The National Research Council reviews thousands of applications submitted to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) each year and decides whether and to what extent they merit funding. The Council is composed of scientists, most of whom are engaged at Swiss universities. Membership is limited to 100 individuals and is structured in four divisions:
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Mathematics, Natural and Engineering Sciences
• Biology and Medicine
• Applied Research
There are also three specialised committees:
• International Co-operation
• Individual Funding
• Interdisciplinary Research
For projects, specialised sub-committees are established.
The Presidial Board consists of the President of the Research Council and the presidents of the divisions and the specialised committees. It supervises and coordinates the work of the Research Council and also drafts science policy recommendations for submission to the Foundation Council. The focus of its activities remains funding policy, designing funding programmes, evaluation methods and allocating funding resources amongst the individual scientific disciplines.