¹ The Confederation encourages research and innovation in accordance with this Act and special laws as follows:

A.

Manages the two FIEs and research institutions in the FIF field;

B. ¹

It allocates contributions under the LEHE ² ;

C.

Allocating contributions to the institutions responsible for encouraging research;

D.

Allocating contributions to research institutions of national significance;

E.

Develops the research of the administration, including the establishment and management of federal research institutions;

F.

It institutes the ITC and takes other measures to encourage innovation;

G.

Carrying out tasks of international scientific cooperation.

² In order to establish Switzerland's position as a pole of research and innovation, the Confederation can support the creation of a Swiss innovation park.

³ The Federal Council may charge the ITC and the institutions responsible for encouraging research to carry out thematic incentive programmes.

⁴ It may entrust the institutions responsible for encouraging the search for tasks of international cooperation whose implementation requires their specific powers.

¹ The Federal Council may enter into benefit agreements with research bodies outside the federal government and with other recipients of contributions within the meaning of this Act.

² It may delegate this competence to the Federal Department of Economics, Training and Research (DEFR) or the competent administrative unit.

¹ The institutions responsible for encouraging research take on tasks which it makes sense to carry out in a framework of scientific autonomy.

² They encourage research activities that are not directly related to business goals.

³ They encourage research in accordance with their statutes and regulations. These must be approved by the Federal Council when they regulate tasks for which the means of Confederation are used.

⁴ The institutions responsible for encouraging research give particular weight to the encouragement of basic research.

⁵ They encourage research carried out by non-profit research institutions located outside the field of high schools under the following conditions:

A.

The scientific independence of the research staff is guaranteed;

B.

Research is useful for the training and ongoing training of scientific succession;

C.

The research results are made available to the scientific community.

¹ The Swiss National Fund for Scientific Research (NSFF) is the body of the Confederation responsible for encouraging scientific research in all disciplines represented in research institutions in the field of high schools.

² The NSFF uses the contributions allocated to it by the Confederation, in particular for the following purposes:

A.

Encourage research within the framework of the instruments it has defined;

B.

Participating in national and international network research projects and incentive programs;

C.

To carry out the national incentive programs defined by the Federal Council, including national research programmes and national research poles;

D.

To ensure the Federal Council's mandate for Switzerland's participation in international programmes defined by Switzerland;

E.

Support measures to exploit and develop results from the research it has supported.

³ In the framework of the tasks and competences entrusted to it, the NSF determines the appropriate instruments and the form of encouragement. It primarily encourages:

A.

Excellence research projects;

B.

Highly qualified scientific succession;

C.

Research infrastructures that serve the development of scientific fields in Switzerland and do not fall within the competence of research institutions in the field of high schools or the Confederation;

D.

International cooperation in research taking into account the objectives and measures of the Confederation.

⁴ As part of its incentive activities, the NSFF provides contributions to research institutions in the field of high schools and non-profit research institutions located outside the field of high schools in order to Offset indirect research costs ( Overhead ) That they incur. The Federal Council regulates the principles of calculation.

⁵ The NSFF shall participate in the procedures preceding decisions relating to national research programmes, national research poles and other research programmes entrusted to it.

⁶ It can use a share of the federal contribution to reserve creation to ensure the continuity of its encouragement of research. In the annual account, the total reserves must not exceed 10 % of the federal contribution paid for the year in question.

⁷ The State Secretariat for Training, Research and Innovation (SEFRI) periodically enters into a benefit agreement with the NSF, based on the Financial Orders of the Federal Assembly. The convention also specifies the additional tasks assigned to it by the Federal Council.

¹ The Swiss Academies of Science is the Confederation's incentive to strengthen cooperation in all scientific disciplines and between them and to anchor science in society.

² It uses federal contributions that are allocated to it for the following purposes:

A.

To ensure and encourage early recognition of important issues for society in the areas of training, research and innovation;

B.

Strengthen the exercise of ethical responsibility in the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge;

C.

Contribute to the dialogue between science and society and promote studies on opportunities and risks related to innovations and technologies.

³ The academies coordinate their incentive activities within the framework of the association and ensure, in particular, cooperation with research institutions in the field of high schools.

⁴ They shall encourage the cooperation of scientists and experts in scientific societies, committees and other appropriate forms of organisation, and shall use such cooperation in carrying out their tasks.

