State Secretary Martina Hirayama on a science mission to South Africa

Press releasePublished on 22 September 2025

State Secretary Martina Hirayama on a science mission to South Africa

Bern, 22.09.2025 - Martina Hirayama, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, will be in Pretoria and Cape Town on a science mission from 25 to 26 September. The aim of the trip is to strengthen long-term cooperation between Switzerland and South Africa in the fields of education, research and innovation. The science mission follows a G20 meeting on science and innovation, which State Secretary Hirayama will attend.

South Africa is an important partner for Switzerland in the field of science and innovation. In 2007, the two countries concluded an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation. The trip builds on this relationship. As part of its efforts to diversify its international partnerships in research and innovation, Switzerland is exploring the possibility of deeper strategic cooperation with countries in sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, State Secretary Hirayama will hold talks with South African Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Bonginkosi Emmanuel Nzimande, and South African Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela. Exchanges with the National Research Foundation and the Technology Innovation Agency are also planned. State Secretary Hirayama will be accompanied by a high-level delegation from the Swiss research community and higher education sector.

Prior to the science mission, the State Secretary will attend the meeting of G20 ministers responsible for science and innovation in Tshwane (Pretoria) on 23 September, to which Switzerland has been invited by South Africa as the host country. State Secretary Hirayama will also take part in a ministerial meeting of the member countries of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). Switzerland has been a member of this international research organisation, devoted to radio astronomy, since 2022. During the G20 meeting, the ministers will also visit SKAO's antenna site in South Africa.

Research and innovation cooperation between Switzerland and South Africa is encouraged through various instruments. A bilateral cooperation programme has been in place since 2008, which aims to support joint activities between Swiss and South African players in education, research and innovation. The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), mandated by SERI as the Swiss Leading House for Africa, offers cooperation instruments for start-up funding and innovative pilot projects in collaboration with the University of Basel.

In addition, the Swiss National Science Foundation and the South African National Research Foundation concluded a lead agency agreement in 2020. Since then, 20 joint projects by Swiss and South African researchers have been funded in various disciplines ranging from the humanities and social sciences to biology and medicine, mathematics, natural sciences and engineering. Since 1962, the Confederation has also awarded over 120 Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships to South African researchers.

• Foreign affairs
• Foreign affairs: Development cooperation
• Education, Research & Innovation
• Education, Research & Innovation: Science