Switzerland s Participation in the 7 th European Research Framework Programme, stocktaking report Facts and figures

Transcription

1 Switzerland s Participation in the 7 th European Research Framework Programme, stocktaking report Facts and figures

2 2009 State Secretariat for Education and Research SER ISSN: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft Confédération suisse Confederazione Svizzera Confederaziun svizra Swiss Confederation Federal Department of Home Affairs DHA State Secretariat for Education and Research SER Multilateral Research Cooperation Unit Hallwylstrasse 4 CH Bern T F europrogram@sbf.admin.ch

3 Switzerland s Participation in the 7 th European Research Framework Programme, stocktaking report Facts and figures

4 Table of Contents 1 Summary 5 2 General information about FP7 6 3 Historical background Swiss FP participation ( ) Secured FP7 grant funding by participant category Supporting Swiss research activities through FPs ( ) 13 4 Swiss participation in FP7 ( ) Introduction FP7 grant funding by participant category Swiss FP7 participation and coordination by participant category Activities carried out by Swiss participants Number of participations by research programme FP7 grant funding by research programme Intensity and quality of Swiss FP7 participation by research programme Switzerland s position within the European Research Area FP7 participation by country Coordinated FP7 projects by country Secured FP7 grant funding by participating country FP7 success rate by country Financial aspects 25 Appendix A: Methodological notes 26 Appendix B: Abbreviations 27 Appendix C: Tables 28

5 Note: The EU s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) runs from 2007 to On 8 October 2008, the European Commission delivered the data needed to prepare the present report. At that date, roughly EUR 6.2 billion in grant funding had been earmarked for research projects from all participating countries. This amount corresponds to around 12 % of the total FP7 budget. The present report has therefore been written at a time when it was too early to provide an interim assessment of Swiss FP7 participation. The findings contained herein are expected to change as soon as more data become available. That said, the most important trends relating to Swiss FP7 participation are already ascertainable. 1 Summary The EU s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7, ) provides grant funding for core areas of research. To a certain extent, FP7 constitutes an improvement over FP6. A key difference is the FP7 budget: at over EUR 50 billion or an average of EUR 7.2 billion per year the yearly FP7 budget is one and a half times higher than the yearly FP6 budget. Moreover, the Ideas programme run by the European Research Council introduces fundamental research into the range of eligible FP7 projects. Swiss researchers involved in FP7 projects mainly conduct research in the following areas: Information and Communication Technologies (40 % of FP7 grant funding awarded to Switzerland), Health (21 %) as well as the FP7 Ideas programme (11 %) and the FP7 People programme (9 %). The latter programme is intended to facilitate the mobility of researchers. As with previous Framework Programmes, the FIT Domain (which includes the EPF in Lausanne, the ETH in Zurich and their associated research institutes) is the main recipient of FP7 grant funding (33 % of FP7 grant funding awarded to Switzerland), followed by cantonal universities (30 %) and companies (26 %). A significant portion of FP7 grant funding also goes to non-profit organisations, universities of applied sciences and public institutions. At the time when the data for the present interim report was delivered, Swiss researchers had secured EU grant funding amounting to a total of CHF million, or 3.8 % of all FP7 grant funding awarded since FP7 began in This percentage exceeds the one achieved under FP6 ( ), which seems to indicate that Swiss researchers are in a stronger competitive position with respect to their colleagues in EU member states. The 3.8 % figure also compares quite favourably to Switzerland s financial contribution to FP7 (2.6 % of the FP7 budget). Measured in terms of FP7 participation, coordinated FP7 projects and secured FP7 grant funding, Switzerland ranks among the top ten countries. In terms of FP7 success rate 1 Switzerland ranks 4th among thirty-eight FP7 member countries and associate countries, following only Belgium, the Netherlands and France. 1 Proportion of projects that were awarded grant funding compared to the total number of project proposals received. 5

6 2 General information about FP7 At a summit in Lisbon in March 2000, the political leaders of the European Union set themselves the objective of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion 2 within the space of a decade. This objective should be achieved in particular by creating a true European Research Area (ERA), specifically designed to promote careers in research, encourage industry to invest more in research and make a significant contribution to generating growth and job creation. Framework Programmes for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (FP) are the main funding schemes for research in the European Union and form, in this respect, the backbone of the European Research Area (ERA). FP pursue two overarching strategic objectives, namely: to strengthen the scientific and technological base of European industry; to encourage its international competitiveness, while promoting research that supports EU policies. Additional FP objectives include the promotion of health, living standards and environmental protection in Europe. Since 1984, there has been a total of seven FPs. Each FP usually lasted for a period of four years. FP7 began on 1 January 2007 and will last for seven years. Participation in the FP research projects is open to researchers from EU Member States and also to so-called Associate Countries which have signed a bilateral cooperation agreement with the EU. Switzerland concluded such an agreement with the EU, which entered into force on 1 January 2004 during FP6. Renewed for the entire duration of FP7, this agreement not only allows Swiss researchers to participate in European research projects, but also to put forward proposals for European research projects and coordinate them. 2 Presidency Conclusions Lisbon European Council, 23 and 24 March 2000 ( page consulted on 30 October 2007). 6

