About University of Zurich

Alexander Wagner serves as a Professor of Finance at the University of Zurich and is a member of the Swiss Finance Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University. His research focuses on corporate finance, corporate governance, and behavioral economics, with his work appearing in leading academic journals. As Chairman of the Board of Trustees at SWIPRA and Independent Counsel for PricewaterhouseCoopers, he brings practical expertise to his academic work. He regularly speaks at conferences and panel discussions both in Switzerland and internationally, contributing to public discourse on financial matters. His interdisciplinary approach combines insights from economics, finance, and behavioral science to advance understanding of corporate decision-making and financial markets.

Andrea M. Riemenschnitter serves as Chair Professor of Modern Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Zurich's Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies. Her research focuses on aesthetic, cultural, and literary aspects of Sinophone modernities, with particular emphasis on environmental humanities. She has made significant contributions through her work on traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics and their role in addressing contemporary environmental challenges. Her academic career includes visiting fellowships at prestigious institutions worldwide, including FRIAS, Fudan University, and UC Berkeley. She holds an Honorary Fellowship at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, and has authored numerous publications including "Carnival of the Gods" and co-edited "Entangled Landscapes." Her current research examines how traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics influence cultural representations of environmental issues across literature, social media, and visual arts.

Benjamin Wilding serves as a senior lecturer and Managing Director at the Institute of Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich. After studying at the Universities of Zurich and Vienna, he completed his doctorate in 2010 focusing on structured products. In his current role, he oversees education and continuing education programs at the institute. With over 20 years of investment experience, he combines academic expertise with practical financial market knowledge, providing investment advisory services to foundations. His work demonstrates a long-standing fascination with financial markets, which he applies both in his academic career and professional practice.

Elisabeth Liechti serves as a senior lecturer and Managing Director of the Teaching Center at the Institute of Banking and Finance, University of Zurich. After studying in Vienna, Milan, and Zurich, she completed her doctorate in 2011 focusing on trust in investment contexts. In her current role, she leads initiatives in teaching, learning, and innovation at the institute. Her work has culminated in the development of the MOOC "Money Matters - Finance in Everyday Life," demonstrating her commitment to making financial education accessible to a broader audience. Her expertise combines academic research on investment behavior with practical applications in financial education.

Kai Niebert serves as a Professor for Science and Sustainability Teaching at the University of Zurich, specializing in science education and environmental understanding. After completing his PhD on students' conceptions of climate change, he expanded his research through postdoctoral work at Curtin University of Technology and Penn State University. His research focuses on analyzing how people understand scientific concepts, particularly in environmental education, and developing evidence-based teaching strategies. He has made significant contributions to understanding the role of metaphors in science education and climate change communication, with over 200 academic citations to his work. Currently holding positions at both the University of Zurich and Leuphana University Lueneburg, he continues to advance the field of science education through innovative teaching methodologies and research into conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena.

Karl Schmedders currently serves as Professor of Finance at IMD Business School, bringing extensive expertise in computational economics and sustainable finance. After earning his PhD in Operations Research from Stanford University in 1996, he built an impressive academic career including positions at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and the University of Zurich. His research combines complex computational methods with economic and financial modeling, particularly focusing on sustainability and climate change economics. He has published extensively in prestigious journals including Econometrica, The Journal of Finance, and The Review of Economic Studies. His excellence in teaching has been recognized with multiple awards, including Stanford's Walter J. Gores Award and Kellogg's L.G. Lavengood Professor of the Year Award. As a Co-Editor of "Quantitative Economics" and area editor for "Operations Research," he continues to shape academic discourse in his field while advocating for sustainable business practices and climate change solutions.

Kremena Bachmann serves as a research associate at the Institute of Banking and Finance at the University of Zurich. With a PhD in Finance from the University of Zurich and a Master's degree from the University of St. Gallen (HSG), she has established herself as an expert in behavioral finance. Her research has been published in prestigious academic journals, demonstrating her significant contributions to the field. She regularly presents at conferences and provides consulting services to financial institutions, helping them design products and advisory services. Her work effectively bridges the gap between academic research and practical applications in the financial industry.

Luzius Meisser is a multifaceted expert combining expertise in finance, computer science, and blockchain technology. He recently completed his PhD in Finance at the University of Zurich, focusing on decentralized finance and blockchain technology. As founder of Meisser Economics and board member of Bitcoin Association Switzerland, he has been actively involved in the cryptocurrency space since 2011. His diverse background includes a master's degree in computer science from ETH and a master's in economics from the University of Zurich. His entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding Wuala, an encrypted cloud storage service, and investing in Swiss startups. His research interests span computational finance, blockchain technology, and decentralized financial systems, making him a valuable bridge between traditional finance and emerging technologies.

