Society in Science – The Branco Weiss Fellowship, a programme run by ETH Zurich to support outstanding junior scientists, has appointed three new research fellows: Reinette Biggs, Arko Ghosh and Aoife O’Donovan. The award provides up to five years of complete academic freedom for the researchers.
The fellowship was initiated and is funded by Dr. Branco Weiss, a Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist, in 2002 to provide a platform for researchers in the natural sciences and in engineering, to extend their scientific work to cover specific social and cultural questions and perspectives. It provides junior researchers who have recently completed a PhD with an opportunity to pursue new avenues of thinking. The fellowship aims to encourage novel interdisciplinary research topics. One of the new fellows is engaged in neuroscience, one in psychoneuroimmunology, and the third in environmental regime shifts.
Reinette Biggs, a South African who was born in Namibia, is currently carrying out her research at the Stockholm Resilience Centre where she focuses on the dynamics of human/environmental interrelations. She is examining abrupt, persistent, non-linear changes – so-called regime shifts – that can arise in complex social-ecological systems, to understand how such shifts may be better anticipated and managed.
Arko Ghosh was born in India and is now doing research at the Institute of Neuroinformatics at ETH and at Zurich University. His primary research interest lies within the cerebral cortex. As a Branco Weiss Fellow, he will explore how mental processes and motor behaviour, involving the cerebral cortex, can be influenced by sensory information from the body. His research will be conducted at laboratories in Zurich and London, thus combining the resources of two leading academic environments.
Aoife O’Donovan was born in Ireland and today does her research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco. As a Branco Weiss Fellow, O’Donovan will work on elucidating the effects of psychological stress effects on biological aging.
“We are very pleased with the quality of the applications this year and happy that this prestigious award attracts promising high-potential researchers from all over the world,” says Olaf Kübler, President of Society in Science, and past President of ETH. “One future challenge will be to attract applicants from research areas that are not yet represented in the fellowship. We encourage junior researchers in any field of science and engineering to consider applying.”
For more information, visit: http://www.society-in-science.org
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