7 Figure 1: Map of participating States in FP7 (status: 31 December 2008) Source: European Commission, see annex C for the list of country abbreviations, Table 10 What s new in FP7? FP7 has some key differences to earlier EU research programmes, including: Increased budget: the FP7 budget represents a 63 % increase from FP6 at current prices, which means additional resources for European research. It is also a strong political message to the EU Member States, which have committed themselves to increase research spending from 2 % of GDP currently to 3 % in Focus on themes: a strong focus on major research themes (e.g. health, ICTs, space, etc.) within the largest component of FP7 Cooperation makes the programme more flexible and responsive to the needs of industry. European Research Council (ERC): the first pan-european agency for funding research, the newly created European Research Council, aims to fund more high-risk yet potentially high-gain European research at the scientific frontiers. 7

8 Regions of knowledge: FP7 is establishing new Regions of Knowledge that bring together the various research partners within a region. Universities, research centres, multinational firms, regional authorities and SMEs can all link up and strengthen their research abilities and potential. Risk-sharing finance: a new risk-sharing finance facility is to enhance backing for private investors in research projects, improving access to loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for large European research actions. Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI): a user-driven follow-up to the European Technology Platforms (ETPs), the JTIs are a new concept that brings together different partners to take on objectives that cannot be reached via the Calls for project proposals approach. JTIs specifically address those areas of research activity where enhanced cooperation and considerable investment are essential to long-term success. Source: FP7. Taking European Research to the Forefront European Commission 2007; The budgets of the FPs have not stopped growing since they were established in Whereas FP1 had a budget of EUR 593 million for its first year, the budget for FP6 increased from EUR 4.0 to 5.3 billion from 2003 to 2007, equivalent to a total of EUR 19.1 billion over the four years. This upward trend has continued with a projected annual budget for FP7 of between EUR 5.1 and EUR 9.9 billion for the period from 2007 to Figure 2: Average annual FP budgets (in EUR billion, at current prices) Source: European Commission, (COM(2004) 533, 786/2004/EC, COM(2005) 119 final), see Table 1 8

9 FP7 covers four specific programmes: 1. Cooperation (Budget: EUR 32.4 billion or 64 % of total FP7 budget) This FP7 programme fosters collaboration between industry and academia to gain leadership in key technology areas. Support is given to the whole range of research activities carried out in trans-national cooperation, from collaborative projects and networks to the coordination of national research programmes. International cooperation between the EU and third countries is an integral part of this action. 2. Ideas (EUR 7.5 billion or 15 % of total FP7 budget) This FP7 programme supports basic research at the scientific frontiers. This programme enhances the dynamism, creativity and excellence of European research at the frontier of knowledge in all scientific and technological fields, including engineering, socio-economic sciences and the humanities. This action is overseen by the European Research Council. 3. People (EUR 4.8 billion or 9 % of total FP7 budget) This FP7 programme supports mobility and career development for researchers both within and outside Europe. 4. Capacities (EUR 4.1 billion or 8 % of total FP7 budget) This FP7 programme helps develop the capacities that Europe needs to be a thriving knowledge-based economy. The objective of this action is to support research infrastructures, research for the benefit of SMEs and the research potential of European regions (Regions of Knowledge) as well as to stimulate the realisation of the full research potential (Convergence Regions) of the enlarged Union and build an effective and democratic European Knowledge society. As a core FP7 programme, Cooperation focuses on ten research themes (see Figure 3 and Table 2): Health; Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Biotechnology; Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs); Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies; Energy; Environment (including Climate Change); Transport (including Aeronautics); Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities; Space; Security. A particularly sizeable portion of the FP7 budget is devoted to ICTs (28 %) and Health (19 %). The European Commission also intends to award at least 15 % of the FP7 Cooperation programme budget to SMEs. 3 The FP7 Capacities programme also focuses on several research themes (see Figure 3 and Table 2). The lion s share of the budget is used to build research infrastructures (42 %) and conduct research for the benefit of SMEs (33 %). 3 Decision of the Council of the European Union (2006/971/EC). 9

10 Figure 3: FP7 budget by specific programme and research priority Source: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council (2006/1982/EC), see Table 2 10

11 3 Historical background 3.1 Swiss FP participation ( ) The number of Swiss researchers participating in European research projects has continued to rise since At the same time, annual FP budgets have steadily increased, which has led to a corresponding increase in the number of projects funded and therefore in the number of opportunities to participate. The number of participations in years that coincide with the start of a FP is noticeably lower than in other years because there is always a certain amount of time between the publication of initial calls for project proposals for a Framework Programme and the first projects commencing. Figure 4: New Swiss participations in FP projects, Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 3 So far there have been 408 Swiss participations in 315 different FP7 research projects. The number of participations in 2007 and 2008 should increase for two reasons: 1) the data delivery made by the European Commission on 8 October 2008 covered only the first three quarters of 2008 and therefore only three-fourths of all FP7 grant funding contracts for 2008; 2) some FP projects might be entered into the database only several years after they have effectively started. 3.2 Secured FP grant funding by participant category The following graph shows the breakdown of secured FP grant funding for projects carried out by various categories of Swiss participants. The relative participation of the different types of Swiss research institutions has remained remarkably stable over the past ten years, with the exception of 1992 and 1995 when the number of large companies taking part was exceptionally high compared to the number of universities taking part (which was due to the low number of participants and to the exceptional participation of two large companies). 11

12 Throughout the entire period running from , Swiss tertiary-level institutions received around twothirds of all grant funding, with over half of these going to institutions belonging to the FIT domain. Among the other types of institution, two are particularly noteworthy: on the one hand, non-profit organisations have long represented a consistent share of no more than 10 % of the annual grant funding; on the other hand, universities of applied sciences continue to have a rather low presence on the European research scene. Figure 5: Proportion of FP grant funding secured by Swiss research institutions, Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 4 12

