December 13

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN

7 Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603

www.saan.com.au

info@saan.com.au

Review’s content

President's Foreword

Switzerland & Australia

Mission / Services

Events 2013

SAAN Executive Board

SAAN Management

Important Links

Partners / Sponsors

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD Dear SAAN members

In this first annual review of SAAN since its inception in 2008, I am delighted to look back on what has been another year in the ongoing success story of our network. Among the many highlights in 2013, the three packed-out lectures in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne by Nobel Prize laureates Profs Zinkernagel and Doherty were undoubtedly the most notable public events organized by SAAN. Personally, I was particularly pleased that SAAN was also recognized by the broader Swiss Business community, through awarding Prof. Boris Baer, our colleague at the SAAN Executive, with the Swiss Award 2013. SAAN has been privileged to receive continuous support from the Swiss General Consulate in Sydney, and from Ambassador Marcel Stutz and his team in Canberra. In particular, bringing the tasks and responsibilities of the “SAAN General Manager” and the Embassy’s “Coordinator Science, Technology & Education Office” together in a position jointly funded by SAAN and the Embassy has afforded synergies and opportunities for both partners. It provides SAAN with an opportunity to be represented and involved at the many activities where the “official Switzerland” is represented in the various aspects of the Australian science research and education landscape. The voice of SAAN is as strong and loud as that of its members and it has been great to see large numbers of SAAN members attending the various events organized throughout the year. Many of those events would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and generosity of our guest speakers and the generous support from our sponsors and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

On behalf of the Executive, I wish you all the best for a Festive Season and look forward to your active participation in 2014.

Matthias Ernst

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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SWITZERLAND & AUSTRALIA

Switzerland Australia

Universities in the world top 200 6 7

Students attending a top 200 university (according to the Shanghai Ranking)

50 23

Number of publications in the field of Science (per 1‘000 inhabitants)

3.2 2.4

International students of all tertiary enrolments

14.1% 20.6%

Total spending on education of its gross domestic product (GDP)

5.5% 6.1%

Switzerland strengths

Engineering, Computing & Technology

Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences

Life Sciences

Australia is a global leader in:

Biomedical Research

Astronomy

Oceanology

Environmental Research

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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MISSION / SERVICES

“TO FOSTER, FACILITATE AND EXPAND BILATERAL ACADEMIC

NETWORKING BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND SWITZERLAND"

Since its inception, originally as Swiss Academic Network Melbourne in 2004, SAAN has been growing steadily and today as a membership base exceeding 650 contacts. Although many activities of SAAN are closely aligned with those of the Embassy, SAAN is independent of the Embassy and does not have an official mandate. SAAN is seeking to establish and maintain connections between leading academics in Australia and Switzerland, and hosts events and lectures to facilitate, expand and nurture strong ties within academia as well as to provide linking opportunities with industry. For the next years, SAAN’s areas of major activities include:

• To organize and promote public events including high

profile lectures by opinion leaders, and symposia showcasing Swiss-Australian collaboration in higher education and research.

• Identification and dissemination of (European) funding

opportunities requiring joint/international Australian/Swiss applications.

• To facilitate the creation of dedicated fellowships for the exchange of students and postdoctoral fellows between the two countries as part of reciprocal agreements between relevant national funding bodies. To establish in the long-run SAAN-funded/-sponsored Postdoctoral fellowships.

• To strengthen existing, and to facilitate and forge new collaborations and between Australian and Swiss academics.

• SAAN will also continue help to initiate and support collaboration between Australian and Swiss universities and businesses.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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EVENTS 2013

Throughout the year, SAAN organized events and public lectures by prominent and engaging academics. On its website, SAAN endeavored to continuously provide its members also with information and updates concerning the science, education and technology sector linking Switzerland and Australia. The event calendar below highlights some of the SAAN events that took place during the course of 2013 and the integrated hyperlinks enable easy access to more detailed reports about individual events.

February

SAAN participates at the Swiss Festival in Melbourne. The Festival highlighted the rich cultural diversity of Switzerland. SAAN informed about academic life in Switzerland and funding opportunities to enable short-term exchange for visiting academics.

April

‘More than Honey’ – SAAN enabled a public screening of Markus Imhoof’s acclaimed feature film “More than Honey” in Melbourne’s Federation Square and subsequently as part of the German Film Festival in other capital cities. The Melbourne event was followed by an extensive discussion with bee keepers and entomologist about the world-

wide pollution threat on bee populations and its implications on global agriculture. Movie Blog.

