Editorial | Transforming, Welcoming, Celebrating
Dear colleagues,
As the year draws to a close, our Faculty is alive with collective momentum. Across generations, disciplines, and roles, this energy is visible: in student achievements, teaching and research, and the daily administrative and technical work that enables, innovates, and sustains our academic community.
This issue reflects that vitality. We celebrate the Class of 2024–2025, whose diversity, passion, and commitment inspire pride. Their success is shared with families, friends, and colleagues across all roles, whose dedication makes it possible.
The graduation ceremony reminded us that science thrives on dialogue. This year’s exchange between pharmaceutical sciences and visual arts showed how knowledge grows when disciplines meet. Similarly, the Teaching Awards, organised by the Association of Science Students, recognised colleagues who transmit far more than expertise, fostering curiosity, inclusiveness, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Our Faculty continues to evolve through research and transformation. The centenary of pharmaceutical sciences at UNIGE traces a century of innovation, from drug production to clinical practice. The new Centre for Life in the Universe brings together key disciplines to explore profound scientific questions, while early-career scientists drive the Faculty’s vitality, as reflected in the renewed energy of the Post-Doc Association of the University of Geneva (APDU).
We also shine a light on the people who make our Faculty function every day. This issue features another member of our administrative and technical staff (PAT), whose work is essential to our mission. Over recent months, meetings with PAT teams across all sections and departments have helped us identify new ways to work together and strengthen support. This work will continue next year with a dedicated working group.
In line with our project “A Mindful Memo: Unconscious Bias in the Recruitment Process” presented in the previous issue, we feature an interview with Professor Marianne Schmid Mast (University of Lausanne), an expert in organizational psychology, who sheds light on unconscious bias in academic recruitment and shares practical insights to foster fairer, more inclusive evaluation practices.
Welcoming and supporting colleagues remains a priority. This year, we held a new welcome day for professors and introduced a Welcome Brochure, clearly communicating our values, expectations, and resources. More broadly, we aim to ensure that all members, whether academic, administrative, or technical, are welcomed, informed, and supported throughout their journey.
Thank you to everyone who contributes, visibly or behind the scenes, to this collective endeavour. As we move into the new year, let us continue to cultivate a science that is rigorous, open, and engaged helping us better understand the world and shape it responsibly, together.
With my warmest regards,
Costanza Bonadonna
Dean, Faculty of Science — University of Geneva
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