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Primo Schär to become new Vice President for Research

From left: Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Vice-Rector for Research Prof. Dr. Primo Schär, Chairwoman of the Board of Governors Prof. Dr. Daniela Thurnherr Keller.
Prof. Dr. Primo Schär will assume his position as Vice President for Research in the autumn semester of 2024. He was elected by the Senate Committee under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Daniela Thurnherr Keller (on the right). He completes the Rectorate alongside Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Andrea Schenker-Wicki (on the left). (Image: University of Basel, Dominik Plüss)

Biomedical scientist Professor Primo Schär was elected Vice President for Research and thus successor to Professor Torsten Schwede by a large majority at yesterday’s Senate meeting. He will take up his post as President of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation on January 1, 2025 and will step down early from his university leadership role at the end of the spring semester.

26 April 2024

From left: Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Vice-Rector for Research Prof. Dr. Primo Schär, Chairwoman of the Board of Governors Prof. Dr. Daniela Thurnherr Keller.
Prof. Dr. Primo Schär will assume his position as Vice President for Research in the autumn semester of 2024. He was elected by the Senate Committee under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Daniela Thurnherr Keller (on the right). He completes the Rectorate alongside Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Andrea Schenker-Wicki (on the left). (Image: University of Basel, Dominik Plüss)

At its first meeting to prepare for the appointment of this academic leadership position on February 8, 2024, the Senate Committee quickly agreed that Professor Schär’s application for Vice President of Research was of the highest quality. For this reason, he was the only candidate invited to an interview, which ultimately confirmed the excellent impression made by his application.

The Senate followed the Committee’s recommendation and yesterday elected the current Dean of the Faculty of Medicine as the new Vice President for Research. The four-year term of office will run from the 2024 fall semester to the 2028 spring semester. The Senate confirmed the election on the same evening.

As Professor of Molecular Genetics at the Department of Biomedicine, Schär has an interdisciplinary background at the interface of medicine and the natural sciences, which optimally complements the specialist backgrounds of the other members of the President's Board. In addition, he has many years of management experience in high-ranking positions in the academic self-government: he has been Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for six years, before which he was Vice-Dean of Research at the Faculty.

Particularly worthy of note is the fact that Schär also has an outstanding track record as a researcher and, in his role as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI, regularly publishes high-level publications and has continuously attracted competitive third-party funding for 30 years.

Professor Schwede will remain at the University of Basel after taking up office as President of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation and will continue to lead his research group at the Biozentrum focusing on bioinformatics.

Procedure initiated for re-election of Vice President for Teaching

The four-year term of office of the current Vice President for Teaching, Professor Thomas Grob, will expire at the end of the 2025 spring semester. He is now running for a third term until the 2029 spring semester. The Senate has approved the procedure for re-election. This will require, among other things, a performance evaluation involving various boards.

Venia docendi

At the request of two faculties, the Senate has awarded three individuals the title of Dr. habil. and the Venia docendi.

This authorizes the researchers to use the title of lecturer (Privatdozent) and the academic degree of Dr. habil.

Faculty of Medicine

  • Dr. Yasmin Schmid for Clinical Pharmacology
  • Dr. Tobias Schneider for Anesthesia

Faculty of Psychology

  • Dr. Fanny Lalot for Psychology
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