Munich

With generous science funding and world-class facilities, Switzerland is often seen as a land of milk and honey for researchers. But paradise is in trouble, say scientists working there. Over half of the scientists questioned by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the main Swiss research funding agency, fear that the country is losing ground in international competition.

“Our leading position is endangered,” agrees Konrad Basler, a molecular biologist who is based at the University of Zurich.

The SNSF's findings come in a report, released on 30 July, detailing a survey of 4,000 researchers — around half of Swiss science's workforce. Fears for the status of Swiss research also seem to be backed up by citation statistics for Swiss research papers.

Markus von Ins of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies in Bern says Swiss dominance in the National Science Indicator (NSI) rankings, which measure the average scientific impact of papers produced by a particular country, is waning. Switzerland topped the NSI table from 1981 to 2001, but although its score has improved little since 1981, that of the United States, in second place, has increased by 6%, with Britain and the Netherlands also closing the gap.

Swiss scientists say that the government's short-term economic strategy is partly to blame. Annual funding for Swiss basic research rose modestly from 215 million Swiss francs (US$146 billion) to 248 million Swiss francs between 1991 and 2001, while funding for applied research tripled to 321 million Swiss francs. “The priorities have clearly switched from fundamental to applied research,” says Adriano Aguzzi, a neuropathologist at the University of Zurich.

The SNSF, which already spends most of its money on basic research, has called for a billion Swiss francs in extra funding between 2003 and 2007. The Swiss Science and Technology Council, which advises the government on science-policy issues, has promised to support the SNSF's plea. “We recommend doubling the budget,” says Gottfried Schatz, the council's president.

George Thomas, a molecular biologist at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, says that Switzerland is still an attractive place for research. “Switzerland is but a small country, and the SNSF is doing a good job,” he says. “But with massive US investment in the life sciences, it's really difficult to keep on track.”