The Swiss Australian Academic Network (SAAN) identified a unique opportunity to invite Prof Ed Palmer to deliver a public lecture in Melbourne during his visit to Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne as the guest of the Australian Society of Immunology. Prof Palmer is best known for his seminal contributions his group at University of Basel has made to our understanding of self-tolerance that allows our immune system to differentiate between pathogens and foreign cells, and those that make up the organs of the own body. To maximize exposure of this lecture, the event was held on November 20 at the Royal Society of Victoria in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD and also included as speakers Drs Markus German and Daniel Häusermann, two resident scientists from Switzerland.

In his keynote address “Switzerland – A Paradise for Research?”, Prof Palmer used the example of the academic institutions in which his own career was fostered to illustrate the differences of approaches by (medical) science funding agencies to support research in Switzerland and Australia. He also contrasted the attitude of the research environment frequently encountered in the world’s few top tier Universities with the more collegial and supportive environments common to the next level of Research Institutes. Prof Palmer’s insightful analysis painted a complimentary picture of the often more generous funding opportunities available to (established) researchers in Switzerland, with the greater willingness of Institutions and funding agencies to support high risk research in Australia. There was a general recognition among the audience that this information is of great relevance when tailoring future funding applications for collaborative research efforts involving scientists from both countries.

Dr Germann, a postdoctoral SNSF recipient, provided the audience with a first-hand account of the challenge of deciding on a host laboratory in Australia given the high density of world leading research groups comprehensively covering most areas of biomedical research in Australia. His forthcoming transfer to the EPFL in Lausanne will provide a strong link for SAAN to further strengthen bilateral exchange with scientists in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

In his presentation Dr Häusermann, the nuclear physicist in charge of the biomedical beam line at the Australian synchrotron, expressed his delight about the most recent transfer of this world-class facility from a Victoria state-funded operation to being run by ANSTO, the Federally funded Australian Nuclear Research and Development organization. This important step ensures long-term viability of a unique resource for the ultrastructural analysis of living organisms that is centrally located among Melbourne’s leading Universities and Research Institutes. Customized on-site housing facilities for animals enables complex monitoring throughout long-term experiments that is currently not possible in most other synchrotron facilities around the globe.

This SAAN lecture event, made possible in part through the ongoing financial support of SAAN by Novartis, Roche and Nestlé as well as The Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI, attracted an audience in excess of 80 with a large proportion comprising early career postdoctoral researchers as well as many of Melbourne’s leading scientists. The evening was opened by Prof Ernst, President of SAAN and in his closing remarks Prof Medcalf, secretary of SAAN, acknowledged the evening’s attendance of Switzerland’s Honorary Consul for Melbourne, Ms Erika Kimpton.

After the welcoming words of the new Swiss General Consul to Australia, Mr Ernst Steinmann, and SAAN member and EPFL Alumni Dr. Steve Cochard, the Swiss documentary ‘More than honey’ was screened in a fully booked up auditorium at the University of Sydney. With the provocative quote by Einstein, and searching for answers for the current worldwide honeybee colony decline, the documentary took the audience on a fascinating journey to meet almond growers in California, human pollinators in China, beekeepers in the Swiss mountains and researchers in Australia. Back in the auditorium, the showing of the film was followed by an animated panel discussion. Chaired by Prof. Roland Stocker, Vice-President of SAAN, the panel was composed of eminent researchers, specialized in the behavior of social insects: Prof. Madeleine Beekman, Associate Professor Nathan Lo, Prof. Ben Oldroyd (all University of Sydney), Prof. Boris Baer and Dr. Barbara Baer Imhoof (both University of Western Australia). The latter two have been intensively involved in the making and promotion of the film ‘More than Honey’ and served as scientific consultants to director Markus Imhoof. The panelists pointed towards current and future risks for Australia’s honeybees and explained how Australia’s isolation and strict quarantine policy helps to protect their bees from infectious diseases. Further, the audience was given the opportunity to ask specific questions on the making of the film and the work of the present bee researchers. During the following cocktail, the audience engaged in discussion on the themes highlighted by the various speakers.

SAAN kindly acknowledges EPFL Alumni, ETH Alumni, the Swiss Consulate General, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, and the University of Sydney for their generous support of this most successful event.

More than Honey has without any doubt played an important role in raising awareness of the global issue of bee decline; let’s keep fingers crossed for its nomination of Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards 2014.

