Research Council: two re-elected heads of division and six new members

Matthias Peter, as President, and Claudia Kühni, as Vice President, will continue to lead the Biology and Medicine division for the period of office starting 1 April 2022 and ending 31 December 2023.

The National Research Council evaluates project proposals submitted by researchers in Switzerland and selects the best ones for funding. The Council is composed of a maximum of 100 leading researchers. Members are elected by the Executive Committee of the SNSF Foundation Council.

The two re-elected heads of division are:

  • Matthias Peter, ETH Zurich, President of the Biology and Medicine division
  • Claudia Kühni, University of Bern, Vice President of the Biology and Medicine division

The six new members of the Research Council are:

Humanities and Social Sciences division

  • Paulo de Assis, Orpheus Institute Ghent (Belgium), for arts (starting on 1 April 2022)

He replaces Claudia Mareis (arts).

Mathematics, Natural and Engineering Sciences division

  • Natalie Banerji, University of Bern, for materials science and engineering (starting on 1 April 2022)
  • Vera Slaveykova, University of Geneva, for environmental sciences (starting on 1 October 2022)
  • Adrian Signer, University of Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute, for theoretical physics (starting on 1 October 2022)

They replace Paul Dyson (chemistry), Juliane Hollender (environmental sciences) and Thomas Gehrmann (theoretical physics).

Biology and Medicine division

  • Verdon Taylor, University of Basel, for stem cells and organogenesis (starting on 1 April 2022)

He replaces Rolf Zeller (developmental biology and evolution).

Programmes division

  • Mira Burri, University of Lucerne, for law (starting on 1 January 2022).

She replaces Regina Elisabeth Aebi-Müller (law).