LERU announces Swiss support with Horizon 2020 petition

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has shown its support for Swiss researchers and students wanting to participate in Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ by launching a petition appealing for an open European higher education area.

Switzerland’s affiliation with the European higher education area is under threat following a referendum on the federal government’s ‘mass immigration’ initiative last month. In its initial reaction, the European Commission has excluded Switzerland from Horizon 2020 as well as from the student exchange programme Erasmus+.

The LERU petition calls upon decision makers in Brussels and Zurich to enable Switzerland’s participation in these important programmes, and voice their commitment to an open European and international higher education area.

The petition states: “Internationality is an inherent part of academia, one in which we all participate and from which we all profit. This internationality is now threatened by current politics – a condition we vehemently oppose. We, the signing universities, educational institutions, lecturers, researchers and students in Switzerland and Europe, appeal to political decision makers in Switzerland, Brussels and in European countries to make every effort to ensure Swiss higher education’s participation in the aforementioned programmes.”

It adds: “We hereby express our commitment to an open European and international higher education area and emphasise our will to continue to foster and promote international exchange at our higher education institutions. International education and research programmes, as well as inter-university projects, must remain an uncontested part of the entire European and international higher education area, to which Switzerland belongs.”

Signatories include Professor Dr Patrick Aebischer, president of EPFL; Estelle Bruni, president of Association neuchâteloise des Etudiants en Sciences; and Professor Dr Lino Guzzella Lino, rector of ETH Zürich.