13 3.3 Supporting Swiss research activities through FPs ( ) As the second source of direct public funding for Swiss research after the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), EU Framework Programmes act as a real driving force behind national public R&D initiatives. Between 1992 and 2008, Swiss-led European projects received at total of about CHF 2 billion, CHF million of which were awarded for FP7. This contribution has steadily increased since Figure 6: FP7 grant funding secured by Swiss researchers since FP3 Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 5 The reduction in the grant funding amounts for the years corresponding to the start of a new Framework Programme (in particular 1999, 2003 and 2007) are artefacts and simply highlight the time interval between the first projects of a FP being approved and them actually commencing. The same phenomenon can be seen as far as the number of Swiss participations is concerned (see Section 3.1). If one considers the actual payments made, one will notice that the financial support granted to researchers does not fluctuate to such an extent, but rather follows a regular upward pattern. The chart also shows that the lifespan of a Framework Programme extends far beyond the date on which it officially comes to an end. It is worth mentioning, for example, that certain FP5 projects were still running in

14 Figure 7: Grant funding paid or set aside for Swiss researchers since FP3 (in CHF million) Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 6 Note: For FP6 and FP7, payments are estimated by uniformly distributing commitments over project durations. 14

15 4 Swiss participation in FP7 ( ) 4.1 Introduction FP7 projects are the result of a cooperation agreement established between several research teams that have decided to work together within a consortium. Each consortium is led by a single project coordinator. The following key figures provide a general overview: with the current FP7 projects that Swiss researchers are involved in, an average of 11.2 research teams from an average of 7 different countries work together. The average duration of an FP7 project is between three and five years. The average budget per research team is CHF 580,000. On average, FP6 projects were larger in scale (each consortium was comprised of an average of 19.1 research teams from 8.6 different countries). However, the average FP6 budget per research team stood at CHF 414,500, which is lower than the current FP7 average. 4.2 FP7 grant funding by participant category FIT institutions and cantonal universities are the main beneficiaries of FP7 grant funding. Thus far, FIT institutions have received a total of CHF 78.9 million (33.4 %) and cantonal universities have received CHF 70.8 million (30.0 %) of all FP7 grant funding awarded to Switzerland. Over 25 % of all FP7 grant funding awarded to Switzerland (CHF 61.6 million or 26.1 %) has been awarded to Swiss companies, of which CHF 31.3 million (13.3 %) went to SMEs. For FP7, the European Commission has announced its intention to award at least 15 % of the FP7 Cooperation programme budget to SMEs. So far, Swiss SMEs have received 15.2 % of the grant funding awarded to Switzerland under this programme. With this figure, the European Commission s goal will have been reached as far as Switzerland is concerned. Other beneficiaries of FP7 grant funding have been non-profit organisations, universities of applied sciences and public institutions. Combined, they received the remaining 10.6 % of FP7 grant funding awarded to Switzerland. Figure 8: FP7 grant funding secured by Swiss researchers by participant category Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 7 15

16 4.3 Swiss FP7 participation and coordination by participant category Project coordinators also play an important role in FP projects by handling general project management activities, submitting project proposals and finding necessary partners. This role has only been open to Swiss researchers since Switzerland became associated to the FPs in Drawing a distinction between project participation and project coordination provides a more nuanced picture of Swiss involvement in FP projects: while FITs and cantonal universities account for around 55 % of Swiss participants, they account for 71 % of Swiss project coordinators. The situation is exactly the opposite for companies (regardless of their size): companies accounted for 33 % of Swiss participants and only 10 % of Swiss project coordinators. For their part, non-profit organisations accounted for 7 % of Swiss participants but 16 % of Swiss project coordinators. Given the still relatively small number of FP7 projects involving Swiss participants, these percentages should be taken for what they are worth. Figure 9: Swiss participation in and coordination of FP7 projects by participant category Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 7 16

17 4.4 Activities carried out by Swiss participants Number of participations by research programme If we consider the current 408 Swiss participations in FP7 research projects, we find that Swiss researchers have been active in the following research themes or programmes: ICTs (152 participations or 37.0 % of all Swiss participations), health (68 participations or 16.7 %) and mobility of researchers under the FP7 People programme (62 participations or 15.2 %). Compared to other European countries, Swiss participation in such areas as nanotechnologies and health or the FP7 programme Ideas has been higher than average (see Section 4.4.3, p. 19). Switzerland is still very underrepresented, however, in the areas of space, international cooperation and regions of knowledge. The results from FP6 show that this is due to the relatively small number of projects undertaken, which should change in the future. Figure 10: Number of participations in FP7, by specific programme and research theme Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 8 17

18 4.4.2 FP7 grant funding by research programme Thus far, Swiss researchers have secured around CHF million in FP7 grant funding. The most heavily funded research themes also tend to be those with the highest number of Swiss participations (see previous paragraph for comparison). ICTs alone accounted for CHF 95.5 million or 40.5 % of FP7 grant funding awarded to Swiss researchers. Health came in second (CHF 49.0 million or 20.8 %) and was followed by the FP7 Ideas programme (CHF 26.0 million or 11.0 %). Nevertheless, it is difficult to draw parallels between the number of participations and the amount of FP7 grant funding awarded to each research theme. This is due to the fact that the amount of FP7 grant funding awarded varies sharply from one research theme to another. The average volume of FP7 grant funding per Swiss participation in FP7 projects amounts to about CHF 579,000 for all research themes combined. The average amount of grant funding awarded per Swiss participation stands at CHF 67,000. in the area of security and CHF 126,000. in the area of science and society. These amounts are relatively low in comparison. That said, this observation is based on a very low number of participations. For the FP7 Ideas programme, in contrast, the average amount of grant funding awarded to Swiss researchers reaches a relatively high amount of nearly CHF 2.2 million. This amount exceeds the European average of CHF 1.8 million. Figure 11: Distribution of FP7 grant funding by specific programme and research theme (in CHF million) Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 8 18

