Positive balance thanks to budget discipline and additional income
The University of Basel closed its accounts for 2014 with expenditure of about CHF 707 million and a profit of CHF 6.7 million.
This positive result for the first year of the third performance period (2014–2017) of the state contract creates room for maneuver for the implementation measures of Strategy 2014, which is limited yet necessary based on the financial planning for 2015–2017. The annual report 2014 has been approved by the University Council.
In fiscal year 2014, the University of Basel had a total expenditure of CHF 707.4 million against an income of CHF 714.1 million, resulting in profit of CHF 6.7 million. This result for the year – which is an improvement on the 2014 budget (+ 5.5 million) and the previous year (+ 3.2 million) – was achieved primarily due to higher income and, as in previous years, a high degree of budget discipline among all organizational units at the university.
Public financing of CHF 472.4 million (previous year: CHF 458.4 million) consisted predominantly of global contributions from the two supporting cantons of Basel-Stadt (CHF 161.1 million) and Basel-Landschaft (CHF 159.9 million), government contributions in accordance with the federal law on financial aid to universities (CHF 74.1 million), and contributions from other cantons of CHF 75.6 million in accordance with the Intercantonal Agreement on Universities.
In 2014, the university achieved total income from external funding of CHF 147.1 million, an increase of CHF 21.8 million compared with the previous year. This income is made up of project funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) of CHF 69.4 million and further awards totaling CHF 77.7 million from equally competitive international research programs, special federal programs, other ring-fenced project funding, and private external funding.