After a successful premier of the Swiss Award last year, the Swiss Award, sponsored by Glencore-Xstrata, has again been announced in the frame of a glamorous gala-dinner at the Swissôtel in Sydney. This year the award was given to Prof. Dr. Boris Baer, Swiss bee-researcher and dedicated SAAN Board Member.

The Swiss Award recognizes outstanding contributions by individuals and/or organisations to Swiss-Australian relations in the fields of business, culture, science, academia and sports. In particular, the Swiss Award recognises leadership and innovation that further contribute to the growth of the Swiss-Australian relationship.

Boris Baer is the director of the “Centre for Integrative Bee Research” (CIBER) at the University of Western Australia in Perth and has been focusing on the mysterious global bee mass-extinction. To spread his knowledge and to inform the public about the worldwide phenomenon, Boris Baer, his wife Barbara Baer (also a Bee-Researcher) and his father-in-law, Swiss Oscar nominated director Markus Imhoof, produced the film “More than Honey”.

The documentary itself has been a worldwide success story and has been seen by thousands all over the world. Not only did it win countless awards at notable film festivals, such as the German Film Prize, but it was shown at many public screening events.

Specifically in Australia, the documentary was screened in the frame of the German Film Festival all over the country, which gave many people the opportunity to watch Boris Baer and his family in action and see the important work he has done for the Swiss-Australian relationship.

We congratulate Prof. Dr. Boris Baer to his success and look forward to many more discoveries in the bee-research field.

In the framework of Prof. Rolf Zinkernagel’s visit to Australia, SAAN organized two successful events, one in Sydney and the other in Melbourne.

The scientific collaboration and personal friendship between the two Nobel Prize laureates Prof. Rolf Zinkernagel (University of Zurich) and Prof. Peter Doherty (University of Melbourne) goes back to the seventies, when they worked in the same laboratory at the John Curtin Medical School at the Australian National University in Canberra. In 1996, more than twenty years after their groundbreaking work on how the immune system recognizes virus infected cells, the two scientists were awarded the highest of all scientific recognitions – the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

In Sydney, Prof. Zinkernagel participated at two separate round table discussions with PhD students and post-doctoral scientists from the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and their associated medical research institutes. The Centenary Institute (Profs. Mathew Vadas and Barbara Fazekas) and the Garvan Medical Research Institute (Dr Jacqueline Stöckli) hosted these events that were extremely well received by the future leaders of medical research in Australia.

The round table discussions were followed by a public seminar by Prof. Zinkernagel, co-hosted by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (Prof.Bob Graham) and the Garvan Institute (Prof. John Mattick). The auditorium of 250 seats was filled and the audience was spoilt by a wonderfully crafted lecture that presented the highly difficult topic “Vaccines against infections” in a readily understandable yet at times provocative manner. The lecture was followed by a cocktail party sponsored by the Consulate of Switzerland to Australia (Consul Markus Meli) and a dinner sponsored by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

In Melbourne, around 200 guests, including many prominent leaders from academia and the Biotech sector alongside a large number of early career scientists, attended a SAAN-sponsored symposium. The purpose of this event, generously supported by the University of Melbourne, was to celebrate one of the most high profile examples of what Swiss and Australian scientific collaboration can achieve. Held at Melbourne University’s prestigious Bio21 Institute, the audience was welcomed by Prof. Tony Bacic (Director Bio21 Institute), Marcel Stutz (Ambassador of Switzerland) and Prof. Matthias Ernst (President SAAN) to enjoy a memorable evening.

In his presentation, Prof. Zinkernagel challenged the scientific evidence for immunological memory that is commonly invoked as the underlying mechanism by which vaccinations protect us from harmful microorganisms.

In his similarly provocative speech, Prof. Doherty discussed approaches on how to gather, as a non expert, trustworthy information on scientific issues and developments without being overwhelmed by the less than objective but rather abundant “information” propagated by the various interest groups.

In their discussions, Profs David Vaux (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) and Robert Medcalf (Monash University and SAAN) underscored the importance for international exchange at the cutting edge of biomedical science. Meanwhile Dr Ueli Nachbur provided a first-hand account of the
challenges and joys experienced by a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)-sponsored scientist working in Australia.

During the following cocktail, an animated audience engaged over discussion on the themes highlighted by the various speakers. The Melbourne evening was concluded by a speakers’ dinner generously sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland.

SAAN kindly acknowledges ‚Presence Switzerland‘ and ‚The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation’ for their generous support of this
event.