The participation of third countries in EU Research Funding Programmes and the EU’s Science Diplomacy: the Cases of Switzerland and the United Kingdom

European funding programmes are usually seen as a platform for European and international research cooperation. This paper examines the role which the participation of third countries in EU research funding programmes play in the EU’s science diplomacy (SD). It is based on the analysis of official documents from national and EU organizations, conducting semi-structured expert interviews with representatives of universities, as well as officials from national and EU institutions, and social network analysis of university networks at European and global levels. The paper shows that the participation of Swiss and British universities in EU framework programmes play an important role in SD not only with regard to their national needs, but also European ones. According to the recent Communication of the European Commission on a European strategy for universities (2022): universities in Europe are seen as Europe’s soft power and the essential actors in SD, which should strengthen the EU’s reputation as a cooperation partner for education, research and innovation with countries all over the world. To implement such an ambitious strategy for external connectedness, the EU needs to be open to extra-EU partners, including such countries as Switzerland, which is a former Horizon 2020 Associated Country, and the UK, which is a former EU member, taken into account that these countries occupy leading positions according to their scientific achievements and the internationalisation of education and scientific research at the European and global level. At the same time, the UK and Switzerland also represent interesting cases of SD due to their particular relations with the EU, which despite the high performance of these countries in Horizon 2020 Framework Programme considers the question of their association with a new Framework Programme Horizon Europe in the connection of wider relations between these countries and the EU. Building on the analysis of the negotiation processes on the association status to Horizon Europe of both Switzerland and the UK, as well as campaigns launched by the European university networks asking the EU leadership to prioritize science over political interests, this paper argues that participation of Swiss and British universities in EU research funding programmes can be seen not only as an example of diplomacy for science, but also of science for diplomacy.