SAAN
NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2012 Farewell letter from Ambassador Dr. Daniel Woker Dear SAAN members, Australian-Swiss Scientific exchange is doing very well. This is reassuring for me and all my colleagues at a time when I bid a reluctant farewell to this fascinating country after four exciting years in Australia. It is my deep conviction that: (a) Switzerland needs to stay ever more international and (b) Education and science will become even more central to international cooperation in order to meet the coming great challenges of the world. SAAN has grown over the last four years from a promising baby out of Melbourne to a truly national and bilateral 500-plus member’s network in Australia and Switzerland. This is primarily thanks to you, the principals involved in all scientific and academic contacts, exchanges and projects. Since early 2011, Christian Schneider has done a great job as both Manager of SAAN and the Educational and Scientific Counsellor at the Embassy. The Embassy is here to help, support, coordinate when necessary and above all, prod governmental structures into action when it is clearly in the interests of SAAN. Let me recall at this place that SAAN often has common areas of interest with SACCI, the Swiss Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Some SACCI members have entered into partnership with SAAN, fully conscious that SAAN is the perfect vehicle for productive publicprivate partnership in R&D. In May 2012, the first Swiss Award, made possible by public-private partnership of the Embassy/Consulate General and Xstrata, will be awarded on occasion of SACCI’s AGM. By mid-April my successor, Ambassador Marcel Stutz will arrive in Australia and I am confident that he will continue the Swiss government policy of closely collaborating and supporting SAAN and its goals. With fond memories and best wishes
Daniel Woker Swiss Ambassador to Australia 2008 - 12 SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
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UPCOMING EVENTS - SAAN will co-organise the inaugural ETH Zürich Alumni Sydney Chapter event on 8 May 2012 in Sydney at the NSW Chief Scientist’s Office. Visiting from Zürich for this event will be Peter O. Brunner, Director of the ETH Alumni. - Between 1 May and 10 May, Christian Schneider, General Manager of SAAN will participate at Mobility Fairs at the Universities of Western Australia, Melbourne, ANU, Sydney, New South Wales and Queensland representing the Swiss partner universities. - Furthermore, SAAN will take part in several international conferences and facilitate a strong Swiss presence. The conferences will be: Urban Planning Environment (UPE 10) Conference in Sydney in July 2012, Dioxin in Cairns, August 2012, Pensions Systems Conference Sydney in November 2012. -
In addition, further SAAN events are planned: -
in Western Australia; a visit of Swiss filmmaker Markus Imhoof (Oscar-Nomination for “Das Boot ist voll”) in late 2012 and by Prof Dr Paul Schmid-Hempel, ETH Zürich (Lecture about bee diseases and bee immunity)
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in South Australia; a “Swiss Research Day” highlighting Swiss-South Australian academic and research collaborations and funding opportunities.
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In Queensland; a tropical disease conference bringing together Swiss researchers from all over Australia and Switzerland (involvement of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute) in order to discuss current challenges and possible solutions to tropical diseases.
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In New South Wales; a workshop between the University of New South Wales and ETH Zürich on the low carbon future and low-exergy building techniques and regulations.
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In Victoria, a lecture by Prof Christian Doerig, Head of Microbiology of Monash University on Malaria research.
PAST EVENTS -
SAAN, in cooperation with the Centenary Institute, welcomed over 50 guests to a lecture given by Prof. Dr. Beat Imhof, University of Geneva. Prof. Dr. Imhof talked about how the thymus educates the cells of our immune system, a highly interesting lecture in basics of immunology. Students of the Centenary Institute and SAAN members alike benefited for the fascinating lecture. SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
3 - SAAN sponsored the first ‘IMBL Specialists Workshop’ held in Melbourne on 1-2 May 2012. The ‘Imaging and Medical Beamline’ (IMBL) - the flagship of the Australian Synchrotron - is highly committed to biomedical and medical research. Several key speakers were invited from Europe, in particular the special guest from Switzerland, Prof. Dr. Michael A. Grotzer, Co-Head of Pediatric Oncology at the University Children's Hospital of Zurich. Dr Daniel Häusermann, Australian Synchtrotron and SAAN Member; Prof. Dr. Michael Grotzer, University Children’s Hospital Zurich
- SAAN co-organised the first Swiss Alumni Meeting, held on 21 February 2012 in Sydney, inviting all Alumnae and Alumni of Swiss universities. Prof Jan Carmeliet, ETH Zurich Chair of Building Physics, gave a lecture about “Sustainable Cities and Energy Systems of the Future”. Through this initiative, SAAN is supporting the build-up of Alumni networks of Swiss universities in Australia. See here and here for more information on the event. Ambassador Woker welcoming the Swiss Alumni
- In collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Prof. Jan Carmeliet held the keynote lecture in the 15th Australasian Wind Engineering Society Workshop (23 - 24 February 2012) hosted by the University of Sydney. The workshop has contributed to stimulating collaboration between the University of Sydney (Dr Steve Cochard) and ETH Zurich.
