2024 Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council

The Global Research Council (GRC) is a virtual organisation consisting of the heads of funding institutions for science and technology. Its aim is to promote the exchange of data and the development of best practices for high-quality cooperation between funding institutions at the international level. In particular, cooperation between the global North and South is being set up and expanded in a targeted manner by the GRC.

A focus on sustainable research

Making research practices more economically, environmentally and socially responsible requires cooperation across national, thematic and sectoral boundaries.

The 12th Annual Meeting will therefore focus on the topic of “sustainable research”, with the following three priority areas:

• Research for Sustainable Development
• Making research itself sustainable
• Making sure sustainability science matters

The participating organisations of the GRC will adopt a Statement of Principles in Interlaken. This is a policy document with recommendations on sustainable research that all GRC 2024 participants will have agreed on.

In the run-up to the annual conference (29–30 May 2024), various side events and the GRC regional meetings will take place on 27–28 May. The conference will end with a visit to various Swiss research institutions. All organisations participating in the annual meeting are invited to the side events. These can also be opened up to a wider group of guests. Attendance at the annual conference is by invitation only, however, and is aimed at a limited group of participants.

Important cooperation between SNSF and FONSTI

As one of the leading international funding organisations, the SNSF is committed within the GRC to more sustainable research. In this context, it is organising the GRC's 2024 annual meeting around this topic together with the Ivory Coast funding organisation, the Fonds pour la Science, la Technologie et l'Innovation (FONSTI). The cooperation between the two funding agencies is a result of the Declaration of intent for in-depth cooperation signed in 2023.