19 4.4.3 Intensity and quality of Swiss FP7 participation by research programme 4 European grant funding is awarded on a competitive basis through a call for research proposals procedure. Each project proposal is assessed by an expert committee and compared with other project proposals. Only the bestpositioned project proposals receive grant funding. The success rate is derived from the number of project proposals that received grant funding compared to the total number of project proposals received. The quality of the project proposals determines to a large extent the success rate. Assessment of Swiss project proposals under FP7 serves as an indicator of the quantity (intensity of participation) and the quality of project proposals in specific research themes. Both of these indicators are used for each research theme to produce a participation index and success index for Swiss project proposals. The participation index is produced by comparing the proportion of Swiss project proposals in a given research theme with the proportion of proposals in relation to that research theme for all participating countries. The greater the Swiss participation, the higher this index value will be. 5 The success index reflects the relationship between the success rate of Swiss project proposals and the average success rate of all project proposals submitted for a given research theme. The success index behaves analogously to the participation index: the higher the success rate of Swiss project proposals, the higher the success index value. A value of 1 corresponds to an average success rate. The graphical presentation of the participation and success indices for individual FP7 research themes and programmes (Figure 12) shows that the success rate of Swiss project proposals in most areas exceeds the European average (horizontal line near value 1). Moreover, we find that Swiss participation in the FP7 Ideas programme (ERC), is very high both in terms of participation and the quality of project proposals. 6 In addition, very few research themes fall in the lower right quadrant of the chart. This indicates that a high rate of participation in a given research theme generally accompanies a high success rate. The research themes found in the upper left quadrant of the chart show a high success rate but a relatively low rate of participation. This shows that there is a potential for more funding opportunities in the following areas: environment, biotechnology, energy, transport, space and research that benefits SMEs These estimates are based on another database than the one used for the other chapters of this report (i.e. database of FP7 project proposals, data delivered by the European Commission on 1 October 2008). The data shown in Table 9 on the number of participations therefore differ from the data shown in the other tables of this report. An index value below 1 means that the rate of Swiss participation is below average; a value of 1 means an average rate of Swiss participation; a value over 1 means a higher than average rate of Swiss participation. The FP7 Ideas and People programmes in particular cover a broad spectrum of research themes that were combined because of the still small amount of available data. A more itemised presentation by research theme will provide a more nuanced picture of these programmes. 19

20 Figure 12: FP7 participation and success indices by specific programme and research priority Abbreviation Programme / Research priority Abbreviation Programm / Research priority COH Coherent development of research policies KBBE ENERGY Energy NMP Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies ENV Environment (including Climate Change) PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions ERC European Research Council SEC Security Fission Nuclear fission and radiation protection SiS Science in Society Fusion Nuclear fusion SME Research for the benefit of SMEs HEALTH Health SPA Space ICT Information and Communication Technologies SSH Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities INCO Activities of International Cooperation Transport Transport (including Aeronautics) INFRA Research Infrastructures Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 9 Note: There are still not many projects relating to Research Potential, Regions of Knowledge and General Activities. For this reason, these areas do not appear in the chart. 20

21 4.5 Switzerland s position within the European Research Area FP7 participation by country If we consider the current 408 Swiss participations in FP7 projects (including projects coordinated by Swiss researchers), we find that Swiss researchers account for 3.2 % of all participations. This proportion is significantly higher than the proportion that Switzerland achieved under FP6 (2.6 %). Switzerland ranks 10 th in terms of the number of participations, falling behind major European countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Greece but ahead of countries such as Austria and Finland. Among the FP7 associate countries, Switzerland comes out on top. Figure 13: FP7 participations (incl. coordinations) by country Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 10 21

22 4.5.2 Coordinated FP7 projects by country Switzerland s position on the coordinated FP7 projects by country ranking list is very similar to the FP7 participation by country ranking list (see previous paragraph): so far, Swiss researchers have coordinated 73 FP7 projects, or 3.2 % of all coordinated FP7 projects. Switzerland therefore ranks 9 th compared to other countries. This constitutes an improvement over FP6, where Swiss researchers coordinated only 1.9 % of all FP6 projects. This significant increase is due to the fact that Swiss researchers were entitled to coordinate projects only starting from the second year of FP6, which corresponds to the entry in force of the CH-EU bilateral agreement on research on 1 January Figure 14: Coordinated FP7 projects by country Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 10 22

23 4.5.3 Secured FP7 grant funding by participating country Switzerland s 3.8 % figure (CHF million) for secured FP7 grant funding is significantly higher than the 3.2 % figure achieved for coordinated FP7 projects. It is also higher than 3.1 % figure achieved for secured FP6 grant funding. Switzerland ranks 9 th among all participating countries, which is similar to the ranking achieved for coordinated FP7 projects. Switzerland is also the best positioned FP7 associated country. Figure 15: Secured FP7 grant funding by country Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table 10 23

