Annual_Report_2024

Review of 2024

Horizon Europe and Switzerland: Review of 2024

Euresearch activities were influenced by the 2024 Work Programme, including delays in artificial- intelligence-related calls due to adjustments in the rapidly evolving field of generative AI. The year was also notable when it came to the preparation of the 2025 Work Programme. Due to the elections of the EU parliament and the formation of the new European Commission, the publication of the Work Programme was delayed and changes to the Commission’s priorities may affect its content. Finally, the year abounded in preparatory activities for the next EU Framework Programme, FP10. A wealth of position papers was published, with Euresearch contributing to the position paper by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Furthermore, the Heitor report on FP10, as well as the broader considerations addressed in the Letta report on the future of the single market and in the Draghi report on EU competitiveness, will serve as the basis to shape the future of the EU programmes and the suc cessor to Horizon Europe.

2024 closed the first Horizon Europe Strate gic Plan period (2021-2024) and served as a bridge to the second half of the 7-year Framework Programme. The modalities of participation for Switzerland as a “Third Country” not associated to Horizon Europe remained almost unchanged. The Swiss government continued its guarantee of national financing for successful Swiss entities in the 2024 calls. Additionally, complementary measures provided funding for the calls in Horizon Europe that were not accessible to Swiss entities, including some career funding schemes and critical technol ogy topics, such as space and cybersecurity. 2024 will certainly remain in our memories as the pivotal year in which Switzerland’s access to Horizon Europe progressively improved. After an- nouncing the preparation of the negotiation man- dates at the end of 2023, the negotiations started in March 2024 and a few days later, Swiss entities gained access to the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant 2024 call. As the intense negotiations swiftly progressed, further ERC calls from the 2025 Work Programme became accessible in summer and autumn. Finally, as negotiations substantively concluded on 20 December, the European Commission simultaneously announced the activation of the transitional arrangement from 1 January 2025. This opened the door for research ers and innovators in Switzerland to almost all calls from the Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programmes, as well as the closely related Digital Europe Programme. However, Swiss entities can still not access the specific objectives on cybersecurity and semi-conductors.

Francesco Kienzle, Director

6

Annual Report 2024