News

The Swiss Science Council welcomes representatives of European science, technology and innovation councils.

The 29th meeting of the Joint Committee between Switzerland and the European Union (EU) on the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) took place on 12th November 2026 at the House of the Cantons in Bern. It was chaired by Switzerland. Both delegations noted the mutual benefits of the AFMP.

A new preliminary report (railways) is available on the website of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board STSB.

The Chief Science Advisors Roundtable (CSAR) is an international forum supported by UNESCO, where chief science advisers from governments around the world exchange views and achieve consensus on the role of scientific policy advice. At the fourth CSAR meeting, held in Paris on 10 November 2026, State Secretary Martina Hirayama linked her remarks to the international AI summit that Switzerland will host in Geneva in June 2027.

Proteins are the building blocks of life – and the docking sites for pharmaceutical compounds. Therefore, understanding exactly how proteins function and react to stimuli opens up new possibilities in pharmaceutical research. Four researchers have now been awarded a prestigious ERC Synergy Grant to investigate how proteins respond to electric fields. Their method will be prototyped using the X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, with the aim of expanding to other large research facilities in the future.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) and the Federal Office of Police (fedpol) have carried out a large-scale, internationally coordinated operation against a suspected criminal organisation. The operation targeted individuals suspected of involvement in a criminal organisation, of committing offences under the Narcotics Act, and of engaging in aggravated money laundering.

Federal Council Vice-President Ignazio Cassis will represent Switzerland at the 20th Francophonie Summit, to be held on 15 and 16 November 2026 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Under the motto ‘Reinvest in Peace for Shared Prosperity and Sustainable Stability’, the summit will focus on peace and cooperation. The election of the secretary-general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) is also on the agenda.

In the 3rd quarter 2026, the employed population grew by 0.5% and ILO unemployment stood at 5.6%

In laboratory experiments, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have discovered how brown carbon from wildfires promotes the formation of harmful nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. This could improve prediction of the effects wildfires have on air quality and climate. The results have now been published in the journal Science Advances.

The Confederation engages in “communication abroad” to cultivate Switzerland's image internationally and to guard against image crises. Presence Switzerland, a unit of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), implements measures relating to communication abroad: appearances at major international events, project funding, communication content, the organisation of delegation trips, and monitoring of how Switzerland is perceived abroad. Presence Switzerland follows the Federal Council's Strategy for Communication Abroad and coordinates with the many federal agencies that communicate abroad on Switzerland's behalf. The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined whether Presence Switzerland uses the funds for communication abroad coherently and effectively. It concluded that Presence Switzerland should prioritise its activities more rigorously and gear them towards achieving an impact among the relevant target groups.

The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) is the Confederation’s specialised agency for national and international issues in its field. In particular, it supports innovation and vocational training projects. In 2022 the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) conducted an audit of how this funding is granted. It examined whether the funding was justified and effective. The SFAO issued four main recommendations, one at the highest level of priority. The SFAO therefore conducted a follow-up audit on the implementation of these key recommendations. It concluded that SERI has implemented the four recommendations.

Foreign policy and science diplomacy were the focus of FDFA State Secretary Alexandre Fasel's visit to Brussels on 10 and 11 November 2026. On Tuesday, he met with Kajsa Ollongren, the secretary-general of the European External Action Service (EEAS), for political consultations. On Wednesday, at the European Commission's European Research and Innovation Days, he highlighted how Switzerland fosters trust through anticipatory science diplomacy. This approach is also being pursued by Switzerland in the run-up to the Global AI Summit 2027 in Geneva. Mr Fasel invited the European states and their partners to take part in this preparatory process.