⁵ Academies support international scientific cooperation by encouraging or managing appropriate structures, including national coordination platforms and scientific secretariats of coordinated programmes on the plan And to which Switzerland participates.

⁶ They can support databases, documentation systems, scientific journals, editions or similar structures that constitute research infrastructures useful for the development of scientific fields in Switzerland and That do not fall within the jurisdiction of the NSFs or higher education institutions in the field of encouragement or are directly supported by the Confederation.

⁷ SEFRI periodically enters into a benefit agreement with the Swiss Academies of Science, based on the Financial Orders of the Federal Assembly. It may entrust the association and academies with the conduct of evaluations, the conduct of scientific projects, the operation of structures within the meaning of para. 6 and other special tasks in the context of their tasks under paras. 1 to 4.

¹ The institutions responsible for encouraging research ensure that the research they support is carried out according to the rules of scientific integrity and good scientific practice.

² In the event of a suspected violation of these rules, they may, within the framework of their incentive and control procedures, request information from the relevant Swiss or foreign institutions or persons and transmit such information. Information to such institutions or persons.

³ The institutions responsible for encouraging research provide for administrative sanctions in their regulations for breaches of scientific integrity and good scientific practice in relation to the acquisition or use of their Contributions. They may provide for one or more of the following sanctions:

A.

Written censure;

B.

A written warning;

C.

The reduction, freezing or return of contributions;

D.

Temporary exclusion of the procedure for submitting requests.

⁴ The institutions responsible for encouraging research may carry the offences and penalties to the knowledge of the institution employing the data subject.

⁵ Offences within the meaning of s. 37 or 38 of the Act of 5 October 1990 on subsidies ¹ Committed in the field of the encouragement of research are pursued by the SEFRI in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Act of 22 March 1974 on administrative criminal law ² .

¹ The institutions responsible for encouraging research shall set out their own procedure for the decisions on contributions. This procedure must meet the requirements of ss. 10 and 26 to 38 of the Federal Act of 20 December 1968 on the administrative procedure (PA) ¹ .

² In the case of a cross-border incentive procedure, art. 11 B PA applies to the notification of decisions to applicants abroad.

³ The applicant may lodge an appeal:

A.

For breach of federal law, including excess and abuse of the power of assessment;

B.

For inaccurate or incomplete finding of relevant facts.

⁴ The names of the rapporteurs and scientific experts may be communicated only with their consent.

⁵ Moreover, the appeal procedure is governed by the general provisions of the federal procedure.

The activities of the Federal Government in the field of research or the promotion of research shall be governed by this Law; the provisions of special laws relating to the research of the administration shall be reserved.

¹ The Federal Council may, within the limits of appropriations, allocate contributions to research institutions of national significance. It may link the federal contribution to conditions, including the reorganization or consolidation of research institutions.

² The Federal Council may delegate the decision-making authority for contributions to DEFR. The rules of jurisdiction laid down by special laws are reserved.

³ Research institutions referred to in para. 1 may be legally independent institutions of the following categories:

A.

Non-profit research infrastructure established outside the high schools or associated with high schools, in particular ancillary scientific services in the field of scientific information and documentation; and Techniques;

B.

Non-profit research institutions established outside high schools or associated with high schools;

C.

Centres of technological competence working with high schools and businesses on a non-profit basis.

⁴ To receive contributions, research institutions must meet the following conditions:

A.

Performing tasks of national importance that it is not advisable to carry out by high schools or other existing institutions in the field of high schools;

B.

Obtain significant support from cantons, other public authorities, high schools or the private sector.

⁵ The amount of the federal contribution represents:

A.

For research infrastructures, a maximum share of 50 % of total investment and operating expenses; the contribution is complementary to the support of cantons, other public authorities, high schools and the private sector;

B.

For research institutions, a maximum share of 50 % of the core funding (total investment and operating expenses, net of the means of research obtained through competitions and mandates); the contribution is at most Equal to the sum of contributions from cantons, other public authorities, high schools and the private sector;

C.

For technological competence centres, a maximum share of 50 % of the basic funding (total investment and operating expenses, net of the means of research obtained by means of competition); the contribution is at most equal The sum of contributions paid by companies in the framework of research and development cooperation and contributions from cantons, other public authorities, high schools and the private sector.

