The engineering scientist Martin Vetterli, full professor for communication systems and dean of the School of Computer and Communication Sciences at the EPFL in Lausanne, will be the new president of the National Research Council of the SNSF as of 2013. He succeeds Dieter Imboden, who will step down from this key position at the end of 2012 after eight years in office.
Researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have demonstrated a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back. This interaction is so strong that it becomes possible to control the motion of the oscillator at the level where quantum mechanics governs its behaviour.
Gabriele Gendotti, a lawyer from the canton of Ticino, is the new president of the Foundation Council of the SNSF. The former national councillor and member of the cantonal government replaces Hans Ulrich Stöckling at the helm of Switzerland's most prominent research funding organisation.
On 12 January 2012, Karl Gademann will receive the National Latsis Prize 2011 at the Rathaus in Berne. A professor at the chemistry department of the University of Basel, he wins the award for his work on the isolation and synthesis of natural materials. The National Latsis Prize is worth 100,000 Swiss francs. It is awarded each year by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on behalf of the Latsis Foundation to researchers up to the age of 40. The National Latsis Prize is one of the most prestigious scientific awards in Switzerland.