24 4.5.4 FP7 success rate by country 7 So far, the average FP7 success rate is one project proposal out of five (21.5 %). At 25.4 %, Switzerland s success rate is significantly higher than the average. 8 This outcome can be explained by the higher than average quality of Swiss project proposals. This trend is expected to continue for the entire duration of FP7. Switzerland ranks 4 th in terms of FP7 success rate, falling behind Belgium, the Netherlands and France. This is a fantastic outcome. Given the still relatively small number of project proposals, it stands to reason that considerable changes could be made to this ranking list in the future. Figure 16: Successful FP7 project proposals by country (ranking of top 25 Member States and Associate Countries, Total) Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research, see Table These estimates are based on another database than the one used for the other chapters of this report (i.e. database of FP7 project proposals, data delivered by the European Commission on 1 October 2008). The data shown in Table 11 on the number of participations therefore differ from the data shown in the other tables of this report. Significance level α = 5 %. 24

25 4.6 Financial aspects The data on the annual number of participations (see Section 3.1, p. 3) show that there is a significant time gap between the formal start date of a FP programme (issuance of first calls for project proposals) and the effective start date of the first FP projects. This time gap becomes even larger when one considers the time needed to gather, process and publish data on already started projects. For Switzerland, this means that several years may have passed from the moment Switzerland made its contribution to a FP and the arrival of data on FP grant funding received by Swiss researchers. The Confederation contributed CHF million to FP7 in October According to the latest list of participations, Swiss researchers have secured CHF million in FP7 grant funding, which is a smaller amount. Nevertheless, the higher than average success rate for Swiss project proposals as well as the experiences obtained from FP6 seems to indicate that Switzerland will make a profit from its contribution to FP7. The ability of Swiss researchers to secure FP grant funding compared to other participating countries can be assessed in terms of the FP7 cash flow coefficient, which is expressed as the amount of FP funding that Swiss researchers are able to secure compared to Switzerland s financial contribution to the FP in question. Currently, the FP7 cash flow coefficient can only be estimated for two reasons: 1) the effective amount of FP7 grant funding awarded will only be known by the end of 2014 (i.e. one year after the official end of FP7); and 2) the definitive proportion of FP7 grant funding secured by Swiss researchers will not be known until FP7 comes to an end. Based on past figures for 2007 and 2008, the proportion of FP7 grant funding secured by Swiss researchers is expected to reach 3.82 % (EUR million of the total FP7 budget of about EUR 3.85 billion). Switzerland s contribution to FP7, based on 2007 figures, is estimated at 2.64 % (contribution of EUR million out of a total of EUR 5.34 billion). This gives us a cash flow coefficient of 1.45 (3.82 %/2.64 %). This does not mean, however, that for every 1 CHF invested in FP7, CHF 1.45 automatically re-enters Switzerland. The coefficient only indicates that Swiss researchers have demonstrated their ability to secure 1.45 times more FP7 grant funding than what Switzerland would gain if all funds were allocated proportionally to each country s contribution. From a purely financial standpoint, Switzerland seems to gain a benefit from its participation in FP7. This observation is nevertheless provisional and based only on estimates. The FP7 cash flow coefficient may therefore change, once more precise data on Swiss participation in FP7 projects and FP7 grant funding becomes available. 25

26 Appendix A: Methodological notes Since Switzerland gained Associate Country status, Swiss researchers taking part in the FPs have been funded directly by the European Union. The European Commission regularly supplies the SER with a database containing all of the details of the participants taking part in FP7. The data relating to Swiss participation contained in this database is then verified and corrected at the SER. Unless otherwise specified, the data used in this report is taken from the European Commission s database (extracted on 8 October 2008). The data provides only a fragmented picture of FP7 and therefore cannot be used to produce reliable extrapolations of Swiss participation by the end of the FP7 period (in the interests of greater readability, confidence intervals are not given for the data provided in this report). The EUR/CHF exchange rate used to compare the grant funding paid in Euros by the European Commission and those paid in Swiss francs by the Confederation is the average rate for the month in which each project commenced. The contributions made by Switzerland to FP7, calculated in Euros, were paid at an exchange rate that varied between CHF/EUR 1.53 and 1.55 between 2007 and Moreover, unless otherwise specified, all of the grant funding amounts published here refer to financial commitments and not actual payments received by researchers. International organisations are not taken into account for the purposes of establishing the results published here. This is due, on the one hand, to the fact that researchers submitting a European project whose host institution is an international organisation are difficult to attribute to any given country, and on the other hand, to the fact that research carried out at an international organisation is not necessarily carried out in the country in which this organisation is based. It is often therefore the case that the funding associated with the research is not used in the country in question. International organisations received FP7 grant funding totalling EUR 87.4 million (status: 8 October 2008), EUR 21.4 million (CHF 34.6 million) of which went to international organisations based in Switzerland. In fact, the figures presented in this report do not take into account research into nuclear fusion carried out by EURATOM. This organisation is subject to a specific European Treaty and has its own Framework Programme for research to which Switzerland makes a financial contribution that is separate from the one made to EU Framework Programmes. 26

27 Appendix B: Abbreviations CERN ERA ERC EU EURATOM FIT FP JRC NPO OECD SER SMEs UAS European Laboratory for Particle Physics European Research Area European Research Council, responsible for the specific FP7 Ideas programme European Union European Atomic Energy Community (which funds its own Framework Programme for research) FIT domain: Switzerland s two federal institutes of technology (i.e. the EPF in Lausanne and the ETH in Zurich) and their associated research institutes: the Research Institute for Material Science and Technology (EMPA), the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) European Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities Joint Research Centre of the European Commission Non-profit organisation (most often a research institution that is funded by a foundation) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development State Secretariat for Education and Research Small and medium-sized enterprises Universities of applied sciences See Appendix C, Table 2, for abbreviations of specific FP7 programmes and research priorities See Appendix C, Table 10, for a list of country abbreviations 27