⁶ The Federal Council shall specify the calculation criteria referred to in para. 5. For centres of technological competence which are developing a new field of activity, it may provide for a specific, time-limited regime with regard to the decisive income derived from the means of research obtained by way of Competition.

⁷ The other research bodies, the Swiss Higher Schools Conference or the Council of EPF are consulted in advance when the support measures affect their tasks.

¹ The research of administration is the research that the federal government initiates and needs to obtain the results necessary to carry out its duties.

² The administration search can include the following:

A.

Operating federal research institutions;

B.

Allocation of contributions to research institutions in the field of high schools for research programmes;

C.

Carrying out its own research programmes, in particular in collaboration with research institutions in the field of high schools, institutions responsible for encouraging research, CTI and other institutions of encouragement;

D.

The granting of research mandates (contract research).

³ The research institutions of the administration which, without being federal research institutions, must carry out, in addition to the measures referred to in para. 2, their own research projects to carry out their duties judiciously can also participate in competitions with national and international incentive organizations for the purpose of obtaining funds or participating by way of Competitions for programs of such organizations.

⁴ The research of the administration is subject to the principles set out in Art. 6, para. 1, let. A and c, 3 and 4.

⁵ Departments are responsible for research in their respective fields of activity.

⁶ Within the framework of the measures referred to in para. 2, let. B and c, the competent administrative units allocate contributions to offset the indirect costs of research ( Overhead ) Incurred. The Federal Council regulates the principles of calculation.

⁷ The funding provisions referred to in Section 8 do not apply to the research of the Authority.

¹ The Confederation may, by regulation in special laws, fully or partially recover or create research institutions.

² Federal research institutions must be removed when they no longer meet a need or when their tasks can be carried out, on a comparable quality, with greater efficiency by higher-quality research institutions. Schools.

³ The Federal Council ensures that federal research institutions are organized in a meaningful way.

⁴ It may delegate the decision-making powers referred to in para. 3 to the relevant department. The rules of jurisdiction laid down by special laws are reserved.

⁵ The other research bodies, the Swiss Higher Schools Conference or the EPF Council shall be consulted in advance when the measures referred to in paras. 1 and 2 are related to their tasks.

¹ Confederation can encourage innovation projects.

² It can also support:

A.

Measures to promote science-based entrepreneurship;

B.

Measures to promote the creation and development of enterprises whose activities are based on science;

C.

The development of knowledge and the transfer of knowledge and technology between high schools, businesses and society.

³ The Confederation is laying the foundations for encouraging innovation.

⁴ It ensures the evaluation of its incentive activities.

¹ The Confederation encourages innovation projects by providing contributions to research institutions in the field of high schools and non-profit research institutions located outside the high schools field.

² Contributions are only granted if the following conditions are met:

A.

The project is carried out in conjunction with one or more private or public development partners;

B.

An effective development of the results of research in favour of the economy and society can be expected;

C.

The project is unlikely to be carried out without the encouragement of Confederation;

D.

Development partners contribute half of the funding to the project; the Federal Council may provide for exceptions to this funding rule, including:

1.

Projects whose chances of success are above average,

2.

Projects whose results may be of interest to a broad circle of users;

E.

The project contributes to training based on the practice of scientific succession.

³ The Confederation can encourage feasibility studies as well as the development of prototypes and pilot devices without a development partner if they are carried out by research institutions in the field of High schools or non-profit research institutions located outside the high schools area and their potential for innovation is important.

⁴ The Confederation may also provide instruments for participating in the costs of studies to assess whether enterprises' projects can be implemented effectively.

⁵ In particular, it encourages projects targeted at paras. 1 and 3 that contribute to the sustainable use of resources.

⁶ Projects encouraged must respect the principles of scientific integrity and good science. Sanctions and the obligation to inform within the meaning of s. 12, para. 2 to 4, apply to offences.

¹ Confederation can support science-based entrepreneurship by taking the following measures:

A.

Awareness and training of people who want to start or create a new business;

B.

Provision of information and advice offers.

² Confederation can support the creation and development of enterprises whose activities are based on science by taking the following measures:

A.

Coaching, counselling and monitoring of young entrepreneurs;

B.

Assistance in the search for funding sources;

C.

Provision of information and advice offers.

³ The Confederation can support the development of knowledge and the transfer of knowledge and technology, in particular by encouraging the exchange of information between high schools and businesses.

¹ In order to encourage innovation, the Confederation establishes a decision-making committee entitled "Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI)".

