10 Years Anniversary

Until 2014, Switzerland was a full member of the EU education programme ERASMUS +. With the adoption of the Swiss mass immigration initiative, the status of Swiss universities in the Erasmus programme changed and since 2014 they have been treated as a third country. For the University of Basel, this means that it has since continued its European university exchange programme via SEMP (Swiss European Mobility Programme). Within the International Office the unit Student Exchange is in charge of the SEMP program.

Since mid-March 2024, Switzerland and the EU have adopted their negotiation mandates for association with the EU education and research programmes (Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, etc.). SERI is aiming for association with the current Erasmus+ programme generation 2021-28. The earliest possible association is planned for 2026.

Our Swiss-Africa Programme (or AIT Swiss-Africa, as we now call it) began as a bilateral cooperation between Switzerland & South Africa in 2007, funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Anchored in Switzerland's bottom-up academic culture, the first final evaluation meeting of the programme in November 2011 in Pretoria/South Africa brought forth the desire of the academics participating in this programme for a strong matching tool. The SARECO database was created as a result and today serves not only as a matching tool, but also as a reference for all relevant stakeholders in Switzerland and in the programme's target countries for cooperation in the areas of research and innovation in the context of the Global North and South.

The database was developed and will continue to be maintained by the International Office/International Relations team. Fun (or worrying) fact: every month the database administrator has to deal with hundreds of hacking attempts.

AlumniBasel's 2023 annual report has invited two alumni for an interview on this year's chosen theme of "Internationality". Among other things, the interview provides an insight into the challenges, faced by universities and International Offices today.

"My international doctoral students always receive valuable information and advice from Student Exchange. In addition, around 50 doctoral students and post-docs from all over the world are able to continue their research at our university thanks to a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (ESKAS). They are supported by the competent and friendly team in the often complicated day-to-day and administrative issues. This support makes a big difference."

Prof. Dr Susanne Bickel, Egyptology, Department of Classical Studies, and delegate of the University of Basel to the Federal Excellence Scholarship Commission for Foreign Researchers and Artists (2011 - 2019). These government scholarships promote international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and over 180 countries. They are selected and awarded by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (ESKAS). Within the International Office it is Student Exchange being primarily responsible for ESKAS scholarship holders and mobility.

After the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, researchers and students who had fled also reached the University of Basel in March 2022. Together with colleagues in faculties, departments and units and many supporters from AlumniBasel and the general public, the International Office worked hard to help in a variety of ways: under the leadership of the International Office, a total of 11 "Scholars at Risk" were able to find temporary employment at the University of Basel thanks to funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Many other researchers and students who had fled found temporary accommodation for research and studies or have since been able to continue their education or careers. The Welcome & Euraxess Centre - like all Welcome & Euraxess Centres throughout Europe and overseas - was in continuous operation for months, offering support with first steps in Switzerland, integration, finding accommodation and answers on many new questions in the context of war and escape. Further support and information is provided by University of Basel, ERA4Ukraine and Swissuniversities. 

This was the Uni News headline in autumn term 2014 when the International Office was founded by merging two units that had previously been embedded in a different organisational structure. Student Exchange (formerly called "Mobility" and in existence since 1995) and International Relations ("Global Affairs" since 2007) came together, supplemented by the new sub-unit "Welcome Centre". This development took place in the same or a similar way at many universities worldwide as part of the increasing internationalisation and professionalisation of universities and increased mobility in general; quite a few now even have their own "Vice-Rectorate for International Affairs".

When the State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Charles Kleiber, and the South African Minister of Education, Mangena, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Cooperation in Science & Innovation in December 2007, they laid the foundation for the bilateral funding of hundreds of joint research projects and mobility activities and the participation of over 250 companies in the joint programme, which has been managed by the South African Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the International Office of the University of Basel since then and will run until the end of 2024. These recordings of the Johannesburg Conference 2023 and Lagos Conference 2/2024 give an impression of the range of topics.

The University of Basel has been a member of the Utrecht Network (UN), which is made up of 30 universities from all over Europe, for around three decades. With a focus on mobility, the network aims to share best practice, improve the internationalisation process and, in particular, mobility for students and staff. The UN also has well established links with partner networks in the USA (MAUI Network) and Australia (AEN) and a newly established link with the Brazilian REARI-RJ Network, proving that it is indeed a European Network with a global outlook.The network also promotes summer schools, internationalisation of curricula, joint curricula and double/joint degrees. This Utrecht Network Youbtube clip illustrates this. The Student Exchange team is responsible for the Utrecht Network.