New Presidents for the Biology and Geosciences Platforms
Two platforms of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) will have new presidents in 2023: Irene Adrian-Kalchhauser and Carmen Faso are the new co-presidents of the Platform Biology, and Olivier Bachmann of the Platform Geosciences. The platforms of the SCNAT provide a network for researchers, promote dialogue, and advocate for good framework conditions for science.
“Biology has evolved very rapidly into a highly diverse field. In my role as co-president of the Platform Biology and in full collaboration with the board, I wish to promote exchange between the various sub-disciplines in biology to allow the community to benefit the most from constructive scientific dialogue," says Carmen Faso, cell biologist at the University of Bern. Irene Adrian-Kalchhauser, professor at the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern, added: “I aim to focus my efforts during the first years of co-presidency on continued development of the platform towards transparency, accessibility, and equal opportunities. I hope the platform will continue to be a catalyst for future-oriented, transdisciplinary exchange between biological sciences and the society. Finally, I intend to build bridges to non-biological fields to identify overlapping areas of interest and synergies.”
“The geosciences platform makes a decisive contribution to networking society, i.e. the public, practitioners, administration and politics, with scientific bodies. In the coming years, I would like to continue the outstanding work of my predecessor in promoting dialogue between these various stakeholders in finding solutions to the challenges of the 21st century. It is also important that our community supports the protection of Switzerland’s unique geological heritage”, says Olivier Bachmann, professor of volcanology and magmatic petrology at ETH Zurich.
The president of the Platform Geosciences up to the end of 2022 was Naki Akçar of the University of Bern. During his presidency, the platform was greatly committed to dialogue among the diverse disciplines of the geosciences and for cooperation with practitioners. The Platform Biology was chaired by Christoph Scheidegger from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. Among other things, he played a key role in the launch of the project on the valorisation and digitization of Switzerland’s natural science collections.
