Switzerland and US sign research cooperation deal
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) have signed a joint memorandum of understanding to boost future cooperation.
The deal was signed between the two research funding agencies on Friday in Washington on the occasion of Swiss President Guy Parmelin’s three-day visit to the United States. The aim is to help Swiss and US researchers carry out projects with partners in the respective countries.
“We are creating the basis for long-term cooperation between our two funding agencies,” said Matthias Egger, president of the Swiss National Research Council, in a statementExternal link.
As a first step to significantly reduce administrative work, Swiss and American researchers will only have to submit a single application for joint projects.
The SNSF has already concluded similar agreements with various countries within and outside Europe. The US is Switzerland’s largest research partner, participating in around 15% of publications by researchers in Switzerland. Since 2016, the SNSF has funded more than 5,000 projects in Switzerland that involve some form of collaboration with the US.
During his US visit Parmelin also agreed a declaration of intent to boost cooperation with the United States on vocational education and training.
The agreement signed on Thursday is valid for three years and signals “intensifying knowledge exchange between education stakeholders active in the public and private sectors” in both countries, the Swiss education ministry said in a statement.
Switzerland’s famed apprenticeship system is often held up as the “gold standard” in vocational training and is the number one choice for young people after they leave school. For some time now, the US has been looking at Switzerland’s system combining education with an apprenticeship at a host company.
More
Does your country have enough food reserves to withstand a crisis?
More
Lost in limbo: calls for repatriation of Swiss jihadist detainees in Syria grow louder
More
Mennonite movement turns 500 in Zurich, where it all began
More
Will Switzerland finally do away with imputed rental-value tax on homeowners?
More
Does democracy really make the world more peaceful?
News
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
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.