- On 8 February 2012, SAAN has held its first event in Adelaide at the Ian Wark Research Institute (attached to the University of South Australia), which has strong links with the EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich and the University of Geneva. Prof Harm-Anton Klok, EPFL gave the first SAAN lecture describing common Swiss-Australian research in the area of polymer brushes. The Ian Wark Research Institute is currently the only Australian institute benefiting from a generous Swiss National Science Foundation Sinergia Project grant.
- On 29 November 2011, 20 motivated SAAN members gathered for the first time in the Australian Capital Territory order to hear Prof. Dr. Peter Zweifel’s lecture on “Health Care Choices”. Prof. Dr. Peter Zweifel from the University of Zurich was supported by SAAN on his research stay at the University of Western Australia in Perth and the Australian National University, where he held lectures and gave a short course on health economics.
SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
4 - On 23 November 2011, the Swiss Embassy and SAAN co-organised the “Swiss Research Day” at the University of Melbourne. The day featured presentations on the higher education and research landscape and funding opportunities in Switzerland, lectures and panel discussions in the two topics of “Future Cities” and “Future Health”. As a consequence, the University of Melbourne sent a delegation headed by Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis to ETH Zürich, IBM Rüschlikon, University of Basel and EPFL. Numerous collaborative projects are expected to begin shortly following the high-level visit.
Swiss Ambassador Daniel Woker with Leaders and Professors of the University of Melbourne and Prof. Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zürich
- In collaboration with the Swiss Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), a “Business Cocktail Function” with a lecture by Prof Gerhard Schmitt, ETH Zürich, on “Future Cities” and how ETH Zurich is tacking urban development through its new campus in Singapore.
- On 26/27 September 2011, the University of Zurich featured prominently at the “Postgraduate Seminar” of the School of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Queensland in Brisbane. The keynote lecture of the two-day event was held by Prof. Dr. Bruno Stieger, University Hospital Zurich, on mechanisms of drug transport. The visit has contributed to the University of Zurich and the University of Queensland negotiating a postgraduate exchange program.
On 8 July 2011, Professor Marcel Tanner, Director of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) will give the keynote lecture at the SAAN Symposium on “One Health” in Brisbane. Co-organised by the Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health, the Symposium will feature a range of Swiss and Australian expert speakers discussing different pathological, economic and practical challenges in the interconnection of human and animal health. As a consequence of this event, UQ is now setting up a “One Health Centre” in Brisbane. Marcel Tanner, Director Swiss TPH
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- On 1 June 2011, SAAN Switzerland and 65 guests from academia, the industry and government successfully celebrated its official launch in Zurich. The Australian Deputy Ambassador to Switzerland Damien Miller, Prof Marcel Tanner, Director of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel and SAAN Secretary A/Prof Rob Medcalf held presentations. Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Dr. Med. Rolf Zinkernagel was present at the launch.
SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
5 - In November 2010, SAAN co-organised the visit of Prof Dieter Imboden, President of the Swiss National Science Foundation. Prof Imboden visited the University of Sydney and held at lecture at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Prof Imboden met with officials including the Secretary of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR), the CEOs of the Australian Research and National Health and Medical Research Councils, as well as with the Australian National University. In Melbourne, Prof Imboden visited Monash University, as well as the Australian Synchrotron. - In November 2010, SAAN and WEHI co-organised a symposium on “Bilateral Scientific Opportunities between Switzerland and Australia.” Key participants were Doug Hilton, Director WEHI; Prof James Best, Head of School of Medicine, University of Melbourne; Dr Amanda Caples, Director Biotechnology at the Victorian Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development; Swiss Ambassador Dr Daniel Woker; Dr Merrilyn Fitzpatrick, Forum for EuropeanAustralian Science and Technology Cooperation (FEAST) and SAAN Executives.
