The 14 million Swiss francs generously donated by the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation spread over 10 years is set aside for comparative studies in this subject area within the context of the program Health economics and human behavior. The new professor in Epidemiology and Household Economics will combine epidemiology in an interdisciplinary approach with economics and social sciences. In so doing, new quantitative models and concepts will be developed with the aim of reinforcing healthcare systems.

The focus will be both on weaker healthcare systems in the south and on highly developed healthcare systems in countries such as Switzerland. Thanks to new scientifically validated concepts and models, the program will provide a sustained impulse to the strengthening of healthcare systems worldwide.

This is the second time that the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation has sponsored a professorship at the University of Basel following its sponsorship of a Research Professor in Paediatric Pharmacology at the University Children’s Hospital. This makes it one of the largest sponsors of the university center Basel.

“Strengthening the university center Basel with a unique professorship is something that is fully in line with the foundation’s philosophy”, says the chair of the foundation board Gabriel Eckenstein. “The entire foundation board was enthusiastic about the idea of this professorship”. The foundation is especially interested in global healthcare problems in low-income regions around the world. It will support the Swiss TPH and the University of Basel over a period of 10 years in order to attain a certain degree of sustainability.

Thanks of the University of Basel and the Basel-Stadt government

“Thanks to the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation the University of Basel can now invest in a field of life sciences that is of central importance for the future”, says Prof Andrea Schenker-Wicki, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Basel. “The fact that the donors are consciously supporting the interdisciplinary approach of the research shows that our full-fledged university in Basel offers the right conditions for tackling the major challenges facing society”, says the Vice-Chancellor.

In the opinion of the Basel Executive Council member and Director of Education Christoph Eymann, the professorship sponsored by the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation perfectly rounds off the program offered by the Swiss TPH. Following the initial phase the joint sponsorship, which will now be submitted to both governments, will lay the bases for the long-term integration of the professorship into the Swiss TPH. “On behalf of the Executive Council I warmly thank the foundation for this donation, generous and carefully coordinated with the Swiss TPH”, says Executive Council member Christoph Eymann.

“This endowed professorship will give us the opportunity at Swiss TPH and at the University of Basel of developing an area of research and implementation that is both innovative and promising for the future”, says Prof Marcel Tanner. As a former director of the Swiss TPH he was able to launch this initiative together with the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation. “We are immensely grateful to the Eckenstein-Geigy Foundation for their generous donation, which is aimed at strengthening healthcare systems.”

The Eckenstein-Geigy professorship will be awarded through a regular appointment procedure at the Faculty of Philosophy and Natural Sciences at the University of Basel with an international call for candidates. The post is due to be filled in the first half of 2016.