Research Council: five new members and new president of specialised committee

Andreas Mayer will chair the Specialised Committee Interdisciplinary Research of the SNSF National Research Council as of October 2021.

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. New members are elected by the Executive Committee of the Foundation Council of the SNSF.

The new member of the Presiding Board:

  • Andreas Mayer, University of Lausanne, president of the Specialised Committee Interdisciplinary Research, succeeds Rita Franceschini (as of 1 October 2021)

The five new members of the Research Council:

Humanities and Social Sciences division

  • Simona Pekarek Doehler, University of Neuchâtel, for linguistics with a focus on Romance languages (as of 1 October 2021)
  • Wassilis Kassis, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, for educational studies (as of 1 October 2021)

They replace Rita Franceschini (linguistics, focus on Romance languages) and Katharina Maag Merki (educational studies).

Biology and Medicine division

  • Monica Gotta, University of Geneva, for genetics and developmental biology (as of 1 October 2021)
  • Mohamed Bentires-Alj, University of Basel, for experimental cancer research (as of 1 October 2021)

They replace Markus Affolter (genetics and developmental biology) and Michael Detmar (experimental cancer research).

Programmes division

  • Eleni Chatzi, ETH Zurich, for engineering sciences (as of 1 October 2021)