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The Programme for an Open Science

Information regarding federal cost-cutting measures: Effects on the Programme Open Science II 

On 20 September 2024, the Federal Council announced which cost-cutting measures suggested in the report of the ‘Spending and Subsidy Review’ expert group are to be pursued further. These measures include the discontinuation of project-related contributions. 

swissuniversities has been informed that for now, financial resources for the 2025-2028 programmes can only be committed for the year 2025.

The swissuniversities bodies are currently examining the impact of this measure and possible scenarios for completed, ongoing or planned calls for proposals. 

For the Programme Open Science II, the swissuniversities Board has decided – subject to the decision of the Swiss Higher Education Council SHK in November – that an amount of 6.45 MCHF will be available for 2025. The Delegation Open Science will decide in December which action lines will be implemented, the form this will take, and the timing of this implementation. We will inform you about the decisions as soon as possible. In the meantime, you will find the latest information here.

Programme Open Science I – 2021 to 2024

Since 2021, the swissuniversities Programme Open Science I is dedicated to the implementation of the National Open Access (OA) Action Plan at Swiss universities and has, since 2022, also included the implementation of the National Open Research Data (ORD) Action Plan. swissuniversities has submitted two applications for federal project contributions to the Higher Education Council SHK, which were approved in 2021 and 2022 and are now being implemented in two programme phases: 

The aim of Phase A Open Access is to increase the proportion of open access publications at universities. A combination of measures is designed to make it easier for researchers to publish their publications freely. For instance, the development and networking of open access services and infrastructures, negotiations with major publishers and the promotion of alternative forms of publication all contribute to the sustainable implementation of OA in Switzerland.

Phase B Open Research Data implements the action lines of the ORD action plan for which swissuniversities is responsible. From 2022-2024, the action lines under the responsibility of the ORD Strategy Council and the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences are also funded on a transitional basis. 

  • Action line A of the ORD action plan promotes the development of ORD practices through competitive, research-focused projects; 
  • Action line B is dedicated to the creation of long-term funding models for ORD services and infrastructures, the promotion of their consolidation and cost management. 
  • Action line C aims to sensitise the research community to best ORD practices and to promote education and training in research data management (RDM) and ORD. 
  • Action line D deals with incentives and rewards for researchers, as well as the legal and ethical aspects of ORD practices and their international compatibility.

Programme Open Science II - 2025 to 2028

In December 2023, swissuniversities submitted an application to the Higher Education Council (SHK) for federal project contributions with the aim of sustainably consolidating and strategically developing Open Science at Swiss universities. The SHK approved the application for the Open Science II programme in May 2024, subject to parliamentary decisions.