Awards and promotions Ilaria Zardo made full professor The University Council has retroactively promoted Professor Ilaria Zardo to full professor as of 1 Febru- ary, 2025. Zardo has been Professor of Experimental Material Physics at the Department of Physics of the University of Basel since 2015 and is also head of the Nano Technology Center of the SNI, as well as being a member of the SNI Executive Commit- tee. Her research focuses on the investigation of phonons, as she explains in a video about her work. Video with Ilaria Zardo about her research Ilaria Zardo was promoted to full professor. Andrea Hofmann receives Wolfgang Mehr Fellowship Award 2024 In February, Professor Andrea Hofmann received the Wolfgang Mehr Fellowship Award, which is pre- sented annually by the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany). Hofmann received the award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of semiconductor physics. Post Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics Video with Andrea Hofmann about her research Andrea Hofmann was honored with the Wolfgang Mehr Fellowship Award. Oliver Germershaus becomes head of Institute for Pharma Technology and Biotechnology Prof. Oliver Germershaus took over as Head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Bio- technology (FHNW School of Life Sciences) from Prof. Georgios Imanidis in April 2025. News from FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Since April 2025, Oliver Germershaus has been Head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Biotechnology. (Image: FHNW) Anna Leder receives Biozentrum doctoral prize Former nanoscience student Anna Leder, who is cur- rently writing her doctoral thesis with Prof. Sebas- tian Hiller (Biozentrum), was awarded the J.C.W. Shepherd Doctoral Prize for her excellent scientific achievements at the Biozentrum Symposium 2025. She was honored for a publication that will soon be published. SNI post Former nanoscience student Anna Leder received the Biozen- trum’s doctoral prize. 25 SNI INSight June 2025