ASEAN 2013-2020

Workshop with research agencies from Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam

2 - 3 November 2016, Singapore ETH Centre SEC, Singapore

In order to explore new strategic partnerships with the Asia-Pacific region, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) commissioned ETH Zurich as a Leading House (LH) in 2013. Since then, the LH conducted a series of workshops, calls for small projects and other activities, which revealed Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to be of major interest to the Swiss science community. The goal of the workshop was to intensify the scientific collaboration with these five countries and to explore the potential for expanding bilateral and multilateral collaboration.

More than 60 participants attended the workshop, representing ministries of higher education, research and innovation, as well as national S&T agencies and university leaders of the five Asian countries and Switzerland. It involved 8 representatives of regional networks and agencies.

The workshop took place in in the premises of the Singapore ETH Centre (SEC). It was opened by Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi from SERI, who explained the principles of Swiss engagement in international S&T collaboration and confirmed the interest of SERI to continue bilateral collaboration with Asian countries. Overviews of the Higher Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) systems of Switzerland and each of the five participating countries complemented his presentation.

Case studies of multilateral project collaboration introduced the regional dimension to the workshop programme. This aspect was deepened by several presentations on regional programmes and agencies.

The workshop finished with parallel group discussions to derive conclusions and recommendations for future collaboration on Regional cooperation, National policies and instruments, Research collaboration, and the Validation of experiences.

Conclusions

The workshop highlighted the complexities of the different national systems, but at the same time showed their commonalities. All countries have similar sets of national thematic research priorities (e.g. water, food security, urbanization, energy, climate, nanotechnology, material sciences, digital revolution). All countries strive to raise in international rankings, such as the Global Innovation Index.

Some trends have become evident in the course of the past years: increasing importance of regional integration, particularly in the context of ASEAN, the increasing weight of HE and S&T in national policies, and the value of brain circulation regionally and globally.

All participants expressed their interest in continued research collaboration with partners in Switzerland. Opportunities for mobilising matching funds vary from country to country. Some countries have mechanisms for bilateral agreements at the national level, while others can more easily tap small resources at the level of the individual university, and later complement successful initiatives with funds from other sources.

The dimension of regional collaboration in the context of ASEAN and similar regional networks only emerged in the course of the on-going programme. The workshop confirmed the validity of this approach and encouraged the organisers to explore this option further. The Swiss participation in the South East Asia – Europe Joint Funding Scheme (JFS) 2017-2020 provides a concrete opportunity to get engaged at the regional level.

The Leading House will inform all workshop participants and the wider SE Asian network on further opportunities and activities after the final policy decision in 2017.

more pictures...

From 23 to 25 May 2016 around 30 science administrators from universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam and Switzerland met at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) in Olten to discuss opportunities and challenges of international research collaboration. The workshop was jointly organised by external page FHNW and ETH Zurich as part the exploratory activities in the bilateral programme with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Presentations and topical discussions were organised in four domains (see presentations in the box below): Science policy and international scientific collaboration; Funding and supervision of international scientific collaboration; Cultural context of scientific activities; and Governance / Organisational aspects. Presentations by the Asian participants set the scene for lively interaction and exchange of experiences.  

On the second day the participants had the opportunity to visit Swiss universities in Zurich, Basel or Lausanne and meet representatives of national agencies in Berne. En route, the trips provided a welcome opportunity for some sightseeing, with a final tour through the Swiss capital Berne.  

A session with embassy representatives of the Asian countries concluded the workshop. For the embassies it was the first interaction of its kind with the science community in Switzerland, which was highly appreciated.

In conclusion, all participants benefitted from the exchange of experiences and networking opportunities. The Asian participants particularly appreciated the excursions and insights into the Swiss higher education and research system. The workshop provided a good opportunity for networking between universities and universities of applied sciences, and for highlighting the added-value of their complementarity within the Swiss system.

The workshop will be complemented by a second part to take place in Singapore in November 2016. The second event will further develop the topics raised during the first workshop, but expand participation to representatives of national agencies. It will shift the focus to the political and regional context of South-East Asia with its fast development and investment in the field of higher education. In addition, regional networks and investment entities, such as ASEAN or the newly founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be part of the programme and share their assessment of the current developments in the field of international scientific collaboration. Further details will be communicated soon.