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Prof. Dr. Hans Balsiger Resigns as president of the International Foundation HFSJG Newly elected honorary president of the Foundation HFSJG As one of the changes in the executive in 2010, Hans Balsiger has resigned as president of the Foundation HFSJG effective at the end of 2009. He was in office for six years. In grateful recognition of his enormous contribution to the foundation, he was elected honorary president by the members of the board in October 2009. In his position as professor at the University of Bern, Hans Balsiger was director of the Physikalisches Institut for many years. At the same time he served in many key positions in the European Space Agency, and notably as president of the Science Program Committee, the highest ESA scientific committee. Even as professor emeritus, Hans Balsiger is still active in the work with the ROSINA experiment on the Rosetta space craft. |
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Prof. Dr. Erwin O. Flückiger Resigns as director of the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat Newly elected president of the Foundation HFSJG After ten years of service to the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat, Erwin Flückiger will retire as director at the end of 2009. The Swiss Academy of Science scnat has elected him to be the successor of Hans Balsiger as president of the Foundation HFSJG in 2010. Up until his retirement Erwin Flückiger headed the cosmic ray research group of the Physikalisches Institut of the University of Bern. As a researcher at Jungfraujoch himself, Erwin Flückiger has been continuously active at Jungfraujoch since 1968. His special area of interest was the investigation of galactic and solar cosmic rays, their distribution among the planets and near Earth, and their effect on humans and the environment. He is still a member of the highest international committees in the field, e.g. the Commission on Cosmic Rays (C4) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). |
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Prof. Dr. Markus Leuenberger New director of the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat On October 23, 2009, the board of the Foundation HFSJG elected Markus Leuenberger as the new director of the High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat. Markus Leuenberger was born in the cantone of Luzern. He went to primary school and Kantonsschule in Sursee. After completing his Matura in 1981 he began studying physics at the University of Bern and completed his Diploma in climate and environmental physics five years later. He spent several years on a trip around the world and became acquainted with many different cultures. He then resumed his physics studies in 1988 and completed his PhD in 1992 on the subject of ice core research. With a Nationalfonds scholarship he spent a year in Australia. Upon his return to Switzerland he was offered a position at the Physikalisches Institut of the University of Bern to start his own research group in experimental climate and environmental physics. In 2000 Markus Leuenberger habilitated, and shortly thereafter he was appointed as lecturer at the University of Bern. In 2008 he was promoted to associated professor. For several years Markus Leuenberger has been active in research at Jungfraujoch, e.g. since 2000 he has been measuring CO2 and documenting its increase in the atmosphere due to the use of fossil fuels. |