² The CTI consists of representatives of the scientific and economic circles and, in justified cases, representatives of public institutions.

³ It is organised in areas with decision-making powers.

⁴ The Federal Council appoints the President of the SIC and the Presidents of the fields of encouragement, who form the Presidency.

⁵ The Federal Council appoints the other members on a proposal from the Presidency.

⁶ The ITC makes its decisions without instructions.

⁷ It is attached to the DEFR.

¹ The ITC has a secretariat.

² The Secretariat prepares the ITC records and implements its decisions. It deals directly with the parties concerned, third parties and the authorities.

³ The Federal Council appoints the Director of the Secretariat. The Chair of the ITC designates the executives. The Director shall designate the remainder of the staff.

⁴ Service reports are governed by the legislation applicable to the personnel of the Confederation.

⁵ Monitoring by the Secretariat is the responsibility of the President of the ITC.

¹ The ITC has the following regulations:

A.

An internal regulation specifying its organisation, including that of the secretariat;

B.

A contribution regulation defining its instruments of encouragement and the principles for the calculation of contributions, the rules governing the payment of contributions and the laying down of penalties, as well as the right and obligation to inform within the meaning of Art. 12, para. 2 to 4.

² The internal regulations and the settlement of contributions are subject to approval by the Federal Council.

¹ The CTI is the body of the Confederation responsible for encouraging science-based innovation in all disciplines represented in research institutions in the field of high schools.

² The ITC shall, within the framework of the objectives set by the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council and within the framework of the appropriations provided by the Federal Assembly, make decisions concerning:

A.

Encouraging innovation projects;

B.

Other support measures provided for in s. 18, para. 2.

³ ... ¹

⁴ The ITC takes action and decisions in the context of the international promotion of innovation within the meaning of s. 28, para. 2, let. C, insofar as the international agreements do not provide for other powers.

⁵ The ITC may cooperate with foreign incentive organizations to support Swiss research partners in cross-border innovation projects.

⁶ In its field of competence, it encourages information on national and international programmes and the filing of applications.

⁷ The ITA provides an annual activity report to the Federal Council. It may make recommendations to the administrative units that carry out activities in the field of encouraging innovation.

Offences within the meaning of s. 37 or 38 of the Act of 5 October 1990 on subsidies ¹ Committed in the field of the promotion of innovation are sanctioned by the DEFR in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Act of 22 March 1974 on administrative criminal law ² .

¹ The Federal Council may link the granting of financial assistance to research institutions in the field of high schools with the following conditions:

A.

They take measures to ensure the quality of research supported financially by the Confederation;

B.

Enact directives that oblige researchers in their institution to respect the rules of scientific integrity and good scientific practice;

C.

They may take action in the event of an infringement of these rules and have the necessary procedures to do so.

² Institutions shall take measures in particular in the following cases:

A.

Use of third-party research results without reference to the source;

B.

The use of research results, data or reports invented, counterfeited or falsified by a submission voluntarily contrary to reality;

C.

Other serious breaches of the rules of scientific integrity or good scientific practice.

¹ The Federal Council may link financial assistance to a high school research institution on the condition that it presents, for its research and innovation activities, a strategy for the development of knowledge And the transfer of knowledge and technology between high schools and businesses.

² The Federal Council may also link the granting of financial assistance to a research institution in the field of high schools to one or more of the following conditions:

A.

The intellectual property or ownership of the rights to the results of the research funded through this assistance is transferred to the institution that employs the recipient;

B.

The institution takes appropriate measures to encourage the development of research results, in particular their commercial exploitation, and to guarantee inventors a fair share of the income generated;

C.

The research partner and the development partner present a regulation concerning intellectual property and ownership of rights.

³ If an establishment does not take the measures provided for in para. 2, let. B, inventors may require reinvestment of intellectual property or ownership of rights.

¹ The Confederation promotes Switzerland's international cooperation in research and innovation, in the interest of Switzerland's development as a pole of research and innovation and the development of high schools In the interest of the economy, society and the environment.

² It can, within the framework of the higher objectives of Switzerland's international policy on research and innovation, encourage the following activities:

A.

Switzerland's participation in the establishment and operation of international research facilities and internationally coordinated research infrastructures;

B.

Switzerland's participation in international programmes and projects to encourage research and innovation;

C.

