After six months at SwissCore, we bid farewell to our Trainee for Research, Haren Cha, and for Education, Kevin Guerreiro Paulino.
“It feels like not long ago that we arrived at SwissCore, yet it is already time for us to say goodbye. Our six months have been an amazing opportunity and experience that we will remember. It was a pleasure to be able to experience Swiss-EU cooperation in Research and Education.
Our time in Brussels was marked with various SwissCore events such as the Science Briefing, Spring Apéro and the Annual Event. Through these events we witnessed the importance of being in Brussels and how well SwissCore has been representing Switzerland in the ‘EU bubble’. It was a pleasure to get to know the ERI network both from Brussels and Switzerland.”
During her time, Haren focused on AI in research funding, a timely topic when both EU and Swiss stakeholders are faced with the implications of AI. Through her traineeship report, she explored how different public funding agencies are using AI in the evaluation process of the funding cycle, the ethical considerations that hinder the adoption, as well as the opportunities. Her experience at SwissCore further sparked her interest for international collaboration and R&I policy.
As an education trainee, Kevin focused on the education dossier, in particular Erasmus+ and the Union of Skills. He analysed the EU’s talent and skills attraction strategies for his report and explored potential synergies with Swiss-EU cooperation. Alongside gaining new insights into research policy, including the possible implications of FP10 for university research services, Kevin also participated as a panel speaker at a policy event of the IGLO network, which was one of his highlights.
“A heartfelt thank you to the SwissCore team for the support and trust during the past six months. Your kindness made everything much more special. An extended thank you goes to our supervisors Laurin Reding, Sarah Bühler and Sandra Gillner Zahed, your guidance and encouragements have truly made an impact. Thank you for allowing us to get the most out of this experience. As we head towards new opportunities, we are convinced that our experience at SwissCore will remain a strong cornerstone of both our professional and personal journey. We will miss you all, uf wiederluege et à la prochaine!”