Our Foundation, set up in spring 2007, aims to fund talented young scholars in Switzerland, Austria and other European countries, on an exclusively non-profit basis. This is done in close co-operation with the universities in Salzburg and Basel.

In 2020, the University of Salzburg received a sum of EUR 250 000. This support enabled six candidates to continue their doctoral work at the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies during the year under review. Our Foundation has once again supported the University of Basel with a grant of CHF 100 000 for the key research topic “Africa“. This sum was used to fund two doctoral candidates.

We deeply value the intensive collaboration with the relevant staff at these universities. This is the best way to ensure the quality of the individual research projects, which is regularly monitored by the professors involved. The Humer Foundation therefore still does not consider applications sent directly to it by doctoral candidates.

The Foundation Board met in two sessions during the year under review. The spring session had to be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the autumn session was able to take place in Arlesheim as planned. The main focus was the evaluation and approval of requests for financial support for doctoral candidates, which was undertaken on the basis of thorough, balanced assessments made by the two universities. In addition, the Foundation’s statutory business (annual accounts, yearly review, auditor’s report, elections) was dealt with.

Furthermore, the Foundation Board periodically reviews the success of funding activities. In doing so, we assess both the effectiveness and efficiency of our work, thus measuring the usefulness and the economic efficiency of the allocation of our Foundation’s resources. Based on this, and using specific individual cases as templates, we then define our Foundation’s goals for the new financial year. And finally, we also deal with all financial issues and risks (including investment principles, which are regularly reviewed and adjusted), and oversee the work of our office.

At the end of 2020, the organisation’s capital totalled over CHF 1.7 million. Despite challenging market conditions due to the pandemic, the Foundation achieved a marginally positive financial result in the year under review, meaning that its organisational capital was not eroded as quickly as forecast. In this light, the Foundation Board believes that our Foundation can continue its activities until the end of 2024, although the organisation’s capital will inevitably be reduced further over these years.

The office is managed by Lauffer & Frischknecht, a communication management consultancy, on a consultative basis. Stéphanie Ramel takes care of the administration, and Fritz Frischknecht, MA Econ., is responsible for the accounts department. Swiss GAAP FER 21 is used for the annual financial statements.