Marc Chesney serves as Professor of Finance and member of the directorate at the Institute of Banking and Finance, University of Zurich. With a mathematics background from University Diderot Paris and a doctorate in Economics from the University of Geneva, followed by a habilitation from the Sorbonne, he brings a multidisciplinary perspective to financial research. His work focuses on financial crises, systemic risk, and the relationship between finance and climate change. As a member of Finance Watch and Kontrapunkt, he actively advocates for financial system reform. His research examines financial market manipulations, insider trading activities, and the impact of financial innovation on systemic risk. He has authored numerous publications, including "From the Great War to Permanent Crisis," and regularly contributes to public discourse on financial reform and sustainable economics. His expertise spans mathematical finance, environmental economics, and financial market regulation.

Martin Volk serves as Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Zurich, specializing in multilingual systems and machine translation. With a Master's in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Koblenz-Landau, he brings extensive expertise to the field. His research group focuses on innovative approaches to machine translation, including domain adaptation techniques, discourse-aware translation, and solutions for lesser-resourced languages like Quechua and Swiss sign language. He has made significant contributions to the field of subtitle translation, particularly for English and Scandinavian languages. Prior to his current role, he taught at the Dolmetscherschule Zurich and served as professor at Stockholm University from 2003 to 2011. His work has garnered over 3,000 citations, establishing him as a leading figure in computational linguistics and machine translation research.

Noah Bubenhofer is a Germanic linguist at the University of Zurich, where he leads the "Visual Linguistics" project at the Institute of Computational Linguistics. His academic background includes studies in German linguistics, communication and media sciences, and sociology at the Universities of Basel and Freiburg. As co-founder of semtracks, the Laboratory for Computer Based Meaning Research, he investigates how language serves as an indicator of social and cultural phenomena. His career includes positions at TU Dresden's Institute of German Studies, where he continues as a Research Fellow, the Institute for German Language in Mannheim, and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. Through his research, he combines traditional linguistics with computational methods to understand the relationship between language and society.

Petra Breitenmoser serves as a PostDoc researcher at the University of Zurich and senior lecturer at Zurich University of Teacher Education, specializing in climate change education and sustainability. With a PhD in Climate Sciences from the University of Berne and diverse academic background including Antarctic Studies from the University of Tasmania, she brings unique expertise to environmental education. Her research focuses on climate literacy and sustainability competencies, while teaching courses in General Studies, Science Education, and Social Studies Education. Previously serving as Head of Division for Nature, Humans, Society at Zurich University of Teacher Education, she combines practical teaching experience with academic research to advance understanding of climate change education and sustainable development in teacher training programs.

Thomas F. Lüscher is a world-renowned cardiologist who has significantly shaped modern cardiovascular medicine. After completing his medical education at the University of Zurich and specialized training at the Mayo Clinic, he held prestigious positions at the Universities of Basel and Berne before becoming Professor and Chairman of Cardiology at the University Hospital Zurich. As Director of the Center for Molecular Cardiology and co-director of the University Heart Center, he has led groundbreaking research in vascular disease, focusing on endothelium-derived mediators, platelet-vessel wall interactions, and inflammatory pathways in acute coronary syndromes.

Sara Petchey serves as an Educational Developer and Researcher at the University of Zurich, bringing 14 years of mathematics and science teaching experience to higher education. After transitioning from secondary school teaching, she has dedicated her career to enhancing pedagogical practices in university teaching. Since 2011, she has pioneered the development and evaluation of pedagogical courses and tools for university instructors, culminating in establishing the university's first faculty-specific teaching hub in the Faculty of Science. As a postdoctoral researcher, she focuses on the pedagogical development of teaching-focused academics, investigating factors that influence the adoption of evidence-based teaching practices. Her work bridges the gap between secondary and higher education teaching methodologies, contributing significantly to the advancement of university-level science education.

Sarah Eberz serves as a Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Zurich, specializing in science education and sustainability competencies. As a doctoral candidate in the "Public Understanding of Science" program, her research focuses on how scientific education contributes to developing societal maturity and sustainability decision-making skills. Her work in the NABINA research project investigates the competencies that decision-makers need to make sustainability-relevant decisions for society. With a background in education and physiotherapy, she combines practical teaching experience with academic research to enhance science education's role in addressing sustainability challenges. Her recent publications explore how natural sciences can contribute to deeper social maturity and the competencies needed for sustainable decision-making. Through her teaching and research, she works to bridge the gap between scientific education and societal responsibility in addressing environmental challenges.

Simon Clematide serves as an Academic Associate at the Institute of Computational Linguistics at the University of Zurich. With a doctorate in Computational Linguistics, he specializes in natural language processing, focusing on morphology, terminology, and syntactic dependencies. His research explores methods for automatically extracting knowledge from natural language texts, contributing significantly to the field through numerous publications in biomedical concept recognition, named entity processing, and morphological analysis. His work has been extensively cited in academic literature, particularly for contributions to text mining and digital humanities. As an instructor and researcher, he has participated in and co-organized various shared tasks from 2017 to 2022, demonstrating his commitment to collaborative research and practical problem-solving in computational linguistics.

Thorsten Hens is a distinguished Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Zurich and member of the Swiss Finance Institute. Born in 1961, he has established himself as one of the top 10 economics professors in German-speaking countries. His research focuses on behavioral and evolutionary finance, combining insights from psychology and biology to understand financial market dynamics. He holds additional positions as Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics and the University of Lucerne.