Key facts
The Confederation makes contributions to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. In the dispatch on the promotion of education, research and innovation between 2021 and 2024, a payment framework of CHF 196.6 million was approved by Parliament. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) is responsible for implementing the programme in the form of an annual global budget to the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences consist of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAHS), the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW), the Science et Cité Competence Centre and the TA-SWISS Competence Centre. The SAHS’s share of the 2023 global budget was CHF 16.2 million.
The individual academies and competence centres coordinate their funding activities within the framework of scientific self-administration, taking into account the Federal Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation and the performance agreement with SERI which is based on this.
In 2023, the SAHS awarded around CHF 2.8 million in funding to the 62 specialist institutions of the SAHS. The SAHS allocates the funds on a project-by-project basis and there is a specially established award and control process. In 2023, 270 project applications were approved in the categories of publications, conferences, specialist information, periodicals, long-term projects and various projects.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) audited the supervision of subsidies to the SAGW’s specialist institutions. SERI’s award process is appropriate. Observations were made in the SAHS’s award and control process, and in the monitoring of subsidies, which led to recommendations.