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The Secretariat

The Secretariat is the executive body of the Swiss Network for International Studies. It implements the decisions taken by the Governing Committee.

The Secretariat organises the annual call for projects and supports the Scientific Committee. It involves the Academic Council of International Geneva in its activities with the objective to create a network between IOs and researchers in Switzerland.


Permanent Staff

Bernhard Fuhrer
Director (80%)

After studies at the University of Basel, Bernhard Fuhrer conducted research in Boston and Paris and earned his PhD in innovation studies at the University of Hamburg. Most recently, he conducted research and lectured at the University of Berne and Neuchâtel. During his past career, he also held a position as project coordinator in a pan European research network.

+41 227481664
Christa Allot
Events and Communication Manager

Christa Allot holds a business school diploma (St. Gallen), a diploma as a translator, and a bachelor degree in public relations (SPRI – Lausanne). She has extensive professional experience in the field of communication, events management and administration, obtained in the private as well as public sector (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs with assignments in Paris and London and currently an OSCE institution). Christa is fluent in French, English and German. Within the SNIS, she is responsible for the organization of the various events (annual conference, workshops and debates), up-dating the website content and editing SNIS publications, such as the annual report, portfolios and project posters.

+41 227481665
Helena Ziherl
Programme Manager (80%)

Helena Ziherl holds a Master degree in International History and Politics, obtained at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

Before joining the SNIS, Helena worked several years for the Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed forces (DCAF), Geneva, where she held the position as project coordinator for civil society projects in South East Europe. In addition, Helena has working experience with other NGO’s, such as the Geneva Call and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (HAP), Geneva.

Helena is responsible for the day-to-day management of the research projects and the organisation of the SNIS awards. She also contributes to the various networking activities provided by the SNIS and work on mulitmedia projects.

Currently learning Portuguese, Helena has earlier acquired basic knowledge of Spanish which she studied in Cuba and Guatemala during her year of travel around the world in 2010. She is already fluent in English, French and Swedish.

+41 227481662
Reto Steffen
IT & Multimedia Manager

Reto Steffen is a professionnel chorus singer (Académie vocale de Suisse romande, Mozart Ensemble de Lucerne, chœur de chambre de la haute école de musique de Genève). He studied at the Geneva University of Music where he obtained a Master of arts in music theory (Diplôme d’enseignement de la théorie musicale).

After having successfully fulfilled his civil service duties within the SNIS, Reto is now a permanent staff member. His responsibilities include the maintenance of the current IT user platform and the development of new IT tools and website features. In addition, he is working on multimedia projects.

+41 227481663

Temporary Staff

Maria-Ruxandra Stoicescu
Research & Development

Dr. Ruxandra Stoicescu, independent researcher and consultant, holds a PhD degree in international relations, obtained at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. She authored the recently published SNIS research reports: "Patterns of Collaboration between Academia and International Organizations" and "The Afterlife of Academic Research Projects - A primer".

Ruxandra contributes regularly to media on global issues (Le Temps, World Radio) and runs an international affairs chronicle: Tales of the World (http:/tales-of-the-world.com/.) Recently Ruxandra has been working as an anchor to cover the WSIS summit 2012. Her contributions can be found in the ITU video section.

+41 22 7332692
Sebastien Kralik

Sébastien holds a master in political science of the University of Geneva, where he was awarded with the excellency prize in political theory. He is currently preparing a master's degree at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration in Lausanne. Sébastien is of French mother tongue, proficient in English and has basic knowledge of Japanese and Chinese.

He joined the SNIS end of March 2013 in the framework of his civil service assignment and will provide general support to the team in the field of communication and project management.