A foundation at the service of the Swiss polar and high-altitude community
The Swiss Polar Institute is a foundation under Swiss Law with the mission to support Swiss polar and high-altitude science. The Swiss Polar Institute is recognised as “Research institution of national importance” by the Swiss Confederation.
Foundation Board
The Foundation Board is the highest authority of the Foundation. It allocates resources, appoints new members as well as those of the Science and Technology Advisory Board, the Scientific and Executive Directors and the financial auditors. Moreover, it approves the annual budget and the Foundation accounts. The Foundation Board is composed of:
| Frédéric Herman (Chair) | University of Lausanne |
| Stéphanie Lacour (Vice-Chair) | EPFL |
| Christoph Hegg | WSL |
| Annette Oxenius | ETH Zurich |
| Frederik Paulsen | Lausanne |
| Virginia Richter | University of Bern |
| Elisabeth Stark | University of Zurich |
The Swiss Polar Foundation, the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) as well as the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research (SKPH) are participating in the Foundation Board as guests.
Science and Technology Advisory Board (STAB)
The STAB issues recommendations to the SPI Secretariat regarding educational, scientific and technological activities as well as supports the SPI in the setting up of programmes, international collaborations and evaluations of funding activities.
The STAB is composed of independent experts with varied scientific profiles and backgrounds plus two delegates from the SKPH. The STAB is currently composed of:
| Samuel Jaccard (Co-Chair) | University of Lausanne |
| Kelly Kenison Falkner (Co-Chair) | Formerly US NSF, United States |
| Naki Akçar (SKPH delegate) | University of Bern |
| Carlo Barbante | Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy |
| Jérôme Chappellaz | EPFL |
| Daniel Farinotti | ETH Zurich and WSL |
| Thomas Frölicher | University of Bern |
| Patricia Holm (SKPH delegate) | University of Basel |
| Margareta Johansson | Swedish Polar Research Secretariat / Lund University, Sweden |
| Isla Myers-Smith | University of British Columbia |
| Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley | British Antarctic Survey, United Kingdom |
| Peter Schweitzer | University of Vienna |
| Andreas Vieli | University of Zurich |
| Meike Vogt | ETH Zurich |
SPI Secretariat
The SPI Secretariat is in charge of the implementation of the SPI activities and tasks. The Secretariat is currently located in Sion.
