Frozen out of Horizon Europe, Swiss science feels the pinch

A year ago Switzerland was ignominiously ejected from the EU’s major research funding programmes. As a result, scientists in Switzerland are warning that R&D is suffering with some fearing that the country’s chance of re-joining these programmes are already fading.

While not an EU member, Switzerland had previously participated in research programmes like Horizon 2020 as an ‘associated’ country. But due to political tensions between the European commission and the Swiss government over a collapsed trade deal Switzerland was refused associated status for the latest cycle of funding programmes. This includes Horizon Europe, Euratom and Digital Europe, all of which launched in 2021 and are scheduled to run until 2027.