Switzerland's research landscape: What does the future hold?

Foresight is becoming increasingly important for Swiss education and innovation policy. The new SATW study "Research Landscape Switzerland - A Technological Panorama" examines 49 technological developments from nine research areas and thus covers a very broad spectrum. Each chapter is devoted to one technology and describes its state of development as well as the associated opportunities and risks. The authors also identify the most important research hotspots in Switzerland and in an international context.

Research landscape with sufficient funding

The study is based on oral and written interviews conducted with around 60 scientists and industry representatives throughout Switzerland. They are essentially satisfied with the research funding in the field of technical sciences in Switzerland. For most of them, however, the difficult access to the Horizon Europe program is highly problematic. Several interviewees suggested that future funding should also include infrastructure that would be available to both companies and universities. The reason for this is that in some cases this is so cost-intensive to establish that it exceeds the budgets of small companies and start-ups.

Shaping the future with technologies

The technologies under investigation require interdisciplinary thinking because they often affect several areas of life. In addition, the regular exchange between Switzerland as a center of thought and as a center of work is fundamental for the connection between research and industry. It is true that applied research topics play an important role in the success of new technologies. The state also has a number of opportunities to help new technologies achieve a breakthrough: Regulatory barriers could be reduced, for example, and the (international) networking of researchers and business representatives could be promoted. High-tech and niche applications, which can be developed by both established companies and start-ups, offer great potential for Switzerland as a business location. The resulting jobs and added value would make a rich economic contribution to society. Source and further information: SATW

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/forschungslandschaft-schweiz-was-bringt-die-zukunft/