Board of Directors
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Prof. mult. Dr. Dr. Oliver Ullrich
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Dr. Andreas Wittmer
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Prof. Dr. Marcel Egli
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Dr. Cora Thiel
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Dr. Philip Noser
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Dr. Barbara Gant
Prof. mult. Dr. Dr. Oliver Ullrich (chairman director)
"Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle forever." – Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857 – 1935), founder of modern astronautics.
Oliver, born 1970 in Berlin, Swiss citizen, is Full Professor of Aerospace Medicine, Director of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the University of Zurich and Director of the Innovation Cluster Space and Aviation of the University of Zurich (UZH Hub). He is a Physician and Biochemist, specialized in Anatomy, Cell Biology, Immunology and Aerospace Medicine. He also has a post-graduate diploma in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University (Rome/Vatican). He is Ambassador of the Greater Zurich Area and enthusiastically committed to innovation in space, actively supports entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships.
He is an Honorary Professor of Space Medicine (EAH Jena, Germany), Professor of Space Biotechnology (University of Magdeburg, Germany) and BIT Adjunct Professor (Beijing Institute of Technology, BIT, China), a Professor of Aerospace Medicine at UFL, Liechtenstein, elected Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, President of the German Society for Aerospace Medicine, President of the Swiss SkyLab Foundation and initiator and leader of the Swiss Parabolic Flight program.
He is recipient of several national and international research and teaching awards and has 20 years of experience as scientific leader of parabolic flight, suborbital ballistic rocket and International Space Station (ISS) missions in the ESA and NASA Space Life Sciences research program. He is a leader of coordinated multi-platform and multi-cell-type approaches aiming for understanding the response and adaptation of human cells in altered. Oliver’s accumulated mission experience is 17 parabolic flight missions, 9 suborbital missions and 10 orbital missions. Oliver has flown more than 1200 parabolas and was more than 7 hours in microgravity in total. In the year 2023, he was awarded with the International Academy of Astronautics Award for the Life Sciences, considered the world's highest honor bestowed in the field of space life sciences.
Contact: oliver.ullrich@spacevalley.ch
Dr. Andreas Wittmer (chairman director)
Dr. Andreas Wittmer is Managing Director of the Center for Aviation and Space, Director at the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance and Academic Director of the CEMS Master of International Management. Furthermore he is Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Space and Aviation Switzerland and Liechtenstein at the Innovation Park in Dübendorf.
As Senior Lecturer in Management with a special focus on Aviation, he is teaching at the University of St. Gallen and holds guest teaching positions at Swiss and international Universities on Bachelor-, Master- and Executive Level. He offers several certificate and diploma programs at the University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on network industries, such as Aviation. His interests link with a better understanding of efficiencies generated by networks and the impacts on stakeholders. There is a link to ongoing digitalisation, which accelerated with the growth of digital connectivity and is going into new levels of how value is generated. From this perspective he researches into consumer perception and behaviour and service management. His motivation is very much with the application of his research in the aviation industry, where he tries to explain complex management issues by using aviation as a case. He regularly publishes in international journals and books, and he is member of several editorial journal and conference boards.
Furthermore, he was President and Vice President of the Swiss Aerospace Cluster for 14 years, he is Vice President of the Aviation Research Center Switzerland, Member of the governing body of the Infrastructure Company of Engadin Airport, Board member of the Air Transport Research Association, Board Member of the European Aviation Research Society and Board Member of the World Conference of Transport Research. He holds awards for best teaching at the University of St. Gallen and Modul University Vienna, Best Paper Awards from AIEST Conference, and Honours from FAI and Pro Aero Foundation for excellent work with the Center for Aviation and Space Competence at the University of St. Gallen. Furthermore, he is the winner of the Impact Award 2023 of the University of St. Gallen with the topic of Sustainable Aviation.
Contact: andreas.wittmer@spacevalley.ch
Prof. Dr. Marcel Egli
“Pushing human physiology to the limits of space unlocks vital insights into biology, benefiting astronauts and people on Earth.”
