First ETH4D Research Challenges Seminar
This year, for the first time, the ETH4D Research Challenges Seminar took place, where ETH researchers working with partners in low-income countries and practitioners from NGOs and industry presented a variety of innovative projects that address pressing global challenges.
The seminar offered ETH researchers who have received an ETH4D Research Challenge grant the opportunity to present their progress, address open questions, and exchange ideas across disciplinary boundaries. Besides the grantees, we also welcomed external pageProf. Charles Niwagaba from Makerere University in Uganda and visiting Professor at Eawag, and Nathalie Wyser from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, who contributed to the discussion. One important issue raised was how to translate research findings into practice in low-income countries.
Innovative projects that address global challenges
Six projects presented their research approach and initial results and shared their learnings from the field with their colleagues. The variety of solutions to pressing challenges in health, humanitarian action, food security, and water and electricity supply developed and tested by the projects were inspiring.
New Public Lighting for Informal Settlements
The project addresses public service challenges in informal and poor neighbourhoods and examines the impact of a new public lighting technology – solar lights mounted on residents' houses – on the lives of people in poor neighbourhoods in Cape Town.
ETH Reseachers: Yael Borofsky & Prof. Isabel Günther, Development Economics, D-GESS
Partners: Social Justice Coalition, City of Capetown – Public Lighting Department; LEDwise Lighting (Pty) Ltd., South Africa
Chlorination Intervention for Rural Supplies in Guatemala
Addressing the challenge of safe drinking water, the project evaluates the applicability of a locally constructed chlorination device in rural communities in the Lake Atitlán region of Guatemala.
ETH Researchers: Dr. Sara Marks, Eawag-Sandec
Partners: Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, Guatemala; UC Berkely
Iron and Vaccine-preventable Viral Disease
This experimental study examines whether iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in Kenyan women impairs their immune response to viral vaccines and whether iron treatment improves their response to address the challenge of inadequate vaccine efficacy in low-income countries caused by malnutrition.
ETH4D Researchers: Dr. Nicole Stoffel, Human Nutrition, D-HEST
Partners: Jomo Kenyatta University; Msambweni District Hospital, Kenya
Logistics Preparedness for Disease Outbreaks in Uganda
The project addresses the problem of inadequate supply chains for medicines and other life-saving goods in low-income countries and explores how a supply chain network can be established and operated to respond effectively to future disease outbreaks in Uganda.
ETH Researchers: Dr. Sarbani Bublu Thakur-Weigold & Prof. Stephan Wagner, Logistics Management, D-MTEC
Partners: Ministry of Health Uganda, Uganda
Safer Artisanal Gold Mining
The project addresses the serious health and environmental risks of mercury used in gold mining and analyzes who is most at risk, how miners use mercury, and the reasons for the low use of protective equipment. The study measures the impact of various protective technologies (given away for free) and information on miners' behavior.
ETH Researchers: Antoinette van der Merwe & Prof. Isabel Günther, Development Economics, D-GESS
Partners: Fastenopfer
Climate Adaptation through Improved Storage (Adopt2Adapt)
To improve smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change, this randomized control trial tests affordable hermetic storage bags in Kenya and measures the extent to which they help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change impacts on income and food security.
ETH Researchers: Dr. Matthias Huss & Dr. Michael Brander & Prof. Thomas Bernauer, International Political Economy and Environmental Politics, D-GESS
Partners: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya; United Nations World Food Programme (WFP); Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
ETH4D Research Challenges
The ETH4D Research Challenge Programme supports research collaborations between ETH Zurich researchers, non-academic partners from NGOs, private companies, or policy as well as partners from lower-income countries to develop effective solutions for pressing global challenges. See here for more information.
ETH4D Faculty Exchange Grant
Would you like to invite a colleague from the Global South to ETH for a research stay or a conference? Are you interested in traveling to a partner institution in the Global South for a lecture, course, or collaborative meeting? See here for more information on the ETH4D faculty exchange grants.