Revised SNSF Funding Regulations will take effect in January 2016
The fully revised Funding Regulations of the SNSF will take effect on 1 January 2016. The SNSF has brought them into line with the revised Research and Innovation Promotion Act (RIPA) and set out separate project funding regulations.
The Federal Council has approved the revised Funding Regulations of the SNSF. Consisting of general provisions applicable to all SNSF funding schemes, the Funding Regulations provide the legal basis for the SNSF's funding activities, together with the General Implementation Regulations. The regulations for individual schemes, e.g. project funding, are based on the Funding Regulations.
The Funding Regulations were primarily revised in order to:
- bring them into line with the new Federal Research and Innovation Promotion Act (RIPA): the new RIPA provisions on research funding at non-commercial research centres outside the higher education sector are now reflected in the Funding Regulations.
- remove the provisions on project funding: like all other SNSF funding schemes, project funding is now governed by separate regulations, which will enter into force with the submission deadline of 1 October 2016.
- implement the necessary changes in research funding: after optimising Sinergia, the SNSF is now innovating its project funding scheme.
Important changes for researchers
Changes to the Funding Regulations include:
- introduction of a new category called "project partner" for researchers who contribute to a project without assuming overall responsibility.
- re-submission of proposals: re-submitted proposals must be significantly improved compared to the initial submission.
- the "direct rejections" procedure is discontinued; in future, applications that are clearly below standard will not be considered.
- the scientific evaluation criteria have been set out more clearly.
- new eligible costs: direct costs for the use of infrastructure and costs for scientific exchange and networking.
- focus on the most basic and general provisions. Their application will be defined in detail in the forthcoming revised version of the Implementation Regulations. The SNSF will provide more detailed information at the beginning of 2016.
Partial revision of the Statutes of the SNSF
The SNSF has also partially revised its Statutes: the reorganisation of the higher education system, based on the Higher Education Funding and Coordination Act (HFKG), has necessitated changes to the representation of institutions in the Foundation Council and in its Executive Committee. In addition, the SNSF is redefining the minimum number of male and female members in these bodies.
The revised Statutes will enter into force on 1 October 2015.
Statutes of the SNSF (version of 01.10.2015) (PDF, 320 KB) (PDF)