The legal basis of R&D comprises the Law on Research and Higher Education adopted in 1991 and revised in 2002, as well as the Law on Higher Education (2002).
The Law on Research and Higher Education determines the legal basis for establishment and activity of research institutions.
The state research institutions, i.e. state research institutes, university research institutes and state research establishments are founded by the Government.
A state research institute is founded to carry out long-term research on international level that is important to the Lithuanian economy and culture as well as international cooperation, which need specialized groups of scientists, databases and specific research equipment. Together with the higher education establishments the state research institutes train scientists and assist higher education establishments in preparation of specialists. The main fields are approved by the Government on the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science that are prepared after examination of the proposals of the Science Council of Lithuania and the state institutions concerned.
A university research institute is a research institution rendering the research basis for university students, training of scientists, as well as for improvement of research qualification of the pedagogical staff under the agreement with the university. The university research institutes are founded to carry out research of certain directions on the international level.
State research establishments are founded to carry out the applied research and experimental development important to the development of economy and culture and/or to develop the experimental production, to prepare research-based recommendations for enterprises, state and other institutions. A state research establishment is founded by the Government on the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science after considering the proposals of the state institutions concerned. The Government may transfer the functions of the founder of the state research establishment, which are not related to the founding, closure and reorganization, to the ministry or other state institution related to the activity of the establishment.
Private research institutions are founded in order to solve research tasks of their establishers.
The legal basis of foundation and activity of higher education establishments is defined by the Law on Higher Education. State universities are founded by the Parliament on the proposal of the Government. State colleges are founded by the Government on the proposal of the Ministry of education and science. Private higher education establishments are founded on the permission issued by the Government.
The Law on Research and Higher Education defines that state research institutes and university research institutes have self-governance enabling them to choose the directions of research and present them to the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as to define their structure, internal procedures, the number of employees, their rights and obligations, as well as salaries, unless the Government defines otherwise, and to form self-governance bodies according to the procedure set by their Statutes.
The monitoring of R&D activity financed by the state budget is carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science. The Ministry organizes an expert evaluation of the research activities. An expert institution to the Ministry for the evaluation of the research activities is the Lithuanian Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education.
The Lithuanian policy of R&D development is formed and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science. The Ministry of Economy forms the policy and the strategy of innovation and technology development. Contract research in certain fields is organized and coordinated by appropriate Ministries.
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania, seeking to orient the science and technology policy towards the needs of the country‘s economy, in 2002 established the Commission on Science and Technologies chaired by the Prime Minister. The deputies of the Chairman are the Ministers of Education and Science and Economy. The Commission is an advisory institution to the Government. It considers and advises the Government on the issues of formation and implementation of the policy and strategy of the development of applied research, technologies and innovation in order to meet the requirements of the state economy by promoting interaction between research, production and business.
At the end of 2003, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved a Long-term R&D Strategy and the Programme for Implementation of the Provisions of the Lithuanian Science and Technology White Paper for implementation of the Strategy. Taking into account the necessity to foster high-tech production, the Government simultaneously approved the Programme for the Development of High Technologies.
The adviser to the Parliament and the Government on the issues of the research, experimental development and higher education policy is the Science Council of Lithuania. The Council is founded by the Parliament on the proposal of the Government. It consists of the scientists and the representatives of economy and business organizations, as well as of state institutions.
The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Lithuanian University Rectors‘ Conference and the Lithuanian Research Institute Directors‘ Conference are the expert institutions legitimated by the Law on Research and Higher Education.