In zambujo/swissparticipation: Swiss Participation in EU's Research Programmes

The Framework Programmes are divided into pillars/sections and broken down into funding instruments/thematic priorities. H2020, in particular, featured three major pillars:

• Pillar I, on Excellent Science, aimed at enhancing European scientific competitiveness globally, received 36% of the budget;

• Pillar II, on Industrial Leadership, aimed at maximizing the competitiveness of European companies and SMEs, received 20% of the budget;

• Pillar III, on Societal Challenges, aimed at tackling Europe’s main political and social priorities, received 39% of the budget.

In the case of Switzerland, the breakdown of EU contributions obtained in H2020 seems remarkably skewed towards Pillar I, on Excellent Science, with a share of 64.3% of the budget.

Furthermore, contributions from the European Research Council (ERC), the flagship instrument of Pillar I, on Excellent Science, accounted for more than 40% of the EU's total contributions to Switzerland. The ERC is the only funding instrument in the Framework Programme where scientific excellence is the sole selection criterion. In essence, the relative share of ERC contributions for Switzerland exceeded that of Pillar I for all countries.

zambujo/swissparticipation documentation built on May 11, 2022, 1:40 a.m.