On 2 May 2023, State Secretary Martina Hirayama and British Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, George Freeman, opened the first meeting of the Joint Swiss-British Committee for Science and Innovation. This meeting between the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and the British Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was mainly centred on bilateral cooperation in research and innovation.

The government wants to safeguard the Swiss space research sector while promoting a "sustainable and responsible" universe. Adopting the Federal Space Policy 2023 on Wednesday, the government said the goal was to take account of the “rapid developments in and increasing importance of outer space”.

The EU is making some progress towards adding international partners to its Horizon Europe research programme, but complaints about the proposed membership terms continue to stir controversy.

Switzerland's president has discussed Horizon Europe association and Erasmus+ membership with Commission president, as the two sides try to revive broader negotiations that could unlock talks about the research programme. 

Locked out of key European research and education programmes, Swiss universities are forging another path via alliances with European universities.

European research leaders have reacted with disappointment to Switzerland's expulsion from the body that coordinates scientific infrastructure across the continent.

 Of 174 UK-based ERC grant winners 23, or around one in eight, have decided to relocate, while only four of 66 researchers based in Switzerland did so.

Political tensions mean both nations have been shut out of the EU's prestigious Horizon programme.

ETH Zurich is opening a new research and teaching centre with a focus on exploring the origin and prevalence of life on Earth and beyond. Under the leadership of Noble Laureate, Didier Queloz, more than 40 research groups from five departments will address the big questions posed by humankind.

The European Commission has rejected calls from research leaders on both sides of the English Channel for it to put politics aside and allow Switzerland and the UK to join the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

Press release: Hugo Duminil-Copin, Full Professor in the Section of Mathematics at UNIGE, has been awarded the prestigious Fields Medal. The Lake Geneva region has been recognised twice: Professor Maryna Viazovska of the EPFL is also a medalist.

Maryna Viazovska has received a Fields Medal, a prestigious honor often described as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics, for her work on the sphere-packing problem in 8 and 24 dimensions. Previously, the problem had been solved for only three dimensions or fewer. Another Fields Medal is awarded to University of Geneva mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin.

The Swiss National Science Foundation's 'narrative' template seeks evidence of applicants' wider contributions to science.

A coalition of research funders has been advocating for free, unrestricted access to publications since 2018. The SNSF is now joining them and adapting its Open Access requirements.

Newly calculated figures illustrate the sharp decline in contributions from EU programmes to Swiss institutions between 2014 and 2017. They also attest to the relevance of Switzerland and the UK in terms of scientific excellence.

Switzerland is currently considered a non-associated third country in Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. On 4 May 2022, the Federal Council adopted extensive measures to bridge the gap arising from this situation.

An ambitious EU initiative aiming to create a cyber-replica of Planet Earth for climate-impact simulations may not include British or Swiss organisations - and some researchers in the project say that's a problem.

When JET, the Joint European Torus, announced a breakthrough in the production of fusion energy in February, the celebrations could be heard across Europe. Although based in the UK, the project belongs to a much wider fusion research community.