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Section: Science Life |
deutsche Version  Print-Version  |
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4 short portraits of the first "Society in Science" research scholars. "Constructive Rebels" | |
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The Branco Weiss Fellowship "Society in Science", based at ETH, fosters young researchers whose work places them on the boundaries between science and society. Four months ago the first four to be granted a scholarship took up their work. They met at ETH Zurich at the end of January to present and talk about their projects. A summary. By Jakob Lindenmeyer The conditions of the fellowship sound attractive to all young researchers. For a period of up to five years, with a monthly salary of 8000 Swiss francs, successful candidates get to work on their own research projects in a place of their own choice. Applications are accordingly great for the new programme "Society in Science: The Branco Weiss Fellowship" (1). Last year over 100 applicants from all over the world sent in their innovative projects following the first call for postdoctorate scholarships in the field of Life Sciences. In this first year the initiators and the nine professors from various countries, who constitute the scientific board, nominated one fellow from India, England, Italy and Hungary, respectively (cf. photo). The four presented their future research projects at ETH Zurich at the end of January.
Forest growth via satellite The 31 year-old ecologist from India, Harini Nagendra, is working on her project dealing with afforestation in Nepal. With modern satellite images, but also with groundwork carried out in mountain communities, Nagendra analyses deforestation and possible counter-strategies, not only from a silvicultural point of view but also as a social problem. Classroom behaviour In his project, Ferenc Jordan, a 30 year-old geneticist from Hungary, compares social, ecological and technical networks. He analyses existing parallels, for instance, between the behaviour of fish in a pond and that of school pupils in a classroom. His aim is to examine competition and co-operation in social groups using instruments from statistics and ecology. Distrust of modern medicine 31 year-old physician Giuseppe Testa from Italy addresses the public's fears regarding the use of stem cells and genetic technology in modern medicine. Testa is investigating how these technologies are changing society – from ethical, economical and legal points of view, but also from the perspective of art. Enlightening society on genetic agriculture In her project Claire Cockroft, a 31 year-old plants scientist from England, analyses the connections between genetically modified plants, sustainable agriculture and the provision of sufficient food supplies for the entire world. To do this she develops strategies to improve the public's level of knowledge about genetic agriculture. |
Wanted: "Constructive rebels"
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