Diesen Newsletter in Deutsch anzeigen. January 26th, 2012
	To whom it may concern scienceindustries keeps you informed about the positions of our industry on current economic policy and social topics. Topics in this edition - A strong franc: More favorable basic conditions are necessary for securing Switzerland as a research and production location - Free trade agreement with China and India: Yes, but only with effective provisions to protect intellectual property - Switzerland's education landscape: Above-average, long-term secured funding for universities - The Human Research Act: Strengthening Switzerland as a clinical research location - Unrealistic CO2 law leads to production relocating abroad - simplyscience.ch: Experiment sets for nanotechnology conquer secondary schools - Marcel Sennhauser is now a member of management A strong franc: More favorable basic conditions are necessary for securing Switzerland as a research and production location scienceindustries supports the introduction of a temporary exchange rate target by the Swiss National Bank. The financial package I proposed by the Swiss Federal Council does not provide any noticeable relief for the affected export industries. scienceindustries calls on Swiss politicians to improve the quality of Switzerland as a location over the longer term, and in so doing to compensate for the negative effects of the strong franc. Therefore, taxes and duties should be reduced for all companies, no new encumbrances for companies should be introduced (e.g. with regard to energy and CO2), the high quality free trade network should be further expanded (including agreements with China and India), there should be increased investment in education and research, the free movement of persons within the EU should be maintained, the international price comparison regarding medicine prices should be applied with a sense of proportion, and there should be no tightening of the antitrust law or subsidies for individual companies or industries. scienceindustries supports an effective revitalization program for the economy. Free trade agreement with China and India: Yes, but only with effective provisions to protect intellectual property scienceindustries has pointed out the interesting growth potential for our industry in countries such as China and India for quite some time. In this context, we are in favor of a high quality agreement with comprehensive reductions in customs tariffs, simple rules of origin and substantial provisions for the protection of intellectual property. Switzerland's education landscape: Above-average, long-term secured funding for universities The economic success of tomorrow's Switzerland begins with innovations today. If Switzerland wants to remain at the international forefront of research in the future as well, the Swiss universities require above-average funding secured over the years as compared to other public tasks. scienceindustries calls upon politicians to make a clear commitment to Switzerland as a society of innovation, as a part of their message regarding the funding of education, research and innovation 2013-2016. The Human Research Act: Strengthening Switzerland as a research location The attractiveness of a research location is significantly dependent on the structure of the basic conditions for research involving humans. With the Human Research Act (HFG), these basic conditions are established for the first time throughout Switzerland regarding all research projects in this field. The law creates a balance between the freedom of research and the protection of study participants; moreover, it raises hopes of simpler and faster procedures for the approval of clinical studies. The HFG complies with the international standard. This is a key prerequisite for Switzerland as a research location, particularly regarding Swiss participation in multinational clinical research projects. Unrealistic CO2 law leads to production being relocated abroad The emission reductions of 20% demanded by Swiss councils in the winter session of 2011 is unrealistic, particularly as the target is to be achieved exclusively by means of domestic measures. Thanks to direct interventions in the councils, scienceindustries was able to make some clarifications regarding the content of the material. As a result, the industry has a reduction goal of 0.8 million tons from the 1990 levels by the year 2020, regardless of participation in the EU ETS. For companies that were previously exempted from the CO2 tax due to a self-obligation, the revised CO2 law also stipulates that the targets for the individual companies will be related to financial measures and their effective potential. simplyscience.ch: Experiment sets for nanotechnology conquer secondary schools The SimplyScience foundation, an initiative of scienceindustries, is dedicated to promoting the next generation of natural scientists, and it successfully operates the simplyscience.ch website. The nanotechnology experiment set, developed for teaching natural sciences at the secondary level, will be given to interested teachers in a first edition of 200 units starting March 2012. The training course offered to the teachers has already been completely filled. The SimplyScience foundation is already planning a second edition, although the financing must first be secured. Marcel Sennhauser is now a member of management The scienceindustries board of directors appointed Marcel Sennhauser as a member of management effective January 1, 2012. The 42-year-old resident of Zurich has been responsible for all communication activities of scienceindustries as Head of Communications since January 2010. Marcel Sennhauser has a diploma in engineering (Dipl. Ing. HTL) and is a graduate of the executive MBA program at the University of St. Gallen. Prior to joining scienceindustries, he spent ten years in various management functions at the Zurich media company Tamedia. Kind regards Dr. Beat Moser Director Marcel Sennhauser Communication scienceindustries Business Association Chemistry Pharma Biotech Nordstrasse 15 - P.O. Box CH-8021 Zurich Phone +41 44 368 17 11 Fax +41 44 368 17 70 E-Mail info@scienceindustries.ch Internet www.scienceindustries.ch Wenn Sie den nächsten Newsletter in Deutsch erhalten möchten, antworten Sie uns bitte mit "Sprache wechseln".