Research and innovation funding reorganised

As of 1 January 2014, research and innovation funding in Switzerland will be reorganised: the Federal Council has decided to put into force the fully amended Federal Act on the Promotion of Research and Promotion (RIPA) (external page press release of 29 November 2013). With the RIPA, the Federal Council has also approved the ordinances based on this act and the funding regulation of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI).

The RIPA promotion act specifies the tasks and responsibilities as part of the Federation's promotion of research and innovation and sets out how the Federation's funding is to be used. The act affects the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Swiss academies, the CTI innovation promotion agency, the ETH Domain (ETH Zurich, EPFL, PSI, WSL, Empa, Eawag), the universities, universities of applied sciences, national research institutions and departmental research of the federal administration.

Central subjects

The Federal Council has also adopted the Ordinance on Research and Innovation Promotion (RIPO), which was discussed in summer 2013. It governs the execution provisions on central subjects of the RIPA, such as:

• research promotion through subject-oriented, national promotion programmes (National Research Programmes (NRP), National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR),
• research promotion by the federal administration (departmental research),
• the foundations and CTI funding of innovation promotion,
• the payment of indirect research costs (overheads),
• the utilisation of research results in research and innovation projects,
• international cooperation,
• the coordination and planning of the foreign scientific policy and research infrastructure.

Overheads and intellectual property

The amendments to the ordinance relate, in particular, to the regulation of the contributions to overheads and intellectual property. The ordinance sets out how the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the CTI promotion agency and departmental research calculate and pay compensation of indirect research costs (overheads) (articles 35-37 RIPO).

The Swiss National Science Foundation and the CTI innovation promotion agency can make their contributions to funding conditional on the fact that intellectual property and research results be protected (articles 40-41 RIPO). Already governed by the act is the requirement that the rules of scientific integrity and good scientific practice be observed to win research funding (Article 12 RIPA).

Involvement of the ETH Domain

The ordinance also states that the Swiss National Science Foundation, CTI and ETH Board sit on the Departmental Research Coordination Committee in an advisory capacity and that the Federation considers, in addition to the international developments, also the development priorities of the ETH Domain and the universities when planning research infrastructures (Article 55 RIPO).

The RIPA also governs that the ETH Board and the ETH Domain will be involved in establishing a Swiss innovation park (articles 32-33 RIPA).

International programmes

The Federal Council has furthermore approved the Funding Regulation of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI): it sets out the funding instruments of the CTI in a transparent and practice-focused manner and thereby reduces the number of RIPO regulations.

In addition, the Federation has also amended the Ordinance on the Accompanying Measures for the Involvement of Switzerland in Framework Programmes of the European Union in Research and Innovation (FRPBV). This ordinance applies to EU framework research programmes, the Euratom programme and the international ITER project (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). It governs, amongst other things, the representation of Swiss concerns and the contributions for proposed projects and involvement in projects.