Academic Freedom is a strong value for Swiss and EU science cooperation and a key asset for the advancement of knowledge and the society.
Academic Freedom: this was the topic of the Science Briefing that the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and SwissCore co-organised on 26 October 2023 at the Palais des Académies in Brussels. The purpose of the event was to discuss how to strengthen this fundamental value that is shared by the EU’s Global Approach on Research and Innovation and Swiss scientific cooperation.
After a welcome of Sarah Bühler, Advisor for Research at SwissCore, providing the key questions and setting the agenda of the event, Angelika Kalt, Director of the Swiss National Science Foundation, and Vice-President of Science Europe, moderated the first session:
Martina Caroni, Professor of International, Constitutional and Comparative Law at the University of Lucerne and Delegate for Human Rights of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, gave the first keynote on the concept of academic freedom, i.e. the freedom to inquire into any subject that evokes scientific interest, to represent scientific results to colleagues and society, as well as to publish results and data without restriction. She indicated that it also applies to teachers and students to teach and study subjects that concern them. Besides, Prof. Caroni stressed that academic freedom is interlinked with broader concepts such as freedom of opinion and expression, which are part of the UN human rights system. According to Caroni, academic freedom is ingrained in many national constitutions, including that of Switzerland. At the same time, academic freedom has always been contested and academics have been prosecuted because of their views and the truth they uncover. Today, academic freedom is threatened by different actors on different grounds, including content-based restrictions, limitations of funding, travel bans for researchers, or concerns of security. Finally, she highlighted that academic freedom is key for the advancement of knowledge and contributes to the well-being of society.
In the second keynote, Gosse Vuijk, Head of Parliamentary Affairs for Dr Christian Ehler and his advisor on science, research, innovation and industrial policy, presented the activities of the European Parliament to protect academic freedom more strongly. He highlighted that Parliament primarily promotes academic freedom through the European Parliament Forum For Academic Freedom, founded in 2022. He said that Horizon Europe is currently the only tool to protect academic freedom and that its legal protection at the Union level is not strong enough. Consequently, the European Parliament presented a possible legislative initiative to enhance the protection of academic freedom in the EU. He also announced that the STOA Annual Event at the end of November 2023 will be dedicated to academic freedom.
The event continued with a discussion with four distinguished panellists, moderated by Roger Pfister, Head of International Cooperation at the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the Swiss Section of Scholars at Risk (SAR) :
Slaven Misljencevic, Policy Officer at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (RTD) at the European Commission and responsible for ERA Action 6 on Academic Freedom, highlighted the importance of academic freedom for the European Commission (EC), to which the Policy Action 6 is specifically dedicated to within the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024. Outlining that academic freedom is challenged by domestic threats and foreign threats, he explained that the EC is working on monitoring exercises and mechanisms that are acknowledged by the Member States, with evidence measures will be taken thereupon, whereas for foreign threats, the EC published a toolkit regarding foreign interference. Besides, the EC is currently organising a Mutual Learning Exercises (MLE) to bring together policymakers from the Member States to share best practices on how universities and research funders can protect themselves from foreign interference, and to understand the role of policymakers in this field. Moreover, a one-stop shop European digital platform on academic freedom and foreign interference in R&I is currently under preparation by DG RTD.
Koen Lemmens, Professor of Human Rights Law at KU Leuven and co-author of a recent report on academic freedom by the League of European Research Universities (LERU), indicated that the position of governing bodies at universities is critical with regards to supporting individual researchers and their engagement and rights in academic freedom. He also emphasised that access to funding for all disciplines and open sharing of data and its access, especially for researchers from the Global South, is crucial.
Katrin Kinzelbach, Professor for International Politics of Human Rights at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen-Nürnberg and Principal Investigator of the Academic Freedom Index, explained that she initiated the Academic Freedom Index due to the lack of data on academic freedom. Its purpose was thus to make it a tangible concept and to foster the state of academic freedom.
Jan Willem Duyvendak, Director of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences and member of the Committee for Academic Freedom of the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), underlined that due to the strong degree of globalisation of science, sharing of policies, including harmonisation efforts, can be of benefit to enhance academic freedom.
During the event, it was also emphasised that academic freedom is a guiding value for Swiss scientific cooperation: at the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, academic freedom has been a key topic since 2017, at the Swiss National Science Foundation, the country’s principal funding agency, it is a principle in its international cooperation strategy. Besides, the bottom-up approach regarding science in Switzerland, strengthens academic freedom. Moreover, both the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences and the SNSF support the work of the global Scholars at Risk network.
In conclusion, the event underscored the empowering role of academic freedom, which grants researchers, teachers, and students the liberty to delve into subjects that pique their curiosity, share their findings with peers and society, and publish their work without constraints. However, the discussions held during the Science Briefing once again underscored that there remains a need for further clarification and a deeper understanding of academic freedom, particularly with regards to its precise definition. To uphold and preserve academic freedom, it is imperative to raise awareness about the contemporary challenges it faces and establish more robust monitoring mechanisms, even in the face of challenges related to data availability. Academic freedom, as a fundamental value shared by both Swiss and EU scientific cooperation, significantly contributes to progress. The safeguarding of academic freedom can be ensured and the realms of science and the overall well-being of society can be advanced through collaborative efforts.