The ETH Board is responsible for the ETH Domain’s strategic planning. It compiles this four-year strategy for submission to the Confederation, which then derives the ETH Domain’s performance mandate from it.

Dispatch on the promotion of education, research and innovation 2008-2011

In the dispatch on the promotion of education, research and innovation (ERI Dispatch), the Federal Council formulates the guidelines, objectives and measures of its policy on education and science for a period of four years in each instance. In order to fulfil the set objectives, the corresponding funding is also addressed.

The State Secretariat for Education and Research and the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology jointly oversee the preparation of the ERI Dispatch; the domains which it affects (ETH Domain, universities, universities of applied sciences, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Commission for Technology and Innovation, etc.) are greatly involved in its preparation (see http://www.sbf.admin.ch/htm/sbf/bfi_08-11_en.html). Here, the ETH Board incorporates its own strategic planning for the ETH Domain.

Performance mandate between the Confederation and the ETH Domain

Within the ERI Dispatch, the Federal Council issues the ETH Domain a performance mandate for four years at a time. In addition, the Federal Parliament approves a global budget for the ETH Domain’s operations and investments. On this basis, the ETH Board directs ETH Zurich, EPFL and the four research institutes PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag; to this end, it enters into an agreement on objectives with each institution.

Federal global budget for the ETH Domain 2008–2011

In the 2008–2011 performance period, the global budget approved by the Federal Parliament for the ETH Domain amounts to 8,235m CHF.

Federal objectives for the ETH Domain as per the 2008–2011 performance mandate

The performance mandate between the Confederation and the ETH Domain for the years 2008-2011 builds on the two previous performance mandates and the experience gained from them. On this basis, the most significant challenges for the ETH Domain are rising student numbers, international positioning and increased participation in strategic cooperation projects initiated by several tertiary institutions, some of which covering all types of tertiary institution (Federal Institutes of Technology, universities and universities of applied sciences).

In the 2008–2011 performance period, the following objectives (among others) requested by the Federal Council and approved by the Federal Parliament, are being pursued:

  • The ETH Domain will provide teaching which is top-class and attractive in an international comparison and will strengthen its leading position in international research. It will also commit itself more strongly to bilateral international cooperation.
  • Greater technological and commercial use will be made of the knowledge obtained in the ETH Domain and cooperation with industry will be strengthened.
  • Attractive and family-friendly working and study conditions will promote equality of opportunity and increase the proportion of women in management positions and at all levels of the academic hierarchy. Young scientific talent will be actively promoted.
  • The ETH Domain will actively commit itself to the creation of the Swiss higher education area and will contribute to ensuring ease of movement between the various kinds of tertiary institution.

The Federal Council and the Federal Parliament have instructed the ETH Board to strengthen the unity of the ETH Domain and to develop and apply a performance-based model for the allocation of federal funding to the institutions of the ETH Domain. This was first applied for the 2012 budget.