28 Appendix C: Tables Table 1: FP budgets (in EUR million, at current prices) FP1 FP2 FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7 Total ,0 593, ,0 735, ,0 874, ,8 188,1 889, ,8 810, , , , , , , , ,7 296, , , , , , , , , , , ,2 1, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,0 Total 3 270, , , , , , , ,3 Source: European Commission (COM(2004) 533, 786/2004/EC, COM(2005) 119 final) 28

29 Table 2: List and budgets for FP7 programmes Specific Programme Cooperation Priority / Programme Abbreviation Budget (EUR million) Health HEALTH % % Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology KBBE % Information and Communication Technologies ICT % Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies NMP % Energy ENERGY % Environment (including Climate Change) ENV % Transport (including Aeronautics) Transport % Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities SSH % Space SPA % Security SEC % General Activities Total Cooperation % Ideas European Research Council ERC % People Marie Curie Actions PEOPLE % Capacities Research Infrastructures INFRA % Research for the benefit of SMEs SME % Regions of Knowledge REGIONS 126 <1 % Research Potential REGPOT % Science in Society SiS % Coherent development of research policies COH 70 <1 % Activities of International Cooperation INCO 180 <1 % Total Capacities % Non-nuclear actions of the Joint Research Centre % Total FP % Euratom for nuclear research and training activities GA Fission Source: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council (2006/1982/EC) 29

30 Table 3: Swiss participations in FP programmes, Year FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7 Total Total Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 30

31 Table 4: Grant funding to Swiss participants since FP3 by participant category, (in CHF million) Year FIT Domain Universities Universities of applied sciences Industry SMEs NPO Confederation Cantons and cities Others ,3 33 % 5,4 12 % 0,0 0 % 23,2 53 % 1,0 2 % 0,0 0 % 0,0 0 % 0,0 0 % 0,0 0 % ,8 39 % 9,7 25 % 0,5 1 % 8,5 22 % 3,2 8 % 0,9 2 % 0,5 1 % 0,1 0 % 0,1 0 % ,2 42 % 11,7 32 % 1,2 3 % 4,3 12 % 2,6 7 % 1,0 3 % 0,1 0 % 0,4 1 % 0,1 0 % ,7 36 % 9,8 14 % 0,7 1 % 29,7 42 % 4,2 6 % 0,7 1 % 0,1 0 % 0,0 0 % 0,2 0 % ,7 33 % 32,2 29 % 0,0 0 % 21,9 19 % 14,0 12 % 6,3 6 % 0,6 1 % 0,8 1 % 0,1 0 % ,6 33 % 16,6 25 % 0,4 1 % 8,8 13 % 14,4 22 % 2,1 3 % 2,0 3 % 0,0 0 % 0,0 0 % ,7 33 % 22,5 22 % 2,9 3 % 13,7 14 % 15,4 15 % 9,7 10 % 2,4 2 % 0,5 1 % 0,0 0 % ,2 29 % 3,5 20 % 0,6 3 % 2,1 12 % 4,6 26 % 1,1 6 % 0,6 3 % 0,1 1 % 0,0 0 % ,0 37 % 43,4 27 % 1,8 1 % 16,1 10 % 28,1 17 % 7,9 5 % 1,5 1 % 2,8 2 % 0,1 0 % ,3 35 % 35,3 24 % 2,6 2 % 14,5 10 % 26,9 18 % 13,4 9 % 3,1 2 % 0,9 1 % 0,1 0 % ,8 30 % 34,8 29 % 3,0 2 % 18,2 15 % 17,1 14 % 7,9 6 % 2,2 2 % 1,0 1 % 0,8 1 % ,0 37 % 18,6 17 % 2,6 2 % 22,6 21 % 13,3 12 % 10,8 10 % 0,4 0 % 0,0 0 % 0,2 0 % ,9 36 % 56,8 29 % 4,6 2 % 18,8 10 % 23,3 12 % 15,3 8 % 3,8 2 % 0,9 0 % 0,0 0 % ,3 33 % 59,9 29 % 4,7 2 % 26,2 13 % 29,0 14 % 14,0 7 % 2,1 1 % 2,5 1 % 0,0 0 % ,8 34 % 70,1 29 % 4,2 2 % 26,0 11 % 32,9 14 % 23,4 10 % 2,8 1 % 1,2 0 % 0,0 0 % ,4 29 % 26,3 30 % 2,5 3 % 5,9 7 % 17,5 20 % 5,1 6 % 2,1 2 % 3,9 4 % 0,0 0 % ,3 33 % 70,4 30 % 4,4 2 % 28,3 12 % 30,9 13 % 17,2 7 % 0,7 0 % 2,3 1 % 0,0 0 % Total 677,1 34 % 526,8 26 % 36,6 2 % 288,8 15 % 278,5 14 % 136,8 7 % 25,0 1 % 17,2 1 % 1,7 0 % Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 31

32 Table 5: FP grant funding secured by Swiss researchers since FP3 (in CHF million) FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7 Total ,9 43, ,2 38, ,6 36, ,8 63,3 71, ,1 112,5 112, ,3 65,5 65, ,0 101, ,7 <0,05 17, ,3 160,7 161, ,1 147,9 147, ,3 121, ,6 69,4 108, ,7 192,6 193, ,7 205, ,5 242, ,3 4,4 88, ,5 231, ,3 0,3 Total 126,8 360,2 469,2 794,5 236,2 1986,9 Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 32