Switzerland's participation in the design, planning, implementation, implementation and evaluation of incentive activities in international organizations and bodies;

D.

Other forms of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in research and innovation.

¹ Within the limits of appropriations, the Federal Council may allocate contributions and take the following measures:

A.

Contributions to research and technology programmes and projects that enable or facilitate the participation of Switzerland in experiments and projects of international organizations and programmes or the use by Switzerland International research facilities;

B.

Contributions to research institutions in the field of high schools and non-profit research institutions located outside the field of high schools in order to enable or facilitate the participation of Switzerland in Experiences or projects of international organizations and programs;

C.

Contributions to research institutions in the field of high schools for bilateral or multilateral cooperation in research, outside international programmes and organisations; the Federal Council may require In return, that the beneficiaries provide appropriate benefits that meet the interests of Switzerland's international policy on research and innovation;

D. ¹

Contributions to Swiss companies for the development of project proposals for participation in European Union research framework programmes;

E. ²

Contributions to Swiss companies to encourage their participation in the European Union research framework programmes and to initiatives and programmes co-financed by these framework programmes, to the extent that participation implies that the Enterprises receive contributions from the State;

F. ³

Support for the dissemination of information on international scientific cooperation activities and programmes in the field of research and innovation in interested circles in Switzerland;

G. ⁴

Advice and support to interested circles in Switzerland for the development and filing of applications in international research and innovation programmes and projects.

² The Federal Council regulates the calculation of contributions and the procedure.

The Federal Council may instruct the NSFs to carry out, in the course of its tasks and technical skills, in particular the following tasks:

A.

Representation of Swiss interests in international bodies responsible for the design and planning of international incentive programmes to which Switzerland participates;

B.

Examination of applications in the framework of programmes to which Switzerland participates;

C.

Implementation of national incentive measures to support international measures to encourage the Confederation;

D.

The conclusion of agreements with research incentive organisations from other countries in the context of the tasks delegated to it.

¹ The Federal Council may conclude international agreements on international cooperation in the field of research and innovation.

² Within the framework of these agreements, it may also regulate:

A.

Financial control and audit;

B.

Security controls relating to persons;

C.

The protection and allocation of intellectual property created or necessary in the context of scientific cooperation;

D.

The participation of the Confederation in legal entities of public or private law;

E.

Membership in international organizations;

F.

Monitoring activities carried out by representatives of third States and by international organisations with research institutions in the field of high schools and other private or public research institutions concerned in Switzerland.

³ The relevant research bodies, the Swiss Higher Schools Conference or the EPF Council shall be consulted in advance when an agreement within the meaning of para. 1 touches on the tasks assigned to them.

¹ The Confederation can support the creation of a Swiss innovation park if it meets the following conditions:

A.

It responds to a higher national interest and contributes to competitiveness, effective resource management and sustainable development;

B.

It is located from the beginning on several sites that form a network and collaborate with the high schools, while respecting the balance between the regions;

C.

It cannot be carried out as part of the ordinary incentive within the meaning of s. 7, para. 1;

D.

It fully complements the ordinary incentive within the meaning of Sections 2 and 4;

E.

It contributes effectively to the networking of innovation activities in Switzerland in terms of institutions and regions.

² The Federal Assembly authorizes the support of the Confederation in favour of a Swiss innovation park by means of a simple federal decree.

¹ The support of the Confederation in the Swiss Innovation Park can take the following forms:

A.

The sale of appropriate land owned by the Confederation;

B.

The transfer of appropriate land from the Confederation to the right of land without renunciation of the annuities of surface rights;

C.

The transfer of appropriate land from the Confederation to the right of land with a temporary renunciation of the annuities of area rights;

D.

The acquisition of third-party land;

E.

A combination of the measures provided for in the let. A to d;

F.

Other measures necessary for the success of innovation parks that cannot be carried out as part of the ordinary incentive within the meaning of s. 7, para. 1, including interest-free loans of limited duration or other appropriate financing instruments.

² Support may be granted under the following conditions:

A.

The adoption of the Federal Order referred to in s. 32, para. 2, the allocation of land is fully consistent with the land management and land use planning requirements for land use;

B.

The establishment of the innovation park shall be entrusted to an institution governed by private or public law carried out by a broad national partnership and comprising the participation of several cantons and private undertakings; its creation shall take effect at the latest by The adoption of the Federal Order;

C.

