A National Research Programme (known by the German-language acronym NRP) is an umbrella programme under which research projects are carried out that help solve important current problems. The Federal Council determines the issues an NRP should address and the areas on which it should focus. It then instructs the Swiss National Science Foundation to conduct the NRP.
Within an NRP there should be a series of coordinated research projects, all working towards a common aim. These projects must satisfy the following three conditions:
National Research Projects deal with issues of national importance. They do not undertake any primary research and are not allied to the administration or to industry. The research on these problems can be expected to produce research results that have practical applications within a five-year duration.