Marcel Egli heads the Institute of Medical Engineering at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the National Center for Biomedical Research in Space, which is part of the University of Zurich's Center for Space and Aviation. His institute offers academic and postgraduate programs and hosts BIOTESC, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) User Support and Operational Centre, which oversees biological and biotechnological experiments on the International Space Station’s Columbus module.
With a background in biology and medicine, Egli honed his expertise in leading research institutions in Australia and the U.S. before returning to Switzerland to lead the Space Biology Group at ETH Zurich, where he earned the Venia Legendi. He later relocated his research group to Lucerne, founding the Institute of Medical Engineering.
A prolific researcher, Marcel Egli has published extensively in neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, and space biology. His current work focuses on cellular mechanosensation, utilizing diverse research platforms such as parabolic flights, sounding rockets, and the International Space Station.
Contact: marcel.egli@spacevalley.ch
Dr. Cora Thiel
Cora is Vice Director and Chief Scientist at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, University od Zurich, specialized in Cell and Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Immunology and Gravitational Biology. She is elected Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, Member of Board of the Swiss SkyLab Foundation, Member of Board of the German Society for Aerospace Medicine (DGLRM), member of advisory boards for aerospace agencies and companies and recipient of several research awards. She is an active investigator for the ESA and NASA Space Life Sciences research program, with 18 years of experience as scientific co-leader of parabolic flight, suborbital ballistic rocket and International Space Station (ISS) missions. She was ESA Astronaut Candidate (Selection 2008), Mars Analogue Astronaut (Mars Desert Research Station) and is the first female parabolic flight instructor. Cora was the project leader of the UZH-Airbus project „3D Organoids in Space”. Cora’s accumulated mission experience is 17 parabolic flight missions, 7 suborbital missions and 9 orbital missions. Cora has flown more than 900 parabolas and was more than 5 hours in microgravity in total.
Contact: cora.thiel@uzh.ch
Dr. Philip Noser
"Spinning is the only stable state; everything else is an illusion."
Philip Noser has been working at the Aeromedical Institute of the Swiss Air Force (FAI) since 2002, heading the Flight Psychology division. He is responsible for research, selection, training, support, and crisis intervention and CARE for the various client groups of the institute. For nearly 20 years, he has been part of the SPHAIR executive team as Head of Screening and has also served several years as the deputy executive manager. In his militia role, Philip Noser is a specialist officer in the FAI specialist staff of the Air Force. For 14 years, he conducted integration consultations in the Psychological-Pedagogical Service (PPD) of the Swiss Army.
Philip Noser has always emphasized the importance of having the right people in the right positions. Targeted requirement analysis, a stringent selection process, and training are central to his work. He supports individuals in their challenging specialist roles, from active participation in parachute or flight service to full participation in survival training under harsh conditions. He studied Applied Psychology at the University of Zurich, is recognized as an Aviation Psychologist (EAAP) and has completed training in coaching and systemic-solution-oriented organizational consulting. Aviation has always been one of his passions. He successfully completed the Federal Aviation Preparatory School (FVS) and was in the selection process for military pilots until the final step in 1998. For 17 years, he held a Swiss PPL license. He served as a tow pilot, theory, and voice instructor at SMG Grenchen.
Contact: Philip.Noser@vtg.admin.ch
Dr. Barbara Gant
“Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason !” (Kant 1784, S. 481, Berlinische Monatsschrift)
Born in 1970 in Innsbruck. Studied history at the University of Innsbruck. Received her PhD in 2003. She worked as a research assistant at the International Research Center for "Democratic Movements in Central Europe" from 1998 to 2003 at the University of Innsbruck. She served as a lecturer of German language, Austrian literature, and regional studies at the Chair of German at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, from 2003 to 2004. She was the executive director of the "Science & Responsibility" working group at the University of Innsbruck and Medical University of Innsbruck from 2005 to 2006, head of the Continuing Education Coordination Office at the University of Innsbruck from 2006