swissuniversities President Luciana Vaccaro advocates an open and predictable framework for association to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ beyond 2027.
On 21 October, Luciana Vaccaro, President of swissuniversities and Rector of the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO), visited Brussels to underline the relevance of Switzerland’s strengths in research and education within European collaboration frameworks. Her visit came as European Union (EU) Member States and the European Parliament prepare for negotiations on the budget, structure and governance of the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will determine the conditions for future Swiss participation in Horizon Europe and Erasmus+.
At the heart of the discussions was the importance of stable and open European frameworks for research collaboration. In a bilateral meeting with Maria Cristina Russo, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Luciana Vaccaro highlighted Switzerland’s longstanding and substantial contribution to the research and innovation Framework Programmes, drawing on her own experience as one of the first Swiss coordinators following Switzerland’s first association in 2004. As a physicist, she underscored the inherently collaborative nature of scientific excellence, noting that the Nobel Prize in Physics has not been awarded to a sole laureate since 1992. Such collaboration relies on a predictable and stable association framework that provides researchers in associated countries with long-term certainty.
International mobility formed another key strand of the visit. On Erasmus+, Luciana Vaccaro stressed the competitive advantage of young professionals with international experience. With Switzerland unable to participate fully in Erasmus+ since 2014, sustained investment in cooperation and exchange is essential to safeguard the long-term international attractiveness of Swiss higher education institutions. The Council of States’ approval of funding for Switzerland’s Erasmus+ association in 2027 represents a very positive step in that regard, with the National Council still to give its green light before year end. Luciana Vaccaro discussed these points in depth with Gyula Cserey, Head of Unit for International Cooperation in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
The question of how Europe can overcome fragmentation was equally prominent. At the 10th anniversary reception of UAS4EUROPE, a network comprising 150 universities of applied sciences (UAS) from six European countries, Luciana Vaccaro spoke on behalf of founding member swissuniversities, having herself twice presided over the network. Despite a fragmented landscape of UAS shaped by different national mandates and institutional models, she emphasised the shared challenge of equipping the next generation with the skills needed to navigate profound societal transformations. Manuel Aleixo, Member of Commissioner Zaharieva’s Cabinet, meanwhile pointed to several initiatives designed to rein in fragmentation, from the Scaleup Europe Fund and EU Inc. (see SwissCore article) to tackle the scaling gap, to the upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act, which aims to facilitate researcher mobility and strengthen scientific freedom.
These challenges are also reflected in a rapidly evolving EU policy landscape. Thomas Jørgensen, Director of Policy Coordination and Foresight at the European University Association (EUA), highlighted several developments with potentially considerable impact on higher education, notably the European Innovation Act (see SwissCore article) on pre-commercial procurement and intellectual property (IP) commercialisation and the Cloud and AI Development Act (see SwissCore article), which aims to turn Europe into an ‘AI continent’ by tripling data centre capacity over the coming years.
To complete a week of productive discussions, the Swiss Global Competence Lab and SwissCore, supported by UAS4EUROPE and Universities of Applied Sciences Denmark, organised a two-day symposium on 22-23 October (see SwissCore article) to critically reflect on the impact of the European Universities Initiative from an applied sciences perspective. The university alliances funded through Erasmus+ have become an important framework for cross-border institutional cooperation of higher education institutions, including for Switzerland. As such, the alliances feature prominently in discussions on the next programming period.
Across these discussions, a common message emerged: Europe’s ambitions in education, research, innovation and competitiveness depend on its ability to connect knowledge, talent and institutions across borders. Switzerland’s excellence and longstanding integration into European knowledge networks mean it has an important contribution to make. Luciana Vaccaro summed it up in her own words on behalf of swissuniversities: “We are ready!”
We at SwissCore were delighted to accompany Luciana Vaccaro throughout her visit and help ensure that the voice of Swiss universities was heard in Brussels.