G6 group of research funders back ‘Stick to Science’ campaign

As signatories of the Stick to science initiative, the presidents of the G6 informal network hereby collectively reaffirm their support to the association of Switzerland and the UK to Horizon Europe.

Cooperation across geographical and political borders is a natural process in scientific research and innovation. Over centuries, it has been key to the advancement of knowledge and to major scientific breakthroughs. European Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development gave strong impetus to scientific cooperation within Europe. Over decades, these programmes have been a major lever for our scientific communities to build trustful and sustainable partnerships, and to strengthen the scientific leadership of Europe at the global scale. Cooperation with Swiss and British scientists within these programmes has always played an important role. Today they are essential partners in cutting-edge research in Europe.

We firmly believe that the non-association of Switzerland and the UK is detrimental to scientific cooperation and to the leadership of Europe, fragmenting the European scientific community, weakening European competitiveness and disrupting the momentum of a renewed European Research Area. In critical times of major global scientific challenges, such as climate change, global health and food security, it is essential to foster cooperation and competition between all European research actors.

The current worldwide political tensions, including war at the doorstep of the European Union, shows that a clear positioning of the scientific and research community is sometimes unavoidable. This makes it all the more important to provide a solid and stable framework for scientific collaboration. We, therefore, strongly support the objectives of the Stick to science initiative and call for a rapid association of both countries to Horizon Europe.

The G6 network unites six large multidisciplinary European Research Performing Organisations, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, the HelmholtzGemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren, the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft and the MaxPlanck-Gesellschaft