A new Executive Board for the Swiss Young Academy

13 July 2023

At their General Assembly on 16 June 2023, the members of the Swiss Young Academy appointed their new Executive Board for the 2023/24 term of office. Two members of the Executive Board were standing for re-election. Three new members were elected: Silvia Maier, Jovana Milić and Lerato Posholi. On July 12, the members also appointed Sofie Behluli as the new speaker, on a proposal from the new Executive Board. It is her second term of office on the Executive Board. Silvia Maier will serve as the new vice-speaker.

The newly-elected Executive Board of the Swiss Young Academy consists of the following five members:

• Sofie Behluli, Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer, Department of English, University of Bern; speaker of the Swiss Young Academy 2023/24
• Silvia Maier, Founder and Managing Director, Causable Consulting & Training; vice-speaker of the Swiss Young Academy 2023/24
• Darius Farman, Co-director, Thinktank foraus
• Jovana Milić, Assistant Professor, Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg
• Lerato Posholi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for European Global Studies, University of Basel

“It is an honour for me to take on the role of speaker of the Swiss Young Academy for the year 2023/24 and thus to represent a diverse, ambitious and forward-looking group of young academics,” said Sofie Behluli. Immediately after her election as speaker, Sofie Behluli also emphasized the need for action at the interfaces of science, society and politics: “There is still a lot that can be done at these interfaces, and I am pleased to be able to make a small contribution to this.” Vice-speaker Silvia Maier also pointed out the Young Academy’s great potential and its keenness to promote effective activities in exchanges with other actors: “At the Swiss Young Academy, we bring together so many committed and bright young researchers who want to work together with others for the benefit of society. I would like to strengthen this cooperation in exchanges with other creative actors and by further developing our platform, so that our members’ energy and ideas can have an impact.”

The Executive Board’s term of office begins each year with a constitutive meeting following the General Assembly and lasts for one year. The Executive Board’s tasks include the preparation of business items and the annual budget planning, which are submitted to the General Assembly. The speaker represents the Young Academy internally and externally and chairs the Executive Board.