Innovative Researchers in the Spotlight

The auditorium of the University of Zurich (UZH) was well attended on Tuesday afternoon, and the atmosphere was one of anticipation. The occasion was to highlight exceptional research achievements and to celebrate scientific success. “In the fast-paced world of research, we often rush from one achievement to the next, forgetting to pause and appreciate what we have accomplished,” noted Elisabeth Stark, Vice President Research. This was precisely the purpose of Sparkling Research: on this winter afternoon, the recipients of the FAN Awards and the UZH 3R Awards, as well as the graduates of the UZH Entrepreneur Fellowship Program, were in the spotlight.

At the beginning of her address, Elisabeth Stark took stock of UZH’s exceptionally successful return to the competitive ERC funding programs. In the most recent funding period, nine Consolidator Grants, two Starting Grants, one Proof of Concept Grant, and one Synergy Grant were awarded to UZH. In addition, UZH researchers recently secured long-term support for advancing two areas of cutting-edge research with two new National Centers of Competence in Research.

“The awards we are celebrating today capture only a small portion of the outstanding contributions made by our researchers,” Stark said. Unfortunately, it was not possible to acknowledge all outstanding research achievements. By way of example, the Vice President highlighted the particular societal relevance of this year’s winning project of the Postdoc Team Awards. The AI tool SpiritRAG provides answers to religious and spiritual questions based on thousands of UN documents and brings together expertise from the fields of spiritual care, computer science, computational linguistics and educational science.

In her keynote address, Sandra Luber, professor of computational chemistry at UZH and recipient of the Walter Thiel Award of the European Chemical Society, argued for greater connectivity and collaboration within the scientific community in light of the attacks on academic freedom in many parts of the world. While challenges and uncertainties are unavoidable in a changing research landscape, she said, what matters is a resilient mindset: how researchers respond to change and whether they recognize opportunities within it.

Curiosity, talent and disciplinary diversity are central to a successful academic career, the chemistry professor continued: “The challenges we face nowadays are far too complex for any single discipline. Progress will come from people with different backgrounds.”

At the same time, Luber emphasized that research is never achieved in isolation. Strong professional and personal networks, as well as supportive colleagues and mentors, form the backbone of any sustainable research performance. In closing, she called for continued development of structures to ensure that the next generation encounters even better conditions and can pursue research in a more viable manner in the long run.

Sandra Luber’s call for a sustainable working culture in academia was still resonating when Elisabeth Stark proceeded to present the first award of the afternoon. The FAN Award is presented by the Fund for the Promotion of Early Career Researchers FAN (link in German) of UZH Alumni. The prize, endowed with CHF 5,000, is awarded in the fields of law and economics, medicine and natural sciences, as well as the humanities and social sciences. Each faculty was able to nominate two excellent advanced doctoral candidates or early postdocs, who then had the opportunity to present their research to a jury.

In 2026, the jury honored the following three researchers:

• Zoe Marti (MNF)
• Stephanie Santschi (PhF)
• Stefano Statunato (RWF)

The next award recipients were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal experimentation – the so-called 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine). With the UZH 3R Award, UZH supports the efforts of its employees to promote ethical research practices.

The following individuals were honored:

• Fabiola Jörger
• Markus Seeger and Johannes vom Berg

Fabiola Jörger works as a senior physician in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University Animal Hospital of the University of Zurich. She was honored for her commitment to the Skills Lab, an anesthesiology tutorial program she has been leading for several years. There, veterinary medicine students can practice their practical skills at multiple stations using silicone animal models, enabling them to enter the clinical semesters as well prepared as possible.

Markus Seeger from the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Johannes vom Berg from the Institute of Laboratory Animal Science were recognized for developing a new technology called Flycodes. This technology makes it possible to test around 25 antibodies simultaneously in a single mouse. To date, antibody candidates have been analyzed individually in experimental animals. Flycodes accelerates the research and development pipeline for new medicines and drastically reduces the number of animals required.

At the conclusion of the award ceremony, two Entrepreneur Fellows were honored. The Entrepreneur Fellowship Program of the UZH Innovation Hub serves as a springboard for early career researchers who wish to translate their research into a start-up. It provides up to CHF 150,000 in funding, consulting and coaching to enable researchers to develop a proof of concept and achieve market readiness. The following two fellows successfully completed the program in 2025:

• Celestin Mutuyimana (Psychology)
• Thomas Look (MedTech)

Together with his team, Celestin Mutuyimana developed a digital psychotherapeutic intervention for post-traumatic consequences that takes into account both universal symptoms and culture-specific manifestations. Online solutions are central in this context, Mutuyimana noted, as they are easily accessible and cost-effective. As part of the fellowship, the focus was on market assessment, initial product development and a pilot study with patient groups in East Africa. Adapting the offering for additional conflict regions is also under consideration.

As part of his fellowship, Thomas Look developed a non-viral platform that enables the rapid and safe production of multifunctional CAR immune cells, with the aim of reducing key barriers in CAR T-cell therapy for melanoma – namely long production times, safety risks and limited efficacy. The next steps include clinical trials and the establishment of a spin-off to bring the technology into clinical practice.

“We have celebrated outstanding projects and exceptional individuals who make UZH a vibrant place for knowledge and innovation,” Elisabeth Stark said in her closing remarks. After the stimulating insights into current research, guests gathered for an apéro in the Upper Mensa to network and exchange ideas.

On the one hand, they were able to explore support services offered by the Vice President’s Office in the areas of research, innovation and early career support, as well as infrastructure development and support for animal research. On the other hand, the occasion provided an opportunity to forge new connections, engage with colleagues and celebrate achievements together with family and friends.