The institution responsible for setting up the innovation park includes the following guarantees:

1.

A long-term orientation and an assured operation of the innovation park,

2.

Compliance with the legal provisions applying to public and private investors in construction law and tenders,

3.

A clear organisational and leadership structure adapted to its legal status, which complies with the principles to which public institutions are subject in the presentation of accounts, financial control and reporting to The intent of the responsible entities,

4.

A regulation providing for the participation of the EPF Council, FIF institutions and other high schools interested in decisions on matters relating to their tasks and interests.

³ The Swiss Innovation Park is built on several sites. The institutions responsible for the different sites may have different partnerships within the meaning of para. 2, let. B. The conditions set out in para. 2, let. C, apply to each of these institutions. In addition, the institutions responsible for the various sites must ensure sufficient networking of the sites.

¹ The Federal Council enters into a contract of public law with the institution responsible for the purposes of s. 33, para. 2, let. B, on the basis of the Federal Order referred to in s. 32, para. 2.

² This contract includes the following points:

A.

The allocation of each support measure of the Confederation;

B.

The amount and frequency of reimbursements to the Confederation of income generated by the institution;

C.

The arrangements for the return of support to the Confederation in the event that the aim is not achieved.

¹ The Federal Council submits to the Federal Assembly:

A.

Periodically, a message concerning the encouragement of training, research and innovation (FRI message);

B.

Other specific messages relating to the encouragement of research and innovation, if necessary.

² In its messages, the Federal Council proposes that the Federal Assembly adopt the necessary financial statements.

The Federal Assembly adopts the following simple federal orders opening the following spending ceilings and multi-year commitment appropriations:

A.

The expenditure ceiling for contributions to institutions responsible for encouraging research;

B.

The expenditure limit for contributions to research institutions of national significance;

C.

The ITC commitment credit for the promotion of innovation;

D.

Commitment appropriations for contributions to international cooperation in research and innovation.

¹ The contributions allocated to the institutions responsible for encouraging research shall be paid out in accordance with the incentive plans submitted annually by the institutions and approved by the relevant Federal Services (Art. 48).

² Contributions to research institutions of national importance (art. 15) shall be released in accordance with the relevant decisions and benefit agreements.

³ Paid federal contributions are paid in accordance with s. 23 of the Act of 5 October 1990 on subsidies ¹ .

⁴ Federal contributions in the framework of international cooperation shall be paid and paid in accordance with the following acts:

A.

The relevant international agreements;

B.

The relevant decisions and benefit agreements.

¹ The institutions responsible for encouraging research require the restoration of the resources allocated if they have been wrongly paid or if the beneficiary has not fulfilled his obligations despite a summons.

² The right to return shall be prescribed by one year from the day on which the funder becomes aware of it and, in all cases, five years from the date of the birth of that right.

³ The institutions responsible for encouraging research affect the means returned to the tasks entrusted to them by the Confederation. They report on this assignment in their annual reports.

¹ Where the results of research funded in whole or in part by the Confederation are commercially exploited, the institutions responsible for encouraging research may assert the following requirements:

A.

Reimbursement of the means they have allocated, to the extent of the gains achieved;

B.

Equitable participation in the benefit.

² The institutions responsible for encouraging research shall affect the means reimbursed and the contributions to the profits of the tasks entrusted to them by the Confederation. They report on this assignment in their annual reports.

¹ Any research body shall be required to coordinate the research carried out under its responsibility or with its support.

² Research bodies coordinate their activities by exchanging information at an early stage.

³ Institutions responsible for encouraging research, the ITC and the federal government, to the extent that it carries out research or innovation incentives, coordinate their activities by coordinating their incentive measures And by cooperating as part of their incentive activities. They take into account in their efforts to coordinate the requirements of education, research carried out without the aid of the Confederation, research carried out abroad and coordination within the meaning of the LEHE ¹ .

¹ The Federal Council ensures the coordinated, efficient and effective use of federal funds for research and innovation.

² The Federal Council shall take the necessary measures where autonomous coordination is not sufficient to ensure cooperation between the research bodies. For this purpose, it may, in particular, entrust certain coordination tasks to existing committees or to ad hoc committees which it establishes.

³ It examines on a periodic or ad hoc basis:

A.

Coordination of measures to encourage research and innovation at national and international levels;

B.

