5 Euresearch Annual Report 2023 2023 – A Year of Change The year 2023 was tempestuous on a global scale. The ongoing conflicts at the edge of Europe and in the Middle East have done little to nurture global collaboration in the field of science. Furthermore, the tendencies of regimes to isolationist or populist politics do not engender the spirit of international collaboration. Increasing state-level control of international scientific collaboration is becoming the norm, with global players such as the OECD expressing concern regarding the drift of intellectual property away from its holders. Switzerland is not exempt from these trends and the Swiss relationship with the European Union in 2023 has continued to be complex and challenging, despite expressions of good will and optimism from all concerned. With regard to domestic affairs within Euresearch, much of the year was dominated by the negotiation with the State Secretariat of Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and the preparation of contracts for the 2024–2027 funding period. It is a great pleasure to announce that this process was efficient and painless, and places Euresearch in a strong position for the challenges of and, hopefully, better integration within, Horizon Europe and subsequent framework programmes. Congratulations to the Euresearch co-directors, the management team and everyone involved in making this work – with special thanks to Mascha Zurbriggen and Philipp Langer at SERI for their unending support and assistance. The planning for this period was extremely complex, needing to be flexible for the change in function and priorities that full association would bring whilst preserving the core activities of the status quo. The team finessed this in a skilled and professional manner. In operational terms, 2023 was successful, with Swiss participation in European projects remaining strong. However, the exclusion from single-beneficiary grants, especially the Euro- pean Research Council (ERC) Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants, has reduced Switzerland’s attractiveness as a home for incoming academics and will have a yet-to-be-determined impact on rankings. Again, congratulations to all involved in the hard work at the Regional Offices and, naturally, to the successful consortia. The year was characterised by uncertainties within the Swiss scientific community as to which programmes were open to them. The outstanding work from all within Euresearch to ensure that correct and accurate information was disseminated can be counted a great success. At the same time, the message “We’re still here … don’t forget us” was sent strongly to our traditional international partners, together with clarification of how the national funding from Switzerland works in practice. To finish, I hope that next year’s editorial will be able to look back upon the troubles of 2023 and celebrate the achievements of humankind and the establishment of better and stable relationships between Switzerland and our European partners. Edwin Constable, Euresearch President
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