Transcript Strengths and Potential of Swiss SSH Research with regard to

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.“
(net4society: 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 FP7 Cooperation specific programme and
Theme 8 ‚SSH‘.”
(net4society: 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.“
(net4society: 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
FP7, efforts should be made to implement
further simplification measures.“
(net4society: 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!