33 Table 6: Grant funding paid to Swiss researchers since FP3 (in CHF million) FP3 FP4 FP5 FP6 a FP7 a Total ,1 11, ,0 20, ,7 39, ,6 15,9 51, ,4 53,9 67, ,4 73,8 79, ,9 77,5 78, ,6 81,3 0,1 82, <0,05 33,6 50,7 84, <0,05 13,7 93,8 107, ,8 115,2 122, ,2 123,1 0,7 126, ,0 39,0 54,0 94, ,4 21,4 99,9 121, <0,05 16,5 161,2 177, ,4 198,9 0,3 205, ,3 154,8 49,2 206, ,7 85,9 69,9 155, ,9 63,5 94, ,4 34,8 42, ,8 14,9 15, ,6 3,6 Total 126,8 360,2 469,2 794,5 236,2 1986,9 Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research a For FP6 and FP7, payments are estimated by uniformly distributing commitments over project durations. 33

34 Table 7: Participation in and coordination of FP7 projects by participant category Number of participations % Number of coordinations % Secured grant funding (CHF million) % EPF Lausanne % % 30,2 13 % ETH Zurich % % 37,6 16 % Other institutions of the FIT Domain 22 5 % 1 1 % 11,1 5 % Total FIT Domain % 28 0 % 78,9 33 % University of Basel 17 4 % 2 3 % 10,1 4 % University of Bern 16 4 % 4 5 % 10,3 4 % University Fribourg 6 1 % 3 4 % 3,1 1 % University of Geneva 25 6 % 4 5 % 14,6 6 % University of Lausanne 13 3 % 4 5 % 11,1 5 % University of Neuchâtel 5 1 % 1 1 % 4,1 2 % University of St. Gallen 2 0 % 0 0 % 1,0 0 % University of Lugano 3 1 % 1 1 % 1,7 1 % University of Zurich 17 4 % 4 5 % 11,8 5 % Other academic institutions 6 1 % 1 1 % 2,9 1 % Total Universities % % 70,8 30 % Industry % 2 3 % 30,3 13 % Small and medium enterprises % 5 7 % 31,3 13 % Non-Profit-Organisations 37 9 % % 17,6 7 % Universities of applied sciences 9 2 % 1 1 % 4,4 2 % Confederation 3 1 % 1 1 % 0,7 0 % Cantons and cities 4 1 % 0 0 % 2,3 1 % Total % % 236,2 100 % Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 34

35 Table 8: Participation in FP7 projects by research programme and priority Programme / Priority Number of Swiss participations Total participations Secured grant funding for Swiss researchers (CHF million) Total secured grant funding (CHF million) HEALTH Health % % 49,0 21 % 1018,2 16 % KBBE Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology 18 4 % % 7,1 3 % 239,1 4 % ICT Information and Communication Technologies % % 95,5 40 % 2547,3 41 % NMP Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies 24 6 % % 12,9 5 % 155,1 2 % ENERGY Energy 16 4 % % 8,7 4 % 226,8 4 % ENV Environment (including Climate Change) 3 1 % % 0,7 0 % 58,1 1 % Transport Transport (including Aeronautics) 5 1 % % 2,4 1 % 133,1 2 % SSH Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities 6 1 % % 1,2 1 % 54,2 1 % SPA Space 0 % 12 0 % 0 % 5,0 0 % SEC Security 2 0 % % 0,1 0 % 96,9 2 % GA General Activities 0 0 % 4 0 % 0,0 0 % 99,7 2 % ERC European Research Council 12 3 % % 26,0 11 % 463,8 7 % PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions % % 20,9 9 % 526,9 8 % INFRA Research Infrastructures 26 6 % % 5,7 2 % 365,0 6 % SME Research for the benefit of SMEs 6 1 % % 2,4 1 % 38,9 1 % REGIONS Regions of Knowledge 0 0 % % 0,0 0 % 16,1 0 % REGPOT Research Potential 0 0 % 98 1 % 0,0 0 % 50,8 1 % SiS Science in Society 2 0 % 90 1 % 0,3 0 % 12,3 0 % COH Coherent development of research policies 0 0 % 2 0 % 0,0 0 % 3,5 0 % INCO Activities of International Cooperation 0 0 % % 0,0 0 % 34,6 1 % Fission Nuclear fission and radiation protection 7 2 % % 3,2 1 % 69,9 1 % Total % % 236,2 100 % 6215,0 100 % Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 35

