Workshop on International Research Partnerships

ETH Zurich hosted a workshop at its Singapore ETH Centre (SEC) with the objective to explore the potential for bilateral research collaboration between Switzerland and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Two issues emerged as fundamental differences between Switzerland and the Asian countries: (i) bottom-up vs. top-down systems, and (ii) the interface between publicly funded research and private industry. In several interactive sessions the participants found ample communalities between the S&T systems of their countries as well as new ideas from which they could learn. One of the working group conclusions was that international collaboration is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. The conclusions of the workshop will feed into recommendations to the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The workshop will be followed by a call for pilot projects to establish or deepen research relations between Swiss and Asian partners. The call will be announced on this website. Read more.