The academic and professional world often encourages crossing borders, both literal and metaphorical. Such is the tale of Alaa Dia: Born and raised in Lebanon, Dia took his academic pursuits to Switzerland. Over the years, his work transitioned from an architectural perspective to a theoretical understanding of space, cartography, and borders.
Who lived in the Basel region around 1,500 years ago? Where were they from and what did they eat? Archaeologist Margaux Depaermentier is looking for answers. One place she is finding them is in the tooth enamel of skeletons.
He conducts preventative health research in Lesotho, improves clinical research in Switzerland, and still manages to find time for his passion: music. As structured and focused as the epidemiologist and clinical researcher鈥檚 work is now, his career began almost by accident.
Yukiko Tomooka has worked at the Department of Biomedical Engineering for the past year and a half. The Japanese PhD student came to Basel to carry out research on surgical robotics. And because she is able to interact with the end users of her innovations here.
Adam Hearn is holding a copy of his doctoral thesis, though a doctorate wasn鈥檛 always on his horizon. For a long time, the 45-year-old rejected the idea of an academic career. As an academic, he is making the case for sustainable energy. And 鈥� with his personal commitments 鈥� demonstrating what each of us can do to reverse climate change.
Ethiopia is known for its coffee but also regularly makes headlines for poverty and the flaring up of violence. For his dissertation project, geographer Thomas Betschart investigates how the design of the country鈥檚 infrastructure shapes daily life. Getting into conversation with locals and gathering information turned out to be quite a challenge.
Ferda Canbaz develops lasers for high-precision cutting. Things don鈥檛 always go to plan. But that only sparks her ambition all the more. Her research to date focused on investigating different laser materials and developing ultrafast lasers 鈥� now she is revolutionizing surgery as part of the MIRACLE team.
Initially, Nadine Felber couldn鈥檛 imagine doing a doctoral thesis. But the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on her private life made her change her mind. She鈥檚 now looking at the level of acceptance for new technologies in nursing care for the elderly. The question she鈥檚 trying to answer: 鈥淲hat is truth鈥�?
You can鈥檛 see Mitchell Br眉derlin鈥檚 work 鈥� at least, not with the naked eye. The nanoscientist鈥檚 research on bacteria sits at the intersection of biology and physics. When he鈥檚 not losing track of time in the basement of the Biozentrum, he can look out from his office over the city where his scientific career began.
