9. IDYST admin: finances, car rental, hotel bookings etc.

9.1.1.   Invoices

All invoices must be accompanied by either the corresponding order form or the delivery note and approved by the supervisor. He/she should note either the Fund No. or the IO (Internal Order) on which he/she would like this invoice to be recorded. Afterwards, hand over the original invoice for payment to the IDYST secretariat (Adriano Romano). Payment usually takes about 10 days.

9.1.2.   Orders

To place an order of more than CHF 500, it is necessary that the Director of the Institute countersign the order before it is concluded, except for orders made by teachers who can authorize orders of up to CHF 3000. For all orders of CHF 10'000 and more, you must obtain the signature of the Director of the Institute and the Dean of the Faculty.

Expense reports are required when you need to be reimbursed for a purchase or an expense you have incurred on behalf of IDYST. The form can be found on the IDYST Intranet by following these steps:

1.   Go to https://www.unil.ch/idyst/en/home.html

2.   Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘Login’ link in the Intranet section

3.   You will be asked to login (this is with the same username and password that you use for other UNIL services such as MyUnil, PulseSecure, etc.). 

4.   After you have logged in, you will be redirected to the IDYST Intranet page

5.   You can find the form under Administration>Finances>Notes de Frais

It is important to note that expense forms should be correctly filled and submitted no later than 8 weeks after the expenditure. A couple of important points to note:

a) Remember to write the IBAN number and in the case of a bank account abroad, the SWIFT number. Take care not to change the column sizes of the Excel sheet. The expense form should be printed in portrait mode and not in landscape mode.

b) Keep all original receipts. Please tape receipts smaller than A4 to an A4 sheet of paper. Make sure not to use staples. 

c) For expenses in foreign currency the original receipt must be attached together with an excerpt of the exchange rate to Swiss Francs on the day the payment was made. This exchange rate must be from the following webpage: https://www.oanda.com/lang/fr/currency/converter/. Important: The date of the exchange rate must be the same as that of the invoice or receipt.

d) If you paid with your credit card, attach your receipt with a copy of your credit card statement. This will ensure that your credit card charges are refunded.

e) Write the receipt no. on the receipts and next to the different lines in the excel document, like that it is easier to understand how the document is structured.

f) The expense form must be signed by you and your supervisor.

To find out what expenses are reimbursable, the service expense guideline webpage can be consulted. Alternatively, you can ask your supervisor.

Purchases can be made using the IDYST credit card. To do this, please bring a print-out of the purchases that need to be made. This should be on university letterheaded paper, contain a description of the items, the currency and the price. This should be taken to the financial manager, who then obtains authorization from the IDYST director for the purchase. Once the file is ready, the financial manager will contact you in order to make the purchases. Note that this can take up to a week and that the financial manager is the only person authorized to use the IDYST credit card.

9.4.1.   IDYST cars

The institute has two company cars, a Subaru Forester and a Jeep Renegade, which can be reserved by contacting Aurélien Ballu (office: +41 (0) 21 692 3551, aurelien.ballu@unil.ch). The use of each vehicle costs CHF 0.63/Km + fuel. Everyone who has a contract at IDYST can use the car for professional transportation needs e.g. for field work (all year long). Students can drive the car exceptionally and only in case of force majeure. In addition, a third-party insurance is required.

The priorities of use are as follows: (1) Teachers, (2) Recurrence with a need for 4x4, (3) Others.

When renting the car for the first time, it is necessary to print out and sign the following form:

https://www.unil.ch/idyst/files/live/sites/idyst/files/shared/Intranet/Conditions_utilisation_vehicules.pdf.

The car is located at the north side of Geopolis (the side of the highway, direction of Lausanne).

After using the car, the following requirements apply:

• Fill in the ‘carnet d’utilisation’ (user’s logbook) situated in the glove compartment of the car.
• The driver must return the vehicle with a full tank of diesel for the SUBARU and a full tank of unleaded petrol (SP 95) for the Jeep. A Socar card to pay for the fuel is available in the glove compartment on the passenger side. It can only be used at the Socar station near the University (route cantonale, 1022 Chavannes-près-Renens). It is very important to claim the receipt at the Socar station after payment and to bring it back to Aurélien Ballu (Office 3314) or Adriano Romano (IDYST secretariat) so that the invoicing can be done correctly.
• The Jeep must also be connected to his own charging station and charged using the Greenmotion card located in the glove compartment.

• Any incident or damage must be reported in the logbook and to the person in charge of the car.

• In the event of an accident with a third party, it is imperative that you fill in an accident report.

• The car must be returned clean.

9.4.2.   Other UNIL cars

It is also possible to reserve another company car at the ISTE (contact Krystel or Nadia at +41 (0) 21 692 4306) and at the IGD (contact Marcia at +41 (0) 21 692 3070). The price is the same as for the IDYST company car.

9.4.3.   Mobility car

The possibility also exists to reserve a mobility car. The IDYST has 2 Mobility car cards. The Mobility car cards can be found in the purple folder at the IDYST secretariat. When reserving a Mobility car it is important that you indicate your name under the section “Remarques”.

9.4.4.   Other options

If there are no vehicles available, you can contact Mrs. Brawand (Tel. 2422) who will reserve a car for you with a rental company.

Additionally, it is possible to use your own car for business trips. To do this, you must provide a copy of your third-party insurance with limit of cover and a copy of the vehicle registration document to Adriano Romano. If the car registration is not in your name, a letter of authorization written by the car owner allowing you to use the car should be provided.

Note that it is only allowed to use your own vehicle upon receiving authorization from the Human Resources Department. Should you exceptionally need to use your car, you will be reimbursed at the 2nd class train fare, half fare.

If you need to reserve a hotel for one of your visitors, you have to contact Adriano Romano (adriano.romano@unil.ch) and he will take care of it. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the hotels that UNIL is associated with:

-    Hôtel des Voyageurs (near centre of Lausanne - Flon metro stop)

-    Hôtel Continental (near Lausanne train station)

-    Hôtel Agora Swiss Night (near Lausanne train station)

-    Swiss Tech Hotel (EPFL)

Many decisions regarding the life of the institutes are taken by the IDYST council, which meets on a monthly basis and decides on matters such as budget, strategy, investments, regulations, and other topics about the life of the Institute. This council comprises all IDYST permanent teaching staff, as well as representatives from the assistants and technical staff.

Another higher-level council is the Faculty Council, also meeting on a monthly basis, which is the legislative body of the Faculty. It takes important decisions such as recommendations on the hiring and promotion of professors, study plans strategy. The Faculty Council also has assistants representatives, as well as students representatives.

If you have questions or matters regarding the functioning of the Institute or the Faculty, you can contact the member that most represents you.