US-Switzerland science agencies sign collaboration to advance research and innovation efforts

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation, or SNSF, signed a memorandum of understanding today to foster and support collaborative international research. The new agreement establishes the framework to identify and develop mechanisms that encourage collaboration between the U.S. and Swiss research communities and sets out the principles by which jointly supported activities might be developed.

"International collaboration has always been at the heart of scientific progress and is built into our agency's DNA," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "We are pleased to partner with our Swiss counterpart agency to make rapid progress on solving global grand challenges and to ensure that the process for collaborative research between our countries is as seamless as possible for the research community."

For more than 70 years, NSF has recognized the central role that international partnerships play in achieving the United States' research and development objectives. Some of the biggest breakthroughs and most important discoveries have been made possible by international cooperation and support. The goal of the MOU is to promote closer collaboration and reduce some of the barriers to working internationally that researchers currently encounter.

"The agreement marks a milestone for our cooperation with the U.S. Carrying out joint projects will be much easier for researchers based in Switzerland and the U.S.," said the president of the National Research Council for SNSF Matthias Egger.

The MOU was signed at a meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin and officials from SNSF and the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C.

For information about NSF's international collaboration efforts and agency programs, visit nsf.gov. For information on SNSF's programs, visit snf.ch.