Federal Council allocates 650 million francs for Horizon program
Published: Wednesday, Apr 10th 2024, 12:00
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The Federal Council is making CHF 650 million available for Switzerland's participation in the EU's Horizon research program. The funds will serve as a transitional measure for the 2024 calls for proposals of the 2021-2027 Horizon package. The financial resources were already approved by Parliament at the end of 2020, as announced by the Federal Council on Wednesday.
Switzerland is still considered a non-associated third country in the EU program. Researchers in Switzerland could participate in around two thirds of the program with this status, the Federal Office of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) wrote on Wednesday.
If the EU Commission positively evaluates projects from Switzerland, these would then be funded directly by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The Federal Council has earmarked CHF 600 million for this purpose.
The remaining CHF 50 million is earmarked for non-accessible parts of the program, the statement continued. These include individual funding instruments for which national transitional measures would be used.
Restricted association from the end of May
Since the breakdown of negotiations for a framework agreement between Switzerland and the EU in May 2021, Switzerland has been considered a non-associated third country for EU programs. The Federal Council had already decided on transitional measures totaling CHF 1.85 billion for 2021, 2022 and 2023.
According to the communiqué, the Federal Council's goal remains the fastest possible association with the Horizon package. With the start of talks for an agreement with the EU, researchers in Switzerland have been given access to the call for proposals for the so-called ERC Advanced Grants. Researchers can apply for these grants from May 29.
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