A forward-looking structure for the SNSF

The SNSF has revised its Statutes on the instructions of the Foundation Council. The previous Statutes dated from 2007, with some elements going back to the 1960s and 1970s. The revision of the Statutes has given the SNSF a modern governance, enabling it to organise itself flexibly and act dynamically. It must be able to perform its mission optimally and to a high standard in an increasingly complex environment. With this revision, the SNSF has taken account of developments in research and research funding.

The restructured Foundation Council is no longer a broad representative body, but despite its reduced size remains committed to the promotion of scientific research. The Research Council’s strategic competence has been strengthened. The SNSF's funding policy is in its hands. The newly created Delegates Assembly provides stakeholders a platform for participation and exerting influence. The Executive Management, comprising several members, remains the operational management body of the SNSF.

The task lists of the various bodies define the “distribution of power” at the SNSF. The biggest changes are that strategic decision-making has been transferred to the Research Council, and the position of the stakeholders has been strengthened by giving them their own assembly with participation rights. The Foundation Council continues to bear ultimate responsibility for the management and supervision of the other bodies.

The allocation of tasks to the various bodies has been specified in detail and clearly demarcated, and now complies with the rules of good governance for foundations. The governance of the SNSF is designed to avoid conflicting roles or interests. The revised Statutes allow for best practice for foundations, guaranteeing in particular the principles of transparency, effectiveness and balance of power (checks and balances). The requirements imposed on grant-awarding foundations in terms of governance have increased in recent years.

The Statutes contain the overarching principles regarding the Foundation’s purpose, organisation (bodies) and allocation of tasks. At just 20 articles, they have been kept sufficiently concise to permit a flexible response to changes. At executive level, the Foundation Regulations and the Organisational Regulations of the Research Council set forth the rules of procedure. They define the structure of the bodies and how they relate to one another, and lay down the procedures for electing their members.

No, as an organisation the SNSF still lives by the slogan “By science for science”. The SNSF continues to be guided by its established principles and values. The text of the Statutes is now preceded by a preamble that summarises the value of research and the principal activities of the SNSF.

No, the SNSF remains a self-governing private-law science foundation. It enjoys a large degree of autonomy as a militia organisation. At the same time, as the SNSF fulfils a governmental public service by carrying out its funding activity in accordance with the Research and Innovation Promotion Act (RIPA), it is subject to the supervision of the Confederation (via the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, or SERI), in particular by means of a service level agreement.

The fully revised Statutes came into force on 1 January 2024.

The statutes foresee 2024 as a transition year for the introduction of the new structures and processes. The new Foundation Council may extend this transitional period into 2025.

The current Foundation Board is too large for a strategic body (45 members) and the role of the members is unclear, which can lead to a mixture of interests and role conflicts. This problem was alleviated by reducing the size of the Foundation Board and creating a new body, the Stakeholder Delegates Assembly. In this new body, the stakeholders can bring in their interests.

The profiles of the Foundation Council members need to be aligned with the Foundation's purpose: “Promoting scientific research”. This means that they must demonstrate familiarity with the scientific world and awareness of the framework conditions for scientific research in Switzerland, together with knowledge of how foundations are managed. Ideally, the Foundation Council will consist of scientists and people closely involved with science who are allied with the SNSF’s mission; while at the same time covering competences in finance, law, foundation management and business.. The overall composition needs to be balanced, but with an emphasis on scientific profiles.

The Foundation Council’s basic remit is to assume ultimate managerial responsibility and to carry out the Foundation’s overarching strategic mandate. Traditional tasks relating to the budget, accounting and the annual report are assigned to the Foundation Council in accordance with foundation law and the standards for foundations. The specific tasks of the Foundation Council are set forth in Art. 6 of the Statutes.

In accordance with the transitional provisions, the Executive Committee of the Foundation Council in office until 31 December 2023 has determined the initial composition of the Foundation Council on the basis of the revised Statutes. The term of office of the newly elected members of the Foundation Council began on 1 January 2024. Henceforth, the process for electing members of the Foundation Council will take place in accordance with Article 15 of the Foundation Regulations.

As a general rule, serving as a member of the Foundation Council requires a commitment of about 10-15 working days per year. In addition to six ordinary meetings lasting half a day each, there will also be committee duties (Finance and Audit Committee, Nomination and Compensation Committee) and participation in ad hoc working groups for specific business if necessary.

The size of the Research Council will depend on what is required for it to carry out its duties. The Statutes specify that its size may range between 30 and 80 members. This range provides the necessary flexibility for organising the Research Council.

