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Swiss rectors plead for full association to Erasmus+

  

Rectors say cooperation with EU universities hampered by partial access to bloc’s mobility programme

Heads of Swiss universities want Switzerland to fully associate to the 2021-27 iteration of the EU’s academic exchange programme, Erasmus+, complaining that the country’s more distant ‘partner’ status of recent years has hampered collaboration with neighbouring institutions.

Switzerland has been a partner to the Erasmus+ programme since 2014, when its participation was downgraded from full association after Swiss voters rejected extending the free movement of EU citizens to Croatia—even though that vote was subsequently reversed.

Partnership in Erasmus+ is inferior to full association in important ways, the rectors association Swiss Universities said on 27 January. Swiss institutions are less visible and influential in the programme, are unable to steer its development and cannot access its databases, the association said.

“With the complete digitisation of European mobility, Switzerland needs this access [to databases], otherwise the administrative hurdles for both Swiss and European institutions will continue to grow and Swiss universities will lose touch in a relatively short time,” said the association.

It also pointed out that Erasmus+ is increasingly funding activities beyond merely mobility, including the European Universities Initiative, which supports cross-border alliances undertaking collaborative research and education projects. 

“As non-associated partners, cooperation projects with Swiss universities pose a risk, as projects can be rejected if the added value of Switzerland’s participation is not convincingly demonstrated,” said the association. “Furthermore, the Swiss universities are still excluded from project management.”

A replacement national programme is not an adequate solution, the association said. However, it said that association to Erasmus+ would not be worth pursuing if it were to be funded by redirecting money from elsewhere in the Swiss research and higher education budget.

The association’s plea will make uncomfortable reading for leaders of universities in the UK, as the UK government decided not to associate to Erasmus+ after leaving the EU, and is instead setting up a national academic mobility scheme.