SNMC · Swiss Network of Mobility Centres

Swiss network of mobility centres

The project 'Swiss network of mobility centres' (SNMC) was co-financed by the European Commission and the Swiss universities from 1 June 2008 until 31 May 2010. It aimed at guaranteeing high quality and the attractiveness of Switzerland as a place for researchers by establishing a sustainable network of Euraxess service centres. For Switzerland as a non member state of the EU it is important to make a great effort to welcome researchers from abroad and to integrate them by informing them about working conditions, accommodation, social insurances along with child care and cultural aspects. Swiss network In 2008 the rectors and presidents of all twelve universities signed the declaration of commitment. The State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) officially acknowledged the Swiss Euraxess network on 30 October 2008. At the end of the project there have been 10 Euraxess service centres established in the Swiss universities (for UniL and EPFL together in Lausanne / for UZH and ETHZ together in Zurich). European network Euraxess succeeds Eracraeers, Era-more and includes activities to implement the Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. Therefore, it is relative to the mobility of researchers and also to the European Commission's HR-Strategy and the Partnership for Researchers. The Swiss network participated in national and international conferences and workshops. These provided a good opportunity for discussion and served as an informal way to get to know one another. Website Euraxess.ch was by the end of the project time a well developed and reliable website. It fits into the corporate design of the European websites, while expressing the Swiss researchers' commitment by displaying the copyright brand of CRUS (the open white cross a red background) on the right upper bar. Euraxess.ch provides information on all the Euraxess service centres, explanatory documents regarding mobility issues (main topics: entry conditions, getting started, working, research, families, everyday life) and links to job opportunities in research as well as funding possibilities. Analysis of the 10 Euraxess service centres In the second period the main emphasis was placed on a report about the structure and activities of the Euraxess service centres. The analysis 'The mapping of Euraxess service centres' was approved by the rectors' conference and will be published by the SER. Furthermore, the entire report will be available on http://www.euraxess.ch and http://www.crus.ch. Sustainability After the end of SNMC, Switzerland continues with the further development of the website. In the framework of the so-called T.O.P. Portal Call 38 000 Euros were allocated for Euraxess Switzerland by the European Commission. Within this project, CRUS wants to arrange the website in a more interesting and vivid manner. The project funding may also be used for other activities related to the portal, such as promotion. On 1 July 2010 the rectors confirmed their commitment to permit and finance the necessary part time activities of their collaborators involved in the Euraxess service centres as well as their participation in the national and in the EU Euraxess network. They also confirmed their support of all contacts and cooperation within their universities' administration, optimising the pathways for incoming scientific staff. In addition, they agreed to close collaboration between CRUS and the Euraxess service centre of Zurich (University and ETH). In the future both institutions will perform complementary functions as bridgehead organisation in Switzerland. The exact allocation of tasks will be defined in August 2010, and then submitted for a new mandate of the SER. Beneficiaries - Rectors' conference of the Swiss universities CRUS represented by Dr Mathias Stauffacher, Sennweg 2, 3012 Bern, Switzerland, 0041 31 306 60 36 Address of the public website of the project: http://www.euraxess.ch

Data: CORDIS, © European Union