Barbara Haering Co-Chair of the European Research and Innovation Area Board
Bern, 17.12.2012 - The European Commission appointed Dr Dr h.c. Barbara Haering, who, among other things, is a member of the ETH Board and Chair of the Institut des Hautes Etudes en Administration Publique (IDHEAP) in Lausanne, as a member of the new European Research and Innovation Area Board; the Board elected her Co-Chair.
The European Union and the countries that are party to its Research Framework Programme, among them Switzerland, strive to concentrate their research and innovation policy measures in a joint structure where expedient. The "Innovation Union" is intended to develop a perspective covering the period up to 2020 in order to contribute towards intelligent, sustainable and integrative growth in Switzerland. To support this, the EU Commission established the European Research and Innovation Area Board in late February 2012. The first plenary meeting of the new body took place on 27/28 September in Brussels.
Switzerland plays a key role in European research cooperation. In view of this and of her personal outstanding achievements in public and private office, particularly also as a long-standing member of the European Research Council, the EU Commission appointed Dr Barbara Haering as a member of the new Board. The Board itself elected her Co-Chair. Barbara Haering has 30 years' experience in national and international science and security politics, as well as in environmental matters. She heads a private research and consultancy firm specialising in strategic planning and evaluation. She is also Chair of the Institut des Hautes Etudes en Administration Publique (IDHEAP) in Lausanne and a member of the ETH Board.
State Secretary Mauro Dell'Ambrogio and ETH Board President Dr Fritz Schiesser are extremely pleased about this honourable appointment and express their cordial congratulations. "Research and innovation cooperation plays a major role in Switzerland's bilateral relations with the European Union. I am pleased that with Barbara Haering's appointment, an outstanding personality has been honoured, while tribute is paid to Switzerland's contribution to a competitive Europe as a place of intellectual and industrial leadership," says State Secretary Mauro Dell'Ambrogio. "Barbara Haering has an exceptional aptitude for bridging the gap between scientific findings and political decision-making. Thanks to her education and thanks to her present function as a member of the ETH Board, she is extremely familiar with the challenges of international top-level research," says Dr Fritz Schiesser.
The European Research and Innovation Area Board is chiefly intended to advise the European Commission on questions concerning the European research area and to issue recommendations about priorities and measures, particularly concerning the impact of innovation. The Board will reflect on new trends and submit an annual report on the development of the European Research Area and the Innovation Union to the European Commission.
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