April / May

A trilogy in Immunology: As part of the Canberra’s centenary celebrations, Profs Rolf Zinkernagel (Zurich, Switzerland) and Peter Doherty (Melbourne, Australia) returned to the very place where they made their discovery that resulted in their joint Nobel Prize in 1996. The two laureates delivered three public SAAN

seminars in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne and attracted an audience of more than 500 people. The lectures on the topic “Immunity against Infections” were followed by light refreshments

and cocktails.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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May

Prof. Boris Baer, a Swiss bee-researcher at the University of WA in Perth and dedicated SAAN Board Member was awarded the Swiss Award 2013 for his

long-standing contributions in highlighting and broadly communicating Swiss expertise in basic biological research. He provided much of the scientific expertise for the “More than Honey” feature film. The Swiss Award, sponsored by Glencore-Xstrata, is awarded annually through SwissCham, the Embassy of Switzerland and SAAN.

October

Together with EPFL / ETHZ Alumni Sydney Chapter, SAAN co-presented a public screening at the University of Sydney of Swiss Oscar-nominated documentary ‘More than Honey’ followed by a panel discussion. Profs Barbara and Boris Baer from the Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) also discussed among other eminent researchers, specialized in the behavior of social insects. Report

November

A public lecture was held by Prof. Paul Schmid-Hempel, Head Experimental Ecology, ETH Zurich, at the University of Western Australia. Prof. Schmid-Hempel talked about how various insect parasite-elicited various defense mechanisms in their insect hosts. He is a world recognized specialist in the field of ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions.

November

Prof. Ed Palmer, immunologist from the University Hospital Basel (Switzerland), held a public lecture at The Royal Society of Victoria in Melbourne. Under the title “Switzerland: A paradise for research?”, Prof. Palmer and two additional speakers provided the audience with an insightful analysis of personal experience in funding opportunities and supportive environments

to tailor future funding applications for collaborative research.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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SAAN EXECUTIVE BOARD

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 a group leader at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne, a Senior Research Fellow of the NHMRC and an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Roland Stocker, PhD – Vice-President Roland is a graduate from ETH Zurich and ANU Canberra, and conducted post-doctoral research in the USA before becoming a Principal Investigator at Sydney’s Heart Research Institute and Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC; Following Professorial appointments at the Universities of NSW and Sydney. Currently, Roland is Head of the Vascular Biology Division at the Victor Chang, Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney.

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.

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. He is now a Principle Research Fellow of the NHMRC and a full Professor at Monash University in the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at the Alfred Hospital Campus.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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Boris Baer, PhD – Communications 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 Stocker, MD – Teaching/Education 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.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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SAAN MANAGEMENT

Nina Wirth – General Manager Nina completed an M.A. of International Affairs and Governance at the University of St.Gallen. Nina was employed by the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines and in Kuwait before moving to Canberra, where she works (part-time) at the Embassy of Switzerland as a Coordinator for Science, Technology and Education.

Jonas Kaufmann – Academic Intern Jonas is currently doing an internship at the Swiss Embassy in Canberra. He is assisting both, the Science and Technology Coordinator as well as the Deputy Head of Mission. For SAAN, he is responsible for maintenance of the section News / Events / Members on the homepage and fulfilling various tasks in accordance with the GM and the Executive Board.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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IMPORTANT LINKS

SPONSORS

Embassy of Switzerland in Australia

http://www.eda.admin.ch/australia

Consulate General of Switzerland

http://www.eda.admin.ch

Novartis http://www.novartis.com.au

Nestlé http://www.nestle.com.au

Roche http://www.roche.com

AUSTRALIA

Department of Industry http://www.innovation.gov.au

Chief Scientist for Australia http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au

Australian Trade Commission - Education

http://www.austrade.gov.au/Education/Future-Unlimited

Australian Research Council http://www.arc.gov.au

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au

Australian Academy of Science

http://www.science.org.au

Universities Australia http://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au

The Group of Eight http://www.go8.edu.au

SWITZERLAND

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

http://www.sbfi.admin.ch/index.html?lang=en

Swiss national Science Foundation (SNSF)

http://www.snf.ch/en

Education in Switzerland http://www.swissworld.org/en/education

Public Universities and Federal Institutes of Technology

http://www.swissuniversity.ch

Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities

http://www.crus.ch/homenavigation/home.html?L=2

Higher education and research in Switzerland Brochure (English)

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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PARTNERS / SPONSORS SAAN memberships are free of charge and enabled through the ongoing generous financial support from our industry partners and the Swiss Confederation. SAAN would like to acknowledge its existing sponsors and is excited to collaborate with additional new ones in 2014.

SWISS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC NETWORK - SAAN ABN 68 137 291 831

7, Melbourne Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603 www.saan.com.au

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SEASON’S GREETING

AND BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR

&

“A GUATA RUTSCH”

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