Swiss referendum on population cap ‘puts science at risk’

Switzerland’s universities risk losing international students and researchers if voters back a proposal to limit the country’s population, academics have warned, saying it could weaken the country’s position as a hub for science. 

The landmark referendum, put forward by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and set for a national vote in June, would require the government to act if the country’s population, currently at 9.1 million, exceeds 9.5 million. 

Proposed actions include denying entrance to newcomers, including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents. The government would also be obliged to end its free-movement agreement with the European Union (EU) if the country’s population reached 10 million. 

Swiss academics have warned that the consequences for universities could be severe if the vote passes, as higher education institutions in the country host a growing number of international students and researchers. 

“The proposed population cap is essentially an immigration cap, as the recent growth of the Swiss population is largely driven by immigration,” said Mike Schäfer, the director of the Center of Higher Education and Science Studies (CHESS) at the University of Zurich. 

Schäfer said science would be particularly affected as the discipline relied heavily on international collaboration. “A population cap could keep international students and colleagues from coming here as permits or visas might be restricted,” he added.

“Even before anything changes in law, uncertainty and a political climate of restriction can make people think twice whether they want to build academic careers and lives around a moving target.”

Christine Böckelmann, the dean of the Lucerne School of Business, said predicting the exact impact on universities was difficult at this stage as it depended on when the population threshold would be reached and the political context at the time, but there were still concerns in the academic community.

“Such a cap could reduce the potential opportunities to employ the best international researchers in a particular discipline, which would weaken Switzerland’s position as a centre of science,” she said. 

Students, including those from EU countries, would be less likely to settle in Switzerland after completing their studies which would make the country a less attractive destination overall, she warned.

But Böckelmann sees a potential opportunity too – a more constrained labour market could boost demand for continuing education programmes. “Universities could play a key role in continually updating the qualifications of professionals by expanding their offerings in this area,” she said.

CHESS’ Schäfer explained that the impact of such a cap would likely not affect “star researchers” at first but would affect the broader ecosystem of postdocs, PhD scholars, junior faculty and visiting scholars. “This everyday international circulation makes Swiss higher education work at scale,” he said. 

Schäfer also warned of broader consequences stemming from Switzerland’s bilateral agreements with the EU, pointing to the Mass Immigration Initiative, a similar policy in 2014, which limited the country’s access to key European research programmes and grants.

“If political decisions are interpreted as conflicting with EU principles, Switzerland can quickly find itself on the margins of the European research ecosystem,” he said.

Despite the stakes, he said the academic community had not yet mobilised around the vote, with the ballot still months away.

“Historically, when Switzerland has underestimated the political risk of these initiatives, higher education leaders have sometimes reacted late – so I do think it’s worth taking the potential consequences seriously early on,” he said. 

seher.asaf@timeshighereducation.com