"What will happen if I go to university and how can I stay on there?" - This had always been a key question for young students and researchers, said Dieter Imboden at the opening of the first part of the SNSF event in front of 160 young researchers. On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the SNSF wants to know and not just speculate: what could be better when it comes to the promotion of young researchers? - The announcement of the event "Young researchers: Is Switzerland doing enough?" had given rise to discussions among the non-professorial teaching staff of Swiss institutions of higher education.

Workshops as a basis
As a basis for the discussions with decision makers in the afternoon, the young researchers formulated the things they need most from politics, higher education institutions and the SNSF in different workshops. In the afternoon session, approximately 100 representatives from politics, higher education institutions and the SNSF were greeted by Hans Ulrich Stöckling, President of the Foundation Council of the SNSF. This was followed by earnest and constructive discussions between those present.

A response from politics
The new president of the parliamentary committee for science, education and culture, state councillor Felix Gutzwiller, set the ball rolling with a talk entitled "A response from politics". In his talk, he stressed the importance of convincing politicians with little knowledge of basic research that "science is crucial to the future of Switzerland, even more so than other domains!" The current stagnation of public investment in research can only be overcome in the next legislative period if this fact can be brought home to the MPs.

These are the trouble spots!
Caspar Hirschi from the ETH Zurich then presented the needs formulated by the young researchers in the workshops. He explained that "the demands of young researchers from different disciplines are very similar" and singled out the following needs:

Requests to the political bodies:

• Systematic increase of university funds in proportion to the increase in the number of students
• More pressure on universities with regard to the compatibility of research and family life, particularly for women scientists
• Better and more intensive coordination of research policies between the Confederation and the cantons and between the different universities

What the universities should do:

• Better supervisory and advisory structures for doctoral candidates linked to systematic and sanctionable monitoring of the supervisory efforts of professors
• More attractive perspectives for senior non-professorial staff (higher salaries, independent positions, assistant professorships with tenure track).
• Higher estimation of teaching accompanied by the relevant changes to the career paths of academic teachers

Requests to the SNSF:

• More pressure on the universities to integrate the researchers supported by the SNSF
• Possibility for young doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to submit project proposals that include contributions towards their living costs
• More transparency with regard to peer review and funding decisions

Interesting panel discussions...
The needs presented by the young researchers were discussed in a panel made up of representatives from politics, the higher education institutions and the SNSF. Antonio Loprieno, president of the Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS) agreed with the demand to raise the number of tenure track assistant professorships. In addition, calls for these professorships should be launched as early as possible to improve the chances of Swiss researchers and women. Another of his main goals was to establish doctoral programmes and to intensify PhD supervision, Loprieno said. In principle, he thought that all the demands were very plausible and were being implemented as far as possible - to which Caspar Hirschi responded: "I'm pleased that improvements are being made, but changes in the university systems take so much time that I fear another generation of bright young researchers will be wasted." Finally Christoph Eymann, president of the Swiss University Council, offered his opinion that the best recipe was more money from the Confederation: "In excess of the available funds, it would be important to see special programmes for promoting non-professorial teaching staff start in the next ten years".

...and the SNSF view
The demand that the SNSF should exert more pressure on the higher education institutions met with a thoughtful response from Dieter Imboden. On the one hand, he would like to ask the universities to put SNSF professorships on a par with their own tenure track assistant professorships and give them the right to supervise doctoral candidates. On the other hand, this might lead to a situation where the universities only accept someone as an SNSF professor if they already have their eyes on that person anyway, whereas the "undiscovered talents" would be left empty-handed. However, all young researchers should have the right to an examination at every PhD stage. While this would not guarantee SNSF professors a full professorship later on, "it would guarantee an examination with a real chance greater than zero!" As in sports, a good academic system has the shape of a steep pyramid. However, it is unsatisfactory that "people are thwarted because there happens to be no suitable post at a given time!"
Finally, Imboden promised that the young researchers' demands would not simply languish in a drawer at the SNSF. On the contrary, the SNSF would pursue them together with the higher education institutions and political bodies. While acknowledging that the researchers' demands were valid, he was at the same time pleased at their acceptance of the fact that changes also need to be realised in a political and institutional context if they are to be sustainable.

(You can hear Caspar Hirschi's and Dieter Imboden's summaries in the film of the young researchers' event.)

First appearance by federal councillor Berset
The event closed with the first research-related public appearance by federal councillor Alain Berset, the new head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. He congratulated the SNSF on completing its 60 years of successful research funding and praised it, in particular, for treating its anniversary as a reason to look to the future rather than to the past.
He emphasised the importance of well-trained young people for society, science and the economy and said that the SNSF would receive approximately 600 million Swiss francs for career funding between 2013 and 2016. (See his speech under "On this subject")