Swiss Science Briefing – Research careers in the light of COVID-19 – How can science funders provide support?

SwissCore and the Mission of Switzerland to the EU organised an online Swiss Science Briefing on: ‘Research careers in the light of COVID-19 – How can science funders provide support?’.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect researcher careers? And how could measures by science funders help mitigate negative effects.

This briefing provided a glance at the impact of COVID-19 on young researchers with some first results from the Swiss Career Tracker Cohorts Study, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). In the subsequent panel, we elaborated on how an international research funder at EU level like the European Research Council (ERC) and a national funder like the SNSF could react to the crisis with their measures and decisions. The perspective of the young researchers’ community also added to the discussion helping to identify areas where further investigation and action has to take place. Panelists included Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, ERC President ad interim, Prof. Matthias Egger, President of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation, as well as Prof. Stéphanie Gauttier, Chair of the Policy Group of the Marie Curie Alumni Association.