Building a career in research is demanding. For women, the challenges inherent in this highly competitive niche are often multiplied. Creating a forum where barriers to success could be openly addressed and experiences could be shared, the Swiss Study Foundation and the NOMIS Foundation co-sponsored a “Successful Women in Research” meet-and-greet held on Oct. 9, 2019 at the Signau House in Zurich, Switzerland.

The event brought together 25 students from the Swiss Study Foundation — whose fields of study include medicine, robotics and jurisprudence, to name a few — and five prominent female researchers — Janet Currie, economist and recipient of the 2019 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award; economist Helga Fehr-Duda from the University of Zurich; sociologist and member of the NOMIS Board of Directors Nilüfer Göle; Susan Kaech, immunologist, NOMIS Foundation chair and director of the NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; and Victoria Orphan, geobiologist and recipient of last year’s NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award.

The event enabled a lively and positive exchange between the students and scientists. One student said of the discussions,

“I gained so many new insights, not just from the researchers but also from the other students.”

The NOMIS Foundation is a private Swiss foundation that supports and enables insight-driven science across all disciplines, focusing on researchers who put forth bold new ideas, exhibit a pioneering spirit and seek to inspire the world around them.

The Swiss Study Foundation supports excellent students and postgraduates at universities and technical colleges who due to their personality, creativity and intellectual skills are in a position to contribute to science, business, culture and politics. The Foundation’s mission is to promote young people who are willing and capable of assuming leading positions in all sectors of society.