exchange knowledge and see what our colleagues are working on.

Yves Flückiger: Another example involves the quantum physics company ID Quantique, which has developed a lot of research with the University of Geneva. Now, it has decided to create 100 more jobs in Vienna, in order to be inside the EU system. So, we can see that the link between the Swiss universities and start-ups is also affected by the new situation.

Has there also been an impact on student mobility?

Yves Flückiger: The levels of mobility of our students were more affected by two years of Covid than by our exclusion from Erasmus+. Meanwhile, Swiss universities can still participate as associated partners in the Erasmus+ projects, providing Swiss government (SEMP) funding copying Erasmus funding. Within this framework, we have also been able to join European University alliances, and one reason Geneva decided to join the 4EU+ alliance was to overcome the negative impact of not being part of Erasmus+.

Michael Schaepman: Both university alliances – 4EU+ for Geneva and Una Europa for Zurich -- welcomed us with open arms. They could have said they were not interested in Swiss partners, but there is a high level of solidarity, and they want our way of thinking in their networks.

Yves Flückiger: I can see no negative impact in terms of the relationships we have with other European universities. We are working together, we have a lot of collaborations, and there is no sign that they want to stop working with Swiss universities or researchers.

How do you see this situation developing in future?

Yves Flückiger: The most harmful impact in the medium term is on young researchers. They are at the beginning of their careers, they need to build networks in Europe, and they are probably paying the highest price for these political games between the Swiss government and the Commission.

Is there any hope for a quick resolution?

Michael Schaepman: The Commission has demonstrated that if you can negotiate a compromise, as the UK has, it is willing to act immediately. Once the decision was taken in the UK, it was in the newspapers the next day that the UK could rejoin Horizon Europe, once a few details had been settled. It was a very pragmatic discussion. The question for Switzerland is: whose responsibility is it to make the first step? There are now signals on both sides that a certain pragmatism is emerging that will allow us to negotiate, but each minute longer this takes creates a loss in our research impact. So, for me things cannot go fast enough.

Yves Flückiger: My fear is that the resolution, when it comes, will say that we must wait for the next Horizon programme, and the time that will be lost in this waiting period will be very harmful for Swiss universities.

How did the UK’s parallel dispute over Horizon Europe affect you?

Michael Schaepman: There was a strong feeling of solidarity when we were both non-associated with Horizon Europe, and we had a lot of informal discussions with our British colleagues, where we tried to bring together the best arguments about why we should both join. Then, in the negotiation phase, the UK was a bit more straightforward than Switzerland. And to be a little bit self-critical, we’ve failed to take the Swiss population standing up for science with us, whereas in the UK the politicians felt how important it was to renegotiate the deal.

How has LERU helped during this period?

Yves Flückiger: LERU has provided extremely valuable support. All of its members stressed how important it was for Switzerland, and for Europe, for us to be fully integrated into Horizon Europe. LERU also used its strong presence in Brussels to advance this argument. Then the fact that I was chosen as Chair of LERU for the past year sent a strong signal that Switzerland remains a part of Europe, and an important member of this network.

Michael Schaepman: Sometimes in Switzerland it is tricky to understand Brussels, and LERU allows us to measure the pulse and see where the EU is going. The information we receive through LERU on the Commission is extremely helpful, and in turn, the information we give to LERU reaches the Commission. So LERU is a most important network for us.

Professor Flückiger, this will be your last Rectors’ Assembly as Chair of LERU. How do you look back on the year?

Yves Flückiger: It was a very intense year, because I was President of swissuniversities, Rector of the University of Geneva, and Chair of LERU at the same time. But since we were so invested in these questions about Switzerland’s position, it was very useful for me to have connections with the Swiss government on the one hand, and with LERU and Brussels on the other. But it has always been important for the University of Geneva to be involved in all of LERU’s activities, and in its reflections on good practice and the development of our institutions. LERU is a special network, and we need to keep it strong for the future.

©LERU: Text by Ian Mundell.