Coherence between international cooperation in research and innovation and external economic policy, development policy and the general foreign policy of Switzerland.

⁴ The Federal Council shall also take the necessary measures to ensure consistency between the measures to encourage research and innovation deployed by the Confederation at international level, in particular with regard to the Particularly onerous research infrastructure, and the following activities:

A.

Development planning in the field of FIEs;

B.

The coordination of high school policy at the national level and the distribution of tasks in particularly expensive areas.

⁵ The Federal Council coordinates the planning and execution of national incentive projects in the field of research and innovation which cannot be carried out in the context of the ordinary tasks of encouraging institutions To encourage research and CTI due to their organizational and financial dimensions.

⁶ The Federal Council ensures that research bodies, the Swiss High School Conference and the Council of EPF are involved in planning. Proposals to the Federal Assembly for incentives within the meaning of para. 5 are prepared in agreement with the Swiss High School Conference, including the financing and implementation modalities.

¹ The Federal Council establishes an interdepartmental committee for the coordination of administrative research.

² It defines the procedure for the appointment of the members of the Committee.

³ The Committee has the following tasks:

A.

Coordinates the development of multi-year programs within the meaning of s. 45, para. 3;

B.

Promulgating guidelines for quality assurance in the field of administration research.

⁴ The Federal Council may delegate to the Committee other tasks in the field of administration research.

The elements of research and innovation policy planning are as follows:

A.

A review of the strategic direction of the Confederation Incentive Policy;

B.

Multi-annual programmes;

C.

Annual planning.

¹ DEFR mandates national or international committees of experts to periodically review the Swiss policy of encouraging research and innovation or its elements.

² He asked the Swiss Science and Innovation Council to put the results of the expertise into perspective.

³ It may, on a case-by-case basis, entrust the Swiss Science and Innovation Council with examinations within the meaning of para. 1 or to ensure their coordination.

⁴ The Federal Council defines the strategic direction of the policy on the promotion of research and innovation of the Confederation on the basis of the expertise referred to in para. 1. To this end, it consults the Swiss High Schools Conference, the Council of EPF, the ETF, the CTI and, if necessary, other relevant research bodies.

⁵ The Federal Council adapts the direction of the incentive policy to the circumstances.

⁶ He submits periodically to the Federal Assembly, with the message FRI, a report on the results of the expert opinions within the meaning of para. 1 and its policy strategy for the promotion of research and innovation.

¹ In their multi-annual programmes, research bodies provide information on their research and innovation policy, as well as on their medium-term priorities.

² The multiannual programmes shall underpin coordination and cooperation between research bodies and contain the information necessary for the preparation of the FRI messages and for the financial planning of the Confederation. They also serve as the basis for periodic benefit agreements between the Confederation and the institutions responsible for encouraging research.

³ Multi-year administration research programs take the form of multi-sector research management plans. The federal government describes the thematic strengths of its own research. In this regard, it takes into account, inter alia, the research centres of the high schools, the incentive programmes led by the FNS on the mandate of the Confederation and the activities of the CTI.

¹ The following organizations are required to establish multi-year programs:

A.

Institutions responsible for encouraging research;

B.

ITC;

C.

Research institutions of national significance supported by this Act;

D.

Federal government units designated by the Federal Council.

² High schools receiving contributions under LEHE Chapter 8 ¹ Provide the necessary information on their research in the context of the procedure laid down by the LEHE. ²

³ The two EPF and EFA research institutions provide the necessary information on their research in the context of the procedure laid down in the Act of 4 October 1991 on FIEs ³ .

¹ The Federal Council shall determine the formal requirements to be met by the multiannual programmes.

² Multi-annual programmes shall be submitted:

A.

The Federal Council for information;

B.

At the Swiss High School Conference, for opinion, when they concern the research of the high schools;

C.

To the Council of EPF, for opinion, when they concern the EPF field.

³ The Federal Council may require a redesign of multi-year programs if they are not harmonized or if requests for credits exceed the resources likely to be available.

⁴ The Federal Council submits a report to the Federal Assembly on the multiannual programmes in the framework of the FRI message.

¹ Institutions responsible for encouraging research establish an annual incentive plan. They submit it to DEFR for approval.

² DEFR may delegate its approval authority to the competent administrative unit.

³ The federal government indicates in the statement of reasons for the budget how it intends to use the appropriations to carry out its research tasks.