Switzerland extends funding guarantee for participation in Horizon Europe in 2023

The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) has pledged to continue reimbursing the costs of Swiss partners in approved Horizon Europe and Euratom projects for the 2023 calls. This means that Switzerland will provide funding for the participation of its research and innovation actors regardless of its participation status in the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation.

The Swiss Government is hereby responding to the fact that Switzerland is currently not associated to the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe (2021-2027). Despite not being able to receive funding from Horizon Europe, Swiss applicants can participate in Horizon Europe projects as Associated Partners. In other words, in the non-associated third country mode, researchers and innovators in Switzerland can participate to a limited extent in around two thirds of the calls for proposals, including the European Innovation Council programmes (see figure below), but cannot take on the administrative coordination of projects. Researchers and innovators in Switzerland are funded directly by the Confederation if the complete project proposal has been positively evaluated by the European Commission (see Transitional Measures-Direct Funding).

As an associated country, Switzerland will also finance the participation of its researchers and innovators in the whole Horizon Package (including Horizon Europe, Euratom, Digital Europe Programme, research infrastructure ITER) through its mandatory contribution to the European Commission. For associated countries, the mandatory contribution is determined in principle by the amount of EU project funding granted to the researchers and innovators of the respective country.

The following graph presented below illustrates the opportunities for project participation and funding for Swiss researchers and innovators in the 2022 calls for proposals of the Horizon Package.

Source: https://www.sbfi.ch