Five new members for the Swiss Young Academy

Bern, 4 May 2023

Press release

Selecting appropriate candidates from over 80 applications – this was the challenging task facing the Advisory Council of the Swiss Young Academy (SYA) when preparing this year’s election of new members, for the attention of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. “It is impressive to receive so many great applications and to see how many young scientists and academics would like to get involved, in parallel with their careers”, the Advisory Council stated. “This reflects the great potential and motivation for change in this new generation of young scientists and academics”.

A high level of interest in the dialogue between science, society and politics is of great importance for admission to the Swiss Young Academy. Another prerequisite for membership is the willingness and motivation to commit to inter- and transdisciplinary group projects at the above-mentioned interfaces. Against this backdrop, the Board of Directors of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences has elected the following people as new members:

• Marco Cavallaro, Communication Science/Political Science, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
• Pamela Delgado, Computer Sciences, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland (HES-SO)
• Benjamin Hofmann, Political Science/Environmental Social Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG)
• Nawal Kinany, Neuroingineering, University of Geneva
• Emmanuel Senft, Microengineering, Idiap Research Institute

The five-year membership of the newly-elected members begins on 16 June 2023 at an admission event in Bern. The new members will be able to implement innovative ideas in inter- and transdisciplinary projects over the next five years, together with 34 other young scientists and academics from a wide range of disciplines and universities. In addition, they can benefit from a mentoring programme and other personal support measures to further their careers.