36 Table 9: Swiss FP7 participation and success rates by research programme and priority Programme / Priority Number of Swiss participations Proportion of Swiss proposals by theme Proportion of proposals by theme, all countries Swiss participation index Success rates of Swiss proposals Success rates of proposals, all countries Swiss success index HEALTH Health ,3 % 12,0 % 1,36 23,2 % 20,4 % 1,14 KBBE Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology 170 4,7 % 6,1 % 0,78 32,4 % 20,4 % 1,58 ICT Information and Communication Technologies ,2 % 25,0 % 1,29 18,2 % 16,3 % 1,11 NMP Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies 207 5,8 % 3,8 % 1,53 42,5 % 37,8 % 1,12 ENERGY Energy 129 3,6 % 4,6 % 0,79 25,6 % 17,7 % 1,45 ENV Environment (including Climate Change) 248 6,9 % 8,8 % 0,79 26,2 % 16,6 % 1,58 Transport Transport (including Aeronautics) 164 4,6 % 7,4 % 0,62 32,9 % 26,8 % 1,23 SSH Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities 133 3,7 % 5,3 % 0,70 6,8 % 11,1 % 0,61 SPA Space 13 0,4 % 0,6 % 0,60 61,5 % 53,1 % 1,16 SEC Security 63 1,8 % 3,1 % 0,57 12,7 % 15,1 % 0,84 GA General Activities 1 0,0 % 0,0 % 0,82 0,0 % 48,9 % 0,00 ERC European Research Council 27 0,8 % 0,5 % 1,57 55,6 % 35,3 % 1,57 PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions 237 6,6 % 5,8 % 1,15 36,3 % 37,8 % 0,96 INFRA Research Infrastructures 174 4,9 % 3,4 % 1,44 40,2 % 45,0 % 0,89 SME Research for the benefit of SMEs 182 5,1 % 8,8 % 0,57 24,7 % 17,5 % 1,41 REGIONS Regions of Knowledge 16 0,4 % 1,2 % 0,37 0,0 % 18,8 % 0,00 REGPOT Research Potential 1 0,0 % 1,0 % 0,03 0,0 % 11,2 % 0,00 SiS Science in Society 34 0,9 % 1,1 % 0,84 20,6 % 23,6 % 0,87 COH Coherent development of research policies 0 0,0 % 0,0 % INCO Activities of International Cooperation 9 0,3 % 0,7 % 0,34 11,1 % 31,0 % 0,36 Fusion Fusion 3 0,1 % 0,1 % 1,43 100,0 % 82,1 % 1,22 Fission Nuclear fission and radiation protection 34 0,9 % 0,8 % 1,21 52,9 % 46,7 % 1,13 Total ,0 % 100,0 % 1,00 25,4 % 21,5 % 1,18 Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 36

37 Table 10: Participation in and coordination of FP7 projects by country Country Status Number of participations of which coordinations Secured grant funding (CHF million) AL Albania Associate 6 0,0 % 0 0,0 % 0,4 0,0 % AT Austria Member 352 2,8 % 73 3,2 % 186,9 3,0 % BE Belgium Member 496 3,9 % 94 4,1 % 257,8 4,1 % BG Bulgaria Member 96 0,8 % 10 0,4 % 16,9 0,3 % CH Switzerland Associate 408 3,2 % 73 3,2 % 236,2 3,8 % CY Cyprus Member 61 0,5 % 9 0,4 % 12,3 0,2 % CZ Czech Republic Member 143 1,1 % 10 0,4 % 45,4 0,7 % DE Germany Member ,4 % ,4 % 1110,6 17,9 % DK Denmark Member 227 1,8 % 39 1,7 % 128,6 2,1 % EE Estonia Member 59 0,5 % 7 0,3 % 15,2 0,2 % EL Greece Member 474 3,7 % 96 4,1 % 195,6 3,1 % ES Spain Member 850 6,7 % 178 7,7 % 355,9 5,7 % EU European Union (JRC) Member 33 0,3 % 2 0,1 % 18,6 0,3 % FI Finland Member 320 2,5 % 62 2,7 % 191,7 3,1 % FR France Member ,4 % ,5 % 757,4 12,2 % HR Croatia Associate 37 0,3 % 4 0,2 % 4,9 0,1 % HU Hungary Member 190 1,5 % 29 1,3 % 51,7 0,8 % IE Ireland Member 163 1,3 % 23 1,0 % 67,6 1,1 % IL Israel Associate 208 1,6 % 71 3,1 % 118,6 1,9 % IS Iceland Associate 29 0,2 % 8 0,3 % 12,4 0,2 % IT Italy Member ,7 % 194 8,4 % 513,6 8,3 % LI Liechtenstein Associate 1 0,0 % 0 0,0 % 0,6 0,0 % LT Lithuania Member 38 0,3 % 0 0,0 % 5,2 0,1 % LU Luxembourg Member 28 0,2 % 6 0,3 % 9,9 0,2 % LV Latvia Member 48 0,4 % 6 0,3 % 7,7 0,1 % ME Montenegro Associate 6 0,0 % 0 0,0 % 0,4 0,0 % MK Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Associate 15 0,1 % 3 0,1 % 1,9 0,0 % MT Malta Member 20 0,2 % 1 0,0 % 2,9 0,0 % NL Netherlands Member 729 5,7 % 140 6,0 % 409,3 6,6 % NO Norway Associate 137 1,1 % 20 0,9 % 62,1 1,0 % PL Poland Member 217 1,7 % 31 1,3 % 59,7 1,0 % PT Portugal Member 178 1,4 % 25 1,1 % 59,6 1,0 % RO Romania Member 145 1,1 % 12 0,5 % 25,9 0,4 % RS Serbia Associate 48 0,4 % 11 0,5 % 14,4 0,2 % SE Sweden Member 490 3,8 % 73 3,2 % 260,0 4,2 % SI Slovenia Member 89 0,7 % 6 0,3 % 22,2 0,4 % SK Slovakia Member 69 0,5 % 6 0,3 % 17,6 0,3 % TR Turkey Associate 96 0,8 % 23 1,0 % 29,8 0,5 % UK United Kingdom Member ,7 % ,8 % 852,3 13,7 % Others 620 4,9 % 5 0,2 % 77,4 1,2 % Total ,0 % ,0 % 6216,9 100,0 % Source: European Commission, State Secretariat for Education and Research 37