Biographie

After her studies in molecular and biological chemistry at EPFL (Msc 2007) and a few months experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Anaëlle Foucault-Dumas joined the University of Zurich (2007-2011) to complete her PhD in bio-organic chemistry. She continued her career at the University of Oxford (2011-2013) and then at the University Paris-Sud - CNRS (2013-2016) in the Faculty of Pharmacy, where she developed and led a new research axis aiming at the development of nanoparticles to treat human diseases.

Attracted by research management and science policy questions, she joined the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in Bern in 2016, where she was responsible for the lifetime management of several National Centers for Competence in Research (Swiss Excellence Centers, NCCRs) as well as several development projects (open science policies, design of the SPARK funding scheme).

In 2020, she took the head of the team responsible for the strategic development of the NCCR scheme, overseeing the lifetime management and assessment of the 22 running centers. In parallel she has been nominated as Deputy Head SNSF Division for Programme research (National Research Programmes (NRPs), NCCRs, Research for Development (r4d) and Bridge), seconding and advising the Head Division in strategic matters, operational and development activities.

Since July 2022, she has been acting as personal collaborator and scientific advisor for the President. In this role, she is providing support and recommendation to the President in strategic matters and projects including sustainability, climate change, AI, health sciences.