Yes, Swiss can!
The Federal Office of Transport organized in collaboration with the CSFM last February an event to inform about Switzerland's participation in Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail).
EU-Rail
Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) is the European partnership on rail research and innovation established under the Horizon Europe program (2020-2027) and the successor of the Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking. The program has a budget of EUR 1.2 billion, will run until 2030 and is set to showcase its first results in 2025.
Vision
The vision of external page EU-Rail is to deliver, via an integrated system approach, a high capacity, flexible, multi-modal, and reliable integrated European railway network by eliminating barriers to interoperability and providing solutions for full integration, for European citizens and cargo.
Participation in EU-Rail
At the well-attended information event, Carlo Borghini, director of EU-Rail until February 2023, provided an excellent overview of the vision and opportunities for participation in EU-Rail. He emphasized that the EU-Rail call 2022-2 is open to all eligible entities in accordance with Horizon Europe. Switzerland is currently a non-associated third country, but participation as an associated partner is possible:
- The next opportunity for participation will be the open call, which will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2023. Swiss partners must join a consortium as associated partners.
- In this regard, Europe's Rail is currently collecting topics. These can also be proposed by Swiss participants through external page European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC).
Riccardo Scarinci, the National Contact Point Mobility at the Euresearch Network Office, explained the special conditions and debunked some misinformation about Swiss participation, clarifying that Swiss institutions can participate in EU research programs:
- While Swiss companies do not receive financial support from the EU, they receive the corresponding financial support from the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI).
Euresearch, the Swiss guide to European research and innovation, is a non-profit organization that offers free services and is supported by SERI. They have offices in all Swiss regions. If you are not sure how to proceed with joining an EU research program, please consult your local office. More information about Switzerland's status in Horizon Europe can be found at external page Euresearch.
Euresearch Network Office
Thomas Gugler from SBB also shared his recent experience as a member of two of the recently funded consortia in EU-Rail. SBB is represented in two out of seven flagship areas of the innovation pillar:
- Flagship Area No 2: ATO+
- Flagship Area No 5: Freight
Those projects promote standardization in the field of automation and its necessary basic related technologies.
The over 50 participants from industry and academia appreciated the information event. For most of them, this was the first opportunity to be informed about the possibilities of participating in Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking.
If you were not able to attend the event but are interested in the information provided, please contact the CSFM management office for further details.
