Scientific cooperation between Switzerland and Australia
Bern, 25.10.2016 - The second meeting of the Swiss-Australian joint committee for cooperation in the areas of science, research and cooperation was held today in Bern. The Swiss delegation, headed by Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi from the State Secretariat of Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), discussed the development of scientific cooperation between the two countries with the Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and her high-level delegation.
Representatives from research institutions, research and innovation promotion agencies, and the two countries’ governments assessed the progress that Switzerland and Australia have made in cooperating in this field since the first joint committee meeting held in Canberra in 2014. They also discussed the instruments available to develop cooperation, such as those offered by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project funding, exploratory activities and grants for individuals), and potential areas of common interest.
The discussions revealed that, despite the geographical distance between the two countries, there is considerable potential for closer bilateral cooperation. The Australian side expressed a particular interest in the question of research commercialisation, and research in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and Earth observation. It was agreed that an Australian scientific delegation will visit Switzerland in 2017 to explore promising areas of cooperation.
In terms of collaboration with the Asian-Pacific region, Australia is one of the top ten countries for which the Swiss National Science Foundation gives most support to Swiss researchers to enable international cooperation. Between 2011 and 2016, Swiss researchers indicated that they were working in 243 different joint projects with Australian counterparts, for a funding envelope of about CHF 90 million. Australia’s importance is also reflected in the figures of the country’s funding agency, the Australian Research Council, which places Switzerland in the top ten countries with which international collaboration is most intensive. This collaboration follows a bottom-up approach and is run by the researchers themselves.
The next meeting of the joint committee will take place in Australia in 2018.
Address for enquiries
Mauro Moruzzi
Ambassador
Head of International Relations
Tel: +41 79 659 99 10
Mauro.Moruzzi@sbfi.admin.ch
Publisher
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
http://www.sbfi.admin.ch
