The United Kingdom and Switzerland have signed a new deal on scientific research programmes, separate from the European Union as both countries are still blocked from accessing Horizon Europe amid political tensions.
The new deal help “deepen relations” in the field of scientific research, the UK government said in a statement on 10 November: UK signs major science co-operation agreement with Switzerland – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The memorandum of understanding is set to expand UK-Swiss partnerships over a wide range of subjects from quantum technology to life sciences, space and nuclear fusion.
“It is a clear political signal by our governments to the scientific community and funding agencies that we want to invest in more joint projects,” said Markus Leitner, Swiss ambassador in London. “We are pushing international collaboration wherever we can get it.”
As stated in the press release from the Swiss side (Switzerland and the UK strengthen their cooperation in research and innovation (admin.ch)), researchers and institutes in the two countries are already in regular contact and work together on numerous projects in the areas of research and innovation. Certain key figures illustrate the importance of their cooperation, in bilateral as well as multilateral contexts: the UK is Switzerland’s third most important partner in terms of the number of joint projects being carried out as part of Horizon 2020. In addition, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) approved some 1,100 grants between October 2017 and September 2022 that include a collaborative component with researchers in the UK or will be carried out there. Researchers from both countries also work together at international research institutes such as CERN, the European Organisation for Astronomy or the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO).
Both countries, which have played prominent roles in previous EU science programmes, remain keen to join Horizon as associated countries as soon as possible.
Read below various articles published on the topic:
UK and Switzerland to sign research collaboration deal | Financial Times (ft.com)
UK and Switzerland sign deal on scientific research amid Horizon snub | Euronews
Switzerland and UK sign major agreement on science and innovation – SWI swissinfo.ch