A new campaign, launched today (8 February), asks EU leaders to place science collaboration before politics, as the UK’s and Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s world-leading research and innovation programme Horizon Europe hangs in the balance. The Federation of European Academies of Medicine (FEAM), which has the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences as members, supports this initiative.
Call for open collaboration
The campaign, ‘Stick to Science’, calls for an open and collaborative research and innovation landscape in Europe that is free from political barriers. The entire European scientific community is invited to sign this initiative as of 8 February under the dedicated website www.stick-to-science.eu.
It comes as the UK’s and Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s research and innovation programme continues to be stalled by politics. The UK’s final association to Horizon Europe, the EU’s €95.5 billion (CHF 99.1 bn, £79.4 bn) research and innovation programme, remains tangled up in post-Brexit trade arrangements, while Switzerland also remains locked out of parts of the programme, pending government talks. In both cases, the EU is putting political disputes ahead of science collaboration.
Europe is missing out on scientific opportunities
Switzerland and the UK are two long-standing and academically important partners in the European research and innovation landscape. The current situation means that the work of some of the best minds in Europe’s science and excellent research infrastructures are missing out on the additional scientific knowledge and resources of UK and Swiss institutions. These circumstances prevent Europe’s top scientists from working together to tackle global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and food security.
Find out more about this initiative: www.stick-to-science.eu
