Swiss scientists graduate from funding doldrums

The Swiss-based Human Brain scientific project has Horizon 2020 financial backing Keystone

What a difference a year makes – particularly for Swiss researchers vying for coveted European Union research grants.

Last January, the Swiss scientific community was in the doldrums as negotiations to stay in the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme stalled in Davos. Swiss universities were threatened with a mass exodus of talent.

Roll on 12 months and the curtain of gloom has been lifted thanks to an EU-friendly method of implementing an anti-mass immigration vote and the extension of the free movement of people agreement with Croatia last month.

Swiss researchers have been top of class at winning European Research Council (ERC) grants (part of Horizon 2020) since the scheme was introduced in 2007. Some 22% of Swiss bids are successful – the best conversion rate by a clear distance and around twice the EU average.

That means that for every franc Switzerland invested in the EU research funding programme, it receives two back. Between 2007 and 2013, Switzerland contributed €240 million to ERC and received €500 million back in grants for researchers.

During last year’s WEF meeting, Switzerland was hanging on to the coattails of Horizon 2020 with only a year’s access to its ERC grants. Having satisfied EU demands in December, Switzerland now has full associate access to the €80 billion scheme that runs until 2020. 

“It’s great news for everyone that the road blocks have been removed,” ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon told swissinfo.ch in Davos. “It would have been terrible if Switzerland’s participation had ended.” As it turned out, Switzerland beat the EU’s February deadline for sorting out the immigration impasse to stay in Horizon 2020 by only a few weeks.

Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) has consistently been the most successful Swiss university at winning ERC grants. Its president, Martin Vetterli (himself a one-time grant beneficiary), said Switzerland’s reputation as a competitive research centre would have taken a huge hit had EU funding disappeared over the horizon.

“When I interviewed people for positions at EPFL, the first question was always: ‘will Switzerland be back in Horizon 2020?’” he told swissinfo.ch.

And it’s not just the money that makes ERC funding so attractive. The highly competitive nature of applying for the funding, the freedom given to winners to spend cash on creative research and the lengthy five-year time span of grants, add to its appeal, Vetterli said.

“I lived in the United States for many years and I couldn’t find funding of this nature,” he said.