The current structure of the Research Council dates back to 1975. Since then, the research landscape and the needs of researchers have evolved, the number of applications to be assessed has risen steadily, and the requirements in terms of modern, efficient organisational management have increased. Furthermore, the Research Council currently deals with policy matters as well as research evaluation, even though its expertise matches mainly the needs for the evaluation. This imbalance may have a negative effect on the Council’s impact and – contrary to the Statutes – lead to situations where responsibility for complex tasks or cross-departmental policy is in effect transferred to the Administrative Offices. The revised Statutes reconsider the Research Council's organisation and functioning in order to take these points into account. In particular, principles of modern governance are being implemented. The new Statutes strengthen the SNSF's role by providing it with strong academic leadership from the Research Council, whose increased focus on research and science policy enables it to create an optimal environment for the research community (“science for science”).

The roles and responsibilities of the Research Council are set out in Article 9 of the Statutes. They allow the goals of the reorganisation to be achieved: strong academic leadership, clear separation of tasks and roles (good governance), and a lean and flexible organisation. The future Research Council will focus more strongly than today on developing funding schemes while taking into account the different needs of the Swiss research community and responding to external factors. It will also set up, chair and supervise evaluation panels, make funding decisions and allocate funds. The evaluation of proposals will continue to be one of the Research Council’s tasks.

The roles and responsibilities of the Research Council are set out in Article 9 of the Statutes. They allow the goals of the reorganisation to be achieved: strong academic leadership, clear separation of tasks and roles (good governance), and a lean and flexible organisation. The future Research Council will focus more strongly than today on developing funding schemes, while taking into account the different needs of the Swiss research community and responding to external factors. It will also set up, chair and supervise evaluation panels, make funding decisions and allocate funds. The evaluation of proposals will continue to be one of the Research Council’s tasks.

The Foundation Council has extended the terms of office of the current Research Council members until 31 March 2025. The members will continue to be elected by the Foundation Council in the future, but this will now be at the request of an Electoral Committee composed of members of the Foundation Council, the Research Council, the Delegates Assembly and at least one external expert.

Scientific qualifications and experience as well as the disciplinary suitability for the Research Council mandate continue to be central selection criteria. The Research Council must reflect the diversity of scientific disciplines and subject areas. The members of the Research Council have a sound knowledge of the Swiss Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) system and competences regarding research. Early-career scientists and those with experience of use-inspired research must be duly represented in the Research Council. The requirements for members of the Research Council are set forth in Art. 8 of the Statutes.

The members of the Research Council are invited to stand for the new Research Council and to extend their term of office beyond 31 March 2025. Given that there is a maximum term of office (eight years), the total length of their previous service as members of the Research Council is taken into account and it is thus conceivable that a minimum remaining period (e.g. two years) will be specified as a condition of eligibility for election.

The Research Council Electoral Committee will take up its activity in the fourth quarter of 2024 at the latest and select the candidates for the Research Council who are due to take office on 1 April 2025. The Foundation Council will elect the new members of the Research Council based on proposals from the Electoral Committee.

The Delegates Assembly of stakeholders has explicit rights and is set up to ensure that stakeholders can exert influence effectively. It can, for example, make recommendations on the multi-year plans and can refer the multi-year programme back to the Research Council for revision. It has the right to propose initiatives and put forward requests on matters such as adjustments to the SNSF’s funding schemes. The rights and participation opportunities of the Delegates Assembly are set forth in Art. 14 of the Statutes.

The composition of the Delegates Assembly is largely similar to that of the present Foundation Council. The Delegates Assembly is composed of a maximum of 40 members. The following scientific organisations are represented in the Delegates Assembly with the number of seats indicated:

1. the cantonal universities with one seat each;
2. the Federal Institutes of Technology with one seat each;
3. the publicly funded universities of applied sciences with one seat each;
4. the research institutes of the ETH Domain with one seat collectively;
5. the universities of teacher education with two seats collectively;
6. the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences with four seats collectively;
7. associations of early-career researchers with three seats collectively;
8. other scientific organisations, particularly non-commercial research institutes outside the university system and other accredited research institutions and research facilities, with a maximum of five seats collectively.

The universities and other higher education institutions designate their delegates themselves, and the Delegates Assembly elects the members for the categories covering associations of early-career researchers and other scientific organisations.

The constituent meeting of the Delegates Assembly will take place as soon as possible, and no later than during the third quarter of 2024. At the constituent meeting, the Delegates Assembly will elect the representatives according to Article 13 para. 2 letters g and h of the Statutes, decide on the provisional rules of procedure and begin planning its business and meetings.