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS - SAAN has facilitated several bilateral high-level delegations of Swiss and Australian universities: A delegation of the University of Geneva visited Sydney and Melbourne in early 2011 and a University of Sydney delegation visited EPFL, Geneva and ETH Zurich in Switzerland in May/June 2011. A high-level University of Melbourne delegation, headed by the Vice-Chancellor, has visited ETH Zurich, IBM Rüschlikon, the University of Basel and EPF Lausanne in February 2012. A University of Queensland delegation has visited the University of Zurich also in February 2012 in order to further talks on postgraduate exchanges in the biomedical field. - Negotiations between the Go8 (Group of Eight, leading Australian universities) and the major Swiss universities to conclude an agreement supporting the bilateral exchange of early careerresearchers are taking place. SAAN is facilitating and supporting these negotiations. - SAAN is continuing its cooperation with swissnex Singapore, especially in anticipation of possible three-way cooperation projects between Swiss, Australian and Singaporean institutions. - SAAN continues to promote reciprocal hyperlinks, including with the Centre of Evolutionary Biology in Perth and the Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation (FEAST). An article describing SAAN was recently featured in the annual FEAST publication.
FUNDING AND FINANCES - SAAN has been successful in attracting generous sponsorship from three Swiss companies, Roche, Nestlé and Novartis. Recently, a new sponsoring partnership with DKSH has been reached. SAAN gratefully acknowledges the support of these companies. Additionally, SAAN has been granted funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).
SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
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SAAN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND MANAGEMENT Matthias Ernst, PhD – President A PhD graduate from ETH Zurich, Matthias has been working in the field of cancer research in the USA, Switzerland and Australia. He is the acting Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research’s Melbourne Branch, a Senior Research Fellow of the NH&MRC and an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. Roland Stocker, PhD - Vice-President Roland studied at ETH in Zurich and ANU in Canberra and conducted post-doctoral research in the USA and Switzerland. Subsequently, he became a Principal Investigator at Sydney’s Heart Research Institute. Currently, Roland is a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NH&MRC and Chair of Biochemistry in Vascular Medicine at the University of Sydney.
Robert Medcalf, PhD - Secretary Born and educated in Melbourne, Robert spent seven years in Switzerland, studying cell and molecular biology at the University of Lausanne. In 1993, he took up a Research Fellowship at Monash University in Melbourne, where he is now a Senior Research Fellow of the NH&MRC and an Associate Professor working at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases. Christian Stocker, MD – Teaching/Education/Professional Development A physician graduated from the University of Berne, Christian is a specialist in Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Medicine. He has been working for the Queensland Paediatric Intensive Care Service in Brisbane and has been appointed Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. He is now based at the Mater Children’s Hospital.
Bruno Giger – Treasurer, Webmaster Bruno has a degree in Computer Science (Eidg. Dipl. Wirtschaftsinformatiker). With over 30 years IT Senior Management experience in the areas of project management, business analysis and process re-engineering within the European banking sector and leading global securities firms, he is now part-owner of several companies in the Australian IT market. Jean-Guy Schneider, PhD - Events Jean-Guy has completed a M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of Berne before moving to Australia in 2000. He now works as a Senior Lecturer in Software Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, and has a variety of teaching and research interests in computer science and software engineering.
SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au
7 Boris Baer, PhD – Communication Boris studied at the University of Zurich and received his PhD from ETH Zurich in 2000. After a four year post-doc in Copenhagen, he was awarded a SNSF fellowship and moved to the University of Western Australia receiving a Queen Elizabeth II fellowship from the ARC. Boris is the principle investigator of a cross disciplinary research group (CIBER), studying honeybee reproduction, immunity and ecology.
Christian Schneider – SAAN General Manager Christian has degrees in International Relations from the University of St.Gallen, the University of Canterbury, New Zealand and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He has researched and published on the image of the European Union in the Asia-Pacific for the National Centre for Research on Europe, NZ, and has written his thesis on cross-border movements of tertiary students in Europe and Southeast Asia.
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SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831 89 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.saan.id.au