English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 Self-Coordination
Art. 40
1 Every research body shall coordinate the activities to be carried out under its authority or with its support. 2 Research bodies shall coordinate their activities between themselves by providing each other with information in good time. 3 The research funding institutions, Innosuisse and the Federal Administration, insofar as they support research and innovation, shall coordinate their activities by adjusting their support measures and collaboration within the scope of their support activities. They shall in their coordination efforts take account of teaching needs, research carried out without government funding, research abroad and coordination under the HEdA.
Para. 3 — SR 414.20
Section 2 Coordination by the Federal Council
Art. 41 Principles
1 The Federal Council shall ensure that federal funding for research and innovation is used in a coordinated, economical and effective manner. 2 If cooperation cannot be achieved through self-coordination, the Federal Council shall take the required measures. To this end, it may in particular give existing commissions specific coordination tasks or set up special commissions. 3 It checks, periodically or when required: a. the coordination between national and international support for research and innovation; b. the coherence between international cooperation on research and innovation and Switzerland’s economic foreign policy, development policy and general foreign policy. 4 Additionally, it shall take the required measures for the coherent coordination of the Confederation’s international support for research and innovation, particularly regarding cost-intensive research infrastructures, with: a. development planning within the Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; and b. national
Art. 42 Interdepartmental coordination committee for federal policy research
1 The Federal Council shall set up an interdepartmental committee for federal policy research. 2 It shall set out the procedure for the appointment of members of the coordination committee. 3 The coordination committee has the following tasks: a. it coordinates the process for the development of the multi-year programme (Art. 45 para. 3); b. it issues guidelines on quality assurance in the field of policy research. 4 The Federal Council may give the coordination committee other tasks in the field of policy research.
Section 3 Research and Innovation Policy Planning
Art. 43 Planning resources
The resources used for research and innovation policy planning are: a. the review of the strategic objectives of the Confederation’s funding policy; b. the multi-year programmes; c. the annual plan.
Art. 44 Reviewing the strategic objectives of the Confederation’s funding policy
1 The EAER shall instruct national or international expert commissions to conduct the periodic review of Swiss research and innovation funding policy or parts thereof. 2 It shall obtain an overarching statement from the Swiss Science Council concerning the results. 3 In certain cases it may instruct the Swiss Science and Innovation Council to conduct reviews under paragraph 1 or the coordination thereof. 4 Based on the review under paragraph 1, the Federal Council shall determine the strategic objectives for the Confederation’s research and innovation funding policy. Before doing so, it shall consult the Swiss University Conference, the ETH Board, the SNSF, Innosuisse and, if required, other research bodies concerned. 5 It shall adapt funding policy to the new conditions. 6 It shall periodically submit a report on the results of the reviews under paragraph 1 and on its strategy for a research and innovation funding policy to the Federal Assembly at the same time as it submits the ERI D
Para. 2 — Term in accordance with Annex No 2 of the FA of 17 June 2016 on the Swiss Innovation Agency, in force since 1 Jan. 2018 (AS 2016 4259, 2017 131; BBl 2015 9487). This amendment has been made throughout the text.
Art. 45 Multi-year programmes
1 With the multi-year programmes, the research bodies provide information on their research and innovation policy plans and their medium-term priorities. 2 The multi-year programmes aim at the coordination and cooperation among research bodies and contain the information required for the periodic ERI Dispatch and for the Confederation’s financial planning. They also serve as a basis for the Confederation’s periodic service level agreements with research funding institutions. 3 The multi-year programmes for policy research are presented in the form of trans-organisational research concepts. In them, the Federal Administration provides information on planned priorities for policy research. In doing so, they particularly take into account the existing research priorities for higher education institutions, the SNSF’s funding programmes under government mandate and the Innosuisse’s activities.
Art. 46 Responsibility for development
1 Responsibility for development of the multi-year programme lies with: a. the research funding institutions; b. Innosuisse; c. the research facilities of national importance that are supported under this Act; d. offices of the Federal Administration designated by the Federal Council. 2 Higher education institutions that receive contributions under Chapter 8 of the HEdA shall provide the necessary information on their research in accordance with the procedures specified in the HEdA. 3 The two federal institutes of technology and the research institutes within the Federal Institutes of Technology Domain shall provide the necessary information on their research in accordance with the procedures specified in the Federal Act of 4 October 1991 on the Federal Institutes of Technology.
Para. 2 — SR 414.20 Para. 3 — SR 414.110
Art. 47 Procedures
1 The Federal Council decides on the formal requirements for the multi-year programmes. 2 The multi-year programmes shall be presented to: a. the Federal Council for information; b. if it concerns university research: the Swiss University Conference for comment; c. if it concerns the Federal Institutes of Technology Domain: the ETH Board for comment. 3 If the multi-year programmes are not harmonised or if the funding requests exceed the federal funds expected to be available, the Federal Council may require the programme to be revised. 4 The Federal Council shall submit a report on the multi-year programme to the Federal Assembly in the context of the periodic ERI Dispatch.
Art. 48 Annual plan
1 Research funding institutions shall issue an annual funding plan. They shall submit it to the EAER for approval. 2 The EAER may delegate its power of approval to the relevant administrative unit. 3 The Federal Administration shall clarify in the explanatory statements on the budget how funds for policy research tasks should be used.