Because of the SNF futuro reform project that will come into effect next year and the changes to the statutes associated with this project, there will be changes to the composition of the steering committee of the National Research Council, which will now have eight members. In addition to the President of the National Research Council and the committees of Departments I to IV, the three committees of the specialist inter-divisionary commissions to be introduced in 2008 will also be represented for the first time. In addition to the departments, the specialist commissions Individual Funding, International Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Research will also evaluate applications in their fields.

Those elected
The newly constituted steering committee will start its work in April 2008. It will continue to be led as previously by the re-elected President of the National Research Council, Dieter Imboden (Department of Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich). The representatives from the committees of Departments I to IV are Meinrad Perrez (Dept. I; Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg), Christian Leumann (Dept. II; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Berne), Hans-Rudolf Lüscher (Dept. III; Physiological Institute, University of Berne) and René Schwarzenbach (Dept. IV; Department of Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich). The following representatives of the committees of the newly formed specialist commissions (SC) complete the line-up of the steering committee: Isabel Roditi (SC Individual Funding; Institute for Cell Biology, University of Berne), Ulrike Landfester (SC International Collaboration; Cultural Studies Department, University of St. Gallen) and Bernhard Schmid (SC Interdisciplinary Research; Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich).