Pioneering research politics

The canton of Aargau, together with the University of Basel, founded the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) in 2006. The SNI is funded by the canton of Aargau with five million Swiss francs per year. The SNI has evolved from the National Centre of Competence in Research on Nanoscale Science, founded in 2001. Its goal is cutting-edge research in the field of nanoscience. To foster a specific branch of the University of a foreign canton is considered a pioneering funding activity in Switzerland. A substantial part of the Aargau’s investment is dedicated to the so-called Argovia projects, collaborations between the University, the University of Applied Sciences and industrial partners.

Mr. Regierungsrat Hürzeler, why do you invest in nanoscience?
Nanosciences perform an important basis for the upcoming technologies of the twenty-first century. They have an enormous potential for the economic development of north-western Switzerland’s high tech branch. The experience taught us that Switzerland has excellent preconditions for this economic sector. Within the Argovia programme we foster collaborations between research institutions and local industrial companies. This way, we are able to guarantee the knowledge transfer into the chain of economic value added. We ensure sustainability of our investment into research.

You are a pioneer of Swiss education politics. Your aim is synergy instead of concurrence. Will this become a role model?
Concurrence is still an important driving force in cutting-edge research and it guarantees a high quality. Science works in terms of a competitive system. Excellence is always due to this kind of concurrence. We try to strengthen the synergies within the region of north-western Switzerland. On the global scale we try to act together as one powerful player. You have to consider the possible alternatives of our investment into the SNI. It wouldn’t have been reasonable to create a new institute on nanoscience from scratch. It would have never been competitive to the large expertise of the University of Basel. Aarau is only half an hour apart from Basel and from Zurich. On the global scale on which high-tech research and development plays, Basel, Zurich and Aargau are just one single spot on the map.

The canton of Aargau invests five million Swiss francs per year into the Swiss Nanoscience Institute. Where do you see the return of investment?
The canton of Aargau is one of the economically most powerful cantons of Switzerland. Although we don’t have our own University, we come with the University of Applied Sciences FHNW and the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). These are renowned research institutions. Wherever it helps the development of our location, we are willing to collaborate with the Universities. We take an interest in the definition of main research topics. With the foundation of the SNI, we were quite active in the design of the research landscape. From our experiences with the FHNW and the PSI we already knew in which direction it has to go. The canton of Aargau profits from the neighborhood to the surrounding Universities and research institutions. Our industrial companies depend on experts and on collaborations with research institutions. This is the reason why we invest specifically into applied research and into the knowledge transfer from academia into industry. We foster the canton of Aargau and furthermore the whole region. With the SNI we are able to open access to recent research results for the companies in our canton. These funding instruments meet a high demand.

A short glance into the future: do you plan to support other branches in a similar way or do you prefer to intensify your investment into nanotechnology?
In its long-term strategy, the cantonal government follows a specific strengthening of the high-tech industry of Aargau. At the moment, we are preparing a bundle of measures. An intensification of our engagement in the field of nanotechnology is a reasonable option.

Professor Daniel Loss, Vice Director of the SNI, has been awarded the renowned Marcel-Benoist prize. This award is often referred to as the Swiss Nobel prize. Which meaning has this honour for you?
The award honours an important scientist. Furthermore, I consider it an award to the SNI. It is the proof that the professors at the SNI are doing research on cutting-edge level and it shows me that we bet on the right horse. I wish professor Loss all the best for the future and I’m optimistically looking forward to the future of the SNI.

Further information: www.nanoscience.ch