Founded on March 26, 1965, the SSC advises the Swiss federal government on all issues relating to science, higher education, research and innovation policy.

[2] The SSC is an extra-parliamentary commission, as formulated in Articles 54 and 55 of the Federal Law on the Promotion of Research and Innovation.

[4] The SSC advises the federal government in order to fostering the "continuous optimisation of the framework conditions for the flourishing development of the Swiss education, research and innovation landscape".

[5] The council regularly publishes reports and studies on current science policy issues.

[6] It issues statements on individual projects or problems in the field of education, research and innovation (ERI) on behalf of the Federal Council of Switzerland or on its own initiative and also acts as an evaluation body.