Save the date for an online Swiss Science Briefing: discussion on how science funders can provide support to researchers impacted by the current health crisis.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented mobilisation of the scientific community and research funding. Researchers adapted their projects, the European Commission and national funders carved out new instruments and calls within days, and funding agencies implemented short-term measures to extend deadlines and prolong projects. Thanks to all these efforts, it was possible to increase knowledge about COVID-19 and its causing pathogen SARS-CoV2 and create effective vaccines in record time.
However, despite the boost the pandemic has provided for science, it has also severely affected researchers’ careers in a way that will last beyond the actual sanitary crisis. Laboratories in non-COVID related areas had to close temporarily and researchers reverted to teleworking. Some of them had to shoulder additional tasks like home schooling or caring for elders. Others had to cancel their fieldwork or study periods abroad. All of this had an impact on researchers’ productivity in terms of results, publications or promotions.
In an online Swiss Science Briefing in the afternoon of 7 July 2021, SwissCore will offer 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 will discuss with Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council (ERC), and Matthias Egger, President of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation, how national and international science funders can provide support and mitigate negative effects in a mid-term perspective. In addition, the input from a representative of the research community reflecting their challenges may help identify areas where further investigation and action is needed, and create the base for a continued dialogue for the benefit of the research community as a whole.
Detailed report: here