UK-Switzerland Strengthen Science Ties with £16M Boost

Science and tech leaders from the UK and Switzerland have today (Monday 9 December) agreed to update the landmark science and research agreement between the two countries, to focus work on some of today’s most pressing challenges, from boosting public health to making the shift to green energy.

The UK and Switzerland are natural partners when it comes to science and innovation. Together, the two countries are home to 10 of Europe’s top 20 research universities. To support even closer ties between both countries’ best and brightest, today Innovate UK and the Swiss innovation authority Innosuisse have awarded circa £8 million in joint funding to 11 UK-Swiss research projects.

These range from work on new antibacterial coatings that could prevent infections during hip and knee replacements, to using quantum tech to develop a new generation of cheap, specialised sensors for use in anti-counterfeiting, manufacturing quality control, and more. The projects bring together UK and Swiss businesses, research institutes and universities. This builds on previous UK-Switzerland Collaborative R&D funding which supported cutting edge work ranging from developing new ways of capturing CO2 emissions, to developing robot surgeons to improve stroke treatment.

Both countries are also key global players in life sciences – with the UK’s life sciences sector worth £108 billion, and Switzerland home to major companies like Roche and Novartis. Today both countries are building on their positions of strength in life sciences, with a new £8 million joint funding call to support UK-Swiss clinical trials, that could deliver new treatments and diagnoses for a range of diseases that are currently affecting patients across both countries. This work will be overseen by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research delivery arm of the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance met the Swiss State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Martina Hirayama today in Berne, where they signed an update to the UK-Swiss Memorandum of Understanding, at a Joint Committee Meeting bringing together science and research figures from both nations.

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs happen simply by bringing big thinkers and innovators together. To unleash science as a force for good in the world, it is critical that we build deeper and broader ties with research powerhouses like Switzerland.

Science is fundamentally international, and by working together, the UK and Switzerland’s researchers, academics and businesses will be able to aim higher and achieve more.

Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin said:

I am delighted that the outstanding cooperation between Switzerland and the United Kingdom will be further strengthened in the coming years. This is made possible in particular through cooperation between our innovation promotion agencies, the Swiss National Science Foundation and its partner institutions, and between the Paul Scherrer Institute and the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council.

UK Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron said:

This partnership marks a significant milestone in our mission to transform the UK into a life sciences superpower.

By combining our expertise in clinical trials and life sciences with world-class researchers, we can accelerate the development of groundbreaking treatments that will benefit patients across both nations.

As part of our 10 Year Health Plan, we will ensure the NHS is at the forefront of the medical technology revolution, turning scientific potential into real-world treatments for patients.

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), said:

International endeavours such as this partnership with the Swiss National Science Foundation foster innovative thinking and novel approaches to complex health and social care challenges. We see considerable benefit in it encouraging an exchange of ideas that can further drive scientific advancements, support emerging researchers working collaboratively with colleagues, and enable a pooling of resources including expertise and equipment. This approach of bilateral collaboration accelerates research progress, with the aim of getting effective treatments to patients faster.

The 11 winners of the UK-Switzerland Collaborative R&D Round 2 funding competition will receive a share of £4 million from Innovate UK, match-funded with the equivalent sum in Swiss Francs from Innosuisse. This builds on a previous round of UK-Swiss funding delivered by the two bodies, and means to date that over £11.5 million, match-funded with the same in Swiss Francs, has been awarded across a total of 39 joint research projects since 2022.

The updated UK-Swiss MoU also commits both countries to deepen their links in fields such as the space sector, as well as when it comes to AI – an area where Lord Vallance will see Swiss expertise first-hand, when he visits the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich later today. He will also visit the University of Berne Climate Research Centre.

This updated agreement is part of the government’s plan to strengthen ties with international partners and rebuild the UK’s reputation as a strong, reliable partner, while harnessing the power of science and technology for global benefit.

The commitments made today will further enable the UK to collaborate with international partners and accelerate investments in cutting-edge technologies, creating the jobs of the future, supporting long-term growth, and helping to bring tech to bear to overhaul healthcare, seize the opportunities of green energy, and deliver safer streets.