The scientific task force played a central role during the corona pandemic. She supported the federal government with analyzes and evaluations. At the end of March, the task force led by Tanja Stadler (41) was disbanded.
But now the ETH expert is celebrating a comeback. She takes over the leadership of a new scientific advisory body for the Covid-19 pandemic, which should use her expertise to support the federal government and the cantons.
The Conference of Health Directors, Federal Councilor Alain Berset (50) of the Interior and the Secretariat of State for Education, Research and Innovation have concluded a corresponding agreement with the ETH Board. The advisory board consists of 14 members from different institutions and fields, reports the Federal Public Service of Public Health (BAG). The mandate will provisionally run until the end of June 2023.
Important for crisis management
“The Covid 19 crisis has shown how important incorporating scientific findings is for crisis management,” the BAG writes. Cooperation and exchange with science is important for the cantons in the normal situation and remains valuable for the federal government in the current transitional phase. “Therefore, the authorities should be supported by a scientific advisory board.”
The committee is not only available to the government for assessments and analyses, but can also carry out independent analyzes and publish the results.
Especially in the current situation, in which the number of corona cases is stagnating and an increase is expected in the winter, there will probably be more demand for scientific analyses. This also in view of the new variant BQ.1.1, which may become the dominant variant in this country this month.
Volunteer work
Funding of the advisory body from the Confederation and the cantons is not planned – the members provide their expertise on a voluntary basis. Only when engagements go beyond the general consultancy mandate and require research projects, the framework should be agreed between the client and the contractor. The ETH board in turn supports the body administratively. (Russian)