Statement
Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences a+
ERI Dispatch 2025-2028: Universities and funding organisations for research and innovation fear cutback in services
The Federal Council plans to invest less than before in education, research and innovation (ERI) in the coming years. In its ERI Dispatch 2025–2028, the Federal Council proposes only a slight nominal growth for the ERI sector. Due to the expected inflation, a zero or negative growth is possible in real terms. A cutback in services at the ERI institutions concerned is therefore foreseeable. The universities and research and innovation promotion organisations are therefore calling for significant, real growth for the entire HERI sector over the next four-year period. Only in this way can they continue to make their contribution to progress and prosperity in Switzerland.
Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW
News
More Swiss research in space: Florian Kehl on the development of space missions at ETH Zurich
Four telescopes that must maintain a stable focus on extremely faint galaxies for an exceptionally long time, and detectors that remain at a constant temperature of around –130 degrees Celsius throughout: the ARRAKIHS space telescope has been built to the very limits of what is technically possible. In June 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) gave the go-ahead for the mission – with a Swiss contribution for which Florian Kehl was responsible until the end of 2025. To ensure that such contributions do not remain isolated cases, in addition to high-quality research, we need structures, streamlined processes and people who can get entire missions off the ground. This is precisely what Kehl is working on today as Director of Space Research Initiatives at ETH Zurich | Space. In an interview with SATW, he explains what makes ARRAKIHS so technically challenging, just how competitive Switzerland really is when it comes to securing leadership roles in European missions, and why, in his view, the search for extraterrestrial life might be on the verge of yielding an answer.
News
Article on the SWEET programme published
The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) commissioned science journalist Benedikt Vogel to write an article on the public funding programme SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition).
Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences SATW
News
Solar power from space
Space-based solar power stations could generate electricity almost round the clock and transmit it to Earth via microwaves. The individual technologies are well developed, but their interaction on a large scale has not yet been tested. Swiss research and industry could also play a part in overcoming the enormous technical and economic hurdles.