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Swiss higher education institutions are a strategic pillar of the Swiss education, research, and innovation landscape. Through the excellence of their teaching, research, continuing education, and knowledge and technology transfer, they make a decisive contribution to Switzerland’s innovative strength, competitiveness, and resilience. The sustainable fulfilment of their missions requires solid, predictable, and long-term public funding from the Confederation and the cantons.

swissuniversities, alongside other stakeholders in education, research, and innovation, calls for investment in Swiss innovation to be embedded within a strategic, ambitious, and sustainable vision. In a context characterised by intensifying international competition, a decline in Switzerland’s standing in these key areas would result in lasting structural disadvantages as well as economic losses that would be difficult to reverse. 

Consolidating core funding and securing the necessary investment for the period 2029–32 

The Confederation’s core funding is essential for higher education institutions to fulfil their core mission: maintaining excellence in teaching, research, continuing education, and the transfer of knowledge and technology. swissuniversities attaches the highest priority to this core mission. For the 2029–32 ERI period, an annual increase of 2.18 per cent in core funding is being requested. This should enable higher education institutions to cope with rising student numbers and costs, whilst maintaining the quality of their services.

As part of the National Coordination of Higher Education Policy 2029–32, swissuniversities has identified six focus areas requiring additional investment: technological sovereignty, space, education system and circulation of knowledge, research infrastructures, health and medicine, security and defense.

These investments are intended to enable higher education institutions to anticipate technological and geopolitical changes, to train the specialists Switzerland needs, and to ensure internationally competitive research conditions. They also aim to reduce strategic dependencies, accelerate the transfer of knowledge to the economy and society, and strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to crises.

Impact of project contributions for strategic themes and those relevant to society and politics 

Project contributions offer the Confederation the opportunity to promote strategic, as well as socially and politically relevant themes within higher education institutions. As part of the 2027 budgetary relief package, project contributions for 2025–28 were reduced to years 2025–26. swissuniversities welcomed the parliament’s decision to retain the instrument of project contributions in the Higher Education Act (HEdA) beyond the current ERI period. As part of the National Coordination of Higher Education Policy 2029–32, proposals are being put forward – in accordance with the mandate of the Swiss Conference of Higher Education Institutions – on the thematic areas in which such programmes could be carried out and on their potential direction.