Welcome to "Graubünden forscht 2024"
Image: Academia Raetica. Illustrator: Christina Baeriswyl, created with Midjourney and Adobe Photoshop.
Graubünden forscht 2024: Awards for seven researchers
On November 8 and 9, 2024, the Davos Congress Centre became a gathering spot for the scientific community. At “Graubünden forscht", 57 young researchers from the member and partner institutions of Academia Raetica showcased their latest projects. Academia Raetica, based in Davos, is the organization dedicated to promoting science, research, and education in the canton of Graubünden and its surroundings. What makes “Graubünden forscht” special is the unique opportunity it provides for PhD students, postdocs, and master’s students from various research fields in Graubünden and the nearby region to exchange ideas, present their work, and establish connections.
The participants had clear goals: to look beyond their own disciplines, learn from each other, and improve their presentation skills. After all, effectively communicating research results in an engaging and understandable way for a lay audience is not always easy — yet crucial to making science accessible.
The audience had the opportunity to participate by voting on both days to decide which projects would be awarded one of the seven scientific prizes. The categories were “Education and Humanities,” “Medicine and Life Sciences,” and “Natural Sciences”.
In the “Education and Humanities” category, Andrin Büchler and Elisa Manetti from the University of Teacher Education Graubünden each won an award. Elisa Manetti expressed her joy: “The award at ‘Graubünden forscht’ is a recognition of our work for the entire Orbita team at PHGR.”
In the “Medicine and Life Sciences” field, awards went to Laura Mecchi (AO Research Institute Davos), Philipp Gessner (SIAF), and Selina Hanselmann (Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein). Melin Walet from the SLF won a prize in the “Natural Sciences” category and shared: “It’s an honor and a huge motivation when people appreciate your talk. Discussing my work with others rekindles my enthusiasm. I was most surprised by how clearly and excitingly the research was presented at ‘Graubünden forscht’ — better than at some specialized conferences.” Theresa Banzer from SLF was also honored for her presentation “Bark Beetles in Mountain Forests in the Canton of Graubünden: Challenges and Opportunities.”
A highlight for visitors was the debut of the “Science Noon” exhibition at “Graubünden forscht.” Visitors could experience a rocket launch through virtual reality, race a robot on a Carrera track, or learn about exciting projects related to health and fitness.
In 2026, “Graubünden forscht” will celebrate its tenth edition — a particularly special event as Academia Raetica will also be celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Here is the link to the selected images for GRforscht2024: Selektion GRforscht2024. The images may be used for non-commercial purposes with the appropriate credit: "Image: Academia Raetica / C. Güdel".
Die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger von «Graubünden forscht 2024»: v.l.n.r: Theresa Banzer, Elisa Manetti, Andrin Büchler und Selina Hanselmann. Nicht abgebildet: Philipp Gessner, Laura Mecchi und Melin Walet. Bild: Academia Raetica / C. Güdel
Theresa Banzer and Melin Walet from SLF celebrate their awards. Image: Academia Raetica / C. Güdel
Laura Mecchi, AO Research Institute Davos, delivering her talk that one her a scientific award in the category "Medicine and Life Sciences". Image: Academia Raetica / C. Güdel
Awardee Philipp Gessner explaining his work as an allergy scientist at the Science Noon. Image: Academia Raetica / C. Güdel
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