Dominik Meier appointed assistant professor of global philanthropy
The President’s Board of the University of Basel has appointed Dr. Dominik Meier assistant professor of global philanthropy at the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Center for Philanthropy Studies.
22 August 2024
Dominik Meier studied psychology and economics at the University of Basel and completed his doctorate in economic psychology in 2023. His research is based on innovative methods such as machine learning, the handling of large data sets, computer linguistics (natural language processing) and web scraping, which can be used to extract data from websites. He uses these approaches to investigate individual and institutional philanthropy, including in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. Dominik Meier took up his assistant professorship (without tenure track) at the Center for Philanthropy Studies CEPS at the beginning of August 2024.
The new assistant professorship focuses on researching international philanthropy initiatives and their contribution to solving complex global problems. This position therefore complements research at the CEPS, which focuses primarily on philanthropy in Switzerland. For example, the CEPS conducts an annual survey on the development of the foundation sector in Switzerland, but has previously also contributed to numerous international comparative studies of the philanthropy and non-profit sector.
Responsibility for tackling global challenges such as climate change, demographic development and migration is not limited to state and supranational institutions. Non-profit organizations and private philanthropy initiatives also play an important role here. This applies in particular to Switzerland – an international financial center and home to many globally active organizations.
With the assistant professorship in global philanthropy, the University of Basel is strengthening research in the field of international philanthropy and thus providing an important impetus for the further development of the CEPS. The new assistant professorship is limited to five years and is financed by the Aloysius Foundation from Basel.
The CEPS was founded in 2008 on the initiative of SwissFoundations, the association of Swiss grant-making foundations. A consortium of twelve foundations is currently involved in funding CEPS research.
Further information
Prof. Dr Georg von Schnurbein, University of Basel, Faculty of Business and Economics, Director Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS), Tel. +41 61 207 34 63, e-mail: georg.vonschnurbein@unibas.ch
