Internal Perspective Strengths and Weaknesses of Swiss SSH

Internal Perspective: Strengths and Weaknesses of Swiss SSH Research with regard to “Horizon 2020” Walter Leimgruber, Division I, SNFS

Preliminary notes - language - problems and weaknesses - political environment

Points of departure - basic vs. applied research (curiosity- vs. agenda-driven research) - a Eurovision complex? - Switzerland is successfull, but. . .

HERA Humanities in the European Research Area Joint Research Programmes 2009: - Cultural Dynamics. Inheritance and Identity - Humanities as a Source of Creativity and Innovation 2011: - Cultural Encounters

Points of departure - basic vs. applied research - a Eurovision complex? - Switzerland is successfull, but. . .

Points of departure - basic vs. applied research - a Eurovision complex? - Switzerland is successfull, but. . .

External barriers

„The success rate of Theme 8 ‚SSH‘ is perceived as too low to guarantee the participation of excellent researchers in the long run. “ (net 4 society: Conclusions on incentives and barriers to participation)

„In the perception of the SSH research community, aspects of humanities research are not adequately included in the Work Programmes. The majority of researchers would welcome the inclusion of more openlyphrased research topics (bottom-up) within the FP 7 Cooperation specific programme and Theme 8 ‚SSH‘. ” (net 4 society: Conclusions on incentives and barriers to participation)

„A large majority of SSH researchers prefer small and medium-scale research projects over large-scale projects. “ „Consortium building and project management are assessed as problematic due to the size of the “Societal Challenge” projects. “ (net 4 society: Conclusions on incentives and barriers to participation)

„The complexity of proposal preparation and the administrative burden of project management both need to be substantially reduced. Since this is a major barrier for SSH researchers – and others – to participate in FP 7, efforts should be made to implement further simplification measures. “ (net 4 society: Conclusions on incentives and barriers to participation)

Internal barriers

Internal barriers 1. heavy burden (number of students) 2. personnel situation 3. lack of centres of excellence 4. little pressure to cooperate 5. poor SSH infrastructure 6. career model 7. contentedness

8. inter- and transdisciplinarity „Those activities should be implemented using a challenge-based approach which brings together resources and knowledge across different fields, technologies and disciplines. Social sciences and humanities research is an important element for addressing all of the challenges. “ (Horizon 2020) 9. no reward for outstanding performance

Strengths

Strengths - quality of the education - skill level of the teaching staff - high performance average - universities are among the best - extensive international networks - language skills - good research funding structure at the national level

Strengths 1. democratic participation, role of the citizen/citizenship, civil society, inclusion and exclusion processes in general

Strengths 2. spatial and settlement structures, landscape, urbanism and peri-urbanism, transportation and mobility

Strengths 3. globalisation, cultural diversity and transculturality - language studies, multilingualism - migration studies

Strengths 4. finance and behavorial economics - medical and health economics

Strengths 5. demography, biography, generations, age, health

Strengths 6. environment, sustainability, energy, climate (c) making the transition to a reliable, sustainable and competitive energy system, in the face of increasing resource scarcity, increasing energy needs and climate change; (e) achieving a resource-efficient and climate change resilient economy and a sustainable supply of raw materials, in order to meet the needs of a growing global population within the sustainable limits of the planet's natural resources; (Horizon 2020)

We have a great deal of potential in several key areas represented in Horizon 2020. But we need - an internal structure that allows for research in greater dimensions - more infrastructure, above all for qualitative and complex data - the promotion of durable and interdisciplinary networks within the SSH, but also between SSH, technology, medicine, etc. - a different way of thinking, in terms of applicationorientation, interdisciplinarity, academic career development and research friendly structures

Thank you!