SIX MILLION FRANCS FOR SWITZERLAND-RUSSIA COOPERATION
Switzerland is working on strengthening cooperation with Russia in the areas of science and technology through a cooperation programme developed by the Swiss Confederation and supervised by the University of Geneva. Yves Fluckiger, Deputy Rector of the University of Geneva and Coordinator of the Scientific & Technological Cooperation Programme Switzerland-Russia, gave Business Mir an exclusive interview.
What is the essence of the programme of scientific cooperation between Switzerland and Russia? The goal is to encourage scientific cooperation between Russia and Switzerland, notably by providing financial and technical support to a number of joint research projects. Switzerland has allocated over 6 million Swiss francs to implementing this programme between 2009 and 2011, which also plans on large-scale student and teacher exchanges. Research projects selected by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) can look forward to achieving active cooperation between Russian and Swiss institutions on joint high quality scientific or technical ventures. Participation by non-governmental entities is welcome, provided they meet the set criteria of professional scientific ethics. However, we regret to say that an official agreement has yet to be signed concerning this programme.
Why did you launch the programme if the intergovernmental agreement hadn't been signed yet? Our work in the field showed that Russian research institutes are extremely interested in developing bilateral projects with their Swiss counterparts.
Unfortunately, this enthusiasm does not always get sufficient support at the diplomatic level. That is why Switzerland decided to take the initiative and to launch the programme. The Swiss government allocated money for the programme without waiting for the agreement to be signed, counting on it happening in the near future. It is our way of demonstrating our willingness to cooperate, and Switzerland hopes to create a decisive impetus for a timely signing of the intergovernmental agreement in due course. In any case, we can now affirm that we have taken a huge step forward in developing active scientific cooperation between Switzerland and Russia.
Why was the University of Geneva chosen to coordinate the programme? It is important to note that parallel to the cooperation programme with Russia, Switzerland launched similar projects with China, India and South Africa. These projects are supervised by the Zurich Federal Polytechnic School (EPFZ), the Lausanne Federal Polytechnic School (EPFL) and the University of Basel, respectively. The University of Geneva, which has historically had long-standing relations and scientific exchanges with Russian institutes, was deemed best suited to coordinate this scientific cooperation programme.
To what extent can private businesses take part in these projects? As the focus is on research closely related to its practical implementation in areas like engineering, nanosystems, biology, natural resources, transport systems and economics, participation in a project like this can be very interesting for private companies, both big and small. By cooperating with Swiss and Russian institutes at the highest level, companies will be able to take advantage of the latest results in scientific research.
Has the SNSF approved any projects yet? Projects are still being evaluated. Very good projects have been submitted in almost all the fields the bid was tendered. It should be noted that our research partners in Russia are very well geographically distributed; projects were submitted by partners not only in Moscow and St Petersburg, but also in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk and other regions, though on a smaller scale.
MARTIN LONGET
