Switzerland and South Africa sign ‘milestone’ in scientific cooperation
The recent signing of an agreement between the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) has been welcomed as an “important milestone” in scientific relations between the two countries.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch/ts
The Lead Agency Agreement – the first concluded by the SNSF with a non-European country – facilitates cooperation between researchers in Switzerland and their South African counterparts.
During a video conference on Thursday Guy Parmelin, who heads the Swiss ministry for economics, education and research, and South Africa’s minister for science, Blade Nzimande, hailed the agreement as a key component in the excellent bilateral relations between their two countries.
“Thanks to the direct cooperation between the respective research funding agencies, scientists from Switzerland and South Africa will now be able to submit joint project applications to either of the agencies at any time and in any field,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
The president of the SNSF’s National Research Council, Matthias Egger, who also took part in the video conference along with the director of the South African NRF, Molapo Qhobela, underlined the significance of the agreement. For South Africa, it is the first such agreement the country has ever entered into, and so opens up a new and important phase in bilateral scientific cooperation.
Direct cooperation
A bilateral agreement between Switzerland and South Africa on cooperation in science and technology has existed since 2007, providing a basis for the bilateral research programme launched in 2008. Under this programme, the SNSF and the NRF have already launched several calls for proposals on specialist topics and funded a total of 37 research projects.
More
More
Swiss aim to strengthen trade and science ties
This content was published on
“We wanted to open doors for our private sector representatives and contact the scientific community, and I wanted to get to know my South African colleagues and reactivate our personal ties. We achieved all of that,” Schneider-Ammann told swissinfo.ch. The economics minister, who had visited South Africa as an entrepreneur prior to his political career,…
Direct cooperation between the two research funding agencies was a major objective of the bilateral programme coordinated by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in conjunction with the University of Basel.
Furthermore, since 1962 around 100 South African researchers and creative artists have enjoyed the benefits of a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and spent part of their academic career at a Swiss higher education institution. Between 2004 and 2014 there was a fourfold increase in the number of joint academic publications by Swiss and South African researchers.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss firms help build professional skills in Africa
This content was published on
The Swiss have made vocational training central to their diplomatic and business culture. This spells good news for the African continent.
Swiss regret end of South African investment accord
This content was published on
The South African authorities informed the Swiss on Thursday that they were ending the accord, having indicated over 12 months ago that investment treaties would be replaced by legislation. The agreement will still run for a year, the legal period of notice, and investments made before that time will be protected for another 20 years.…
This content was published on
The last stretch of the drive to the vineyards of Jean-Claude Martin and Christoph Kaser is a reddish-brown dirt road. A gate with the South African flag – and a smaller Swiss one – indicates the entrance to the Creation Wines estate, a few kilometres inland from the quaint coastal town of Hermanus. It is…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.