January

Around 15 VESUV members met Mid-January for a well-earned beer after work. It was also Wikipedia`s 20th birthday.

Due to the ongoing Corona crisis, Chapter Luxembourg invited again to a regulars’ table via Zoom on January 7, 2021. This was our 7th virtual gathering. Eight alumni attended; one colleague had taken the time to join in from Obwalden, Switzerland.

On 15 January, roughly 20 ETH Alumni met online to the topic of "Children or career? Both please". An increasing number of women but also men would like alternatives for their family, away from the classic role model. New possibilities are sought. Monika Keller talked about her long-time experience as a mother, team leader and coach for 90 minutes, and gave some valuable advice.

The 2020 General Assembly of the Bio Alumni took place virtually due to Corona. Prior to the meeting, all members had the opportunity to vote on the agenda items by letter: Acceptance of the last AGM’s minutes, the annual report and accounts for 2019 and 2020 as well as board elections. Around a dozen alumni took the opportunity to participate in the virtual AGM. The president gave a review of the activities of the last two years.

ETH alumna Anna Bischofberger gained her Master’s in environmental systems science. She’s now working as a PhD student in the pathogen ecology group, researching antibiotic resistance. During her time at university, she published several novels under the name Anna Stern and won the 2020 Swiss Book Prize. With a range of interests, she pursues various passions. You may think it would be hard to balance these two very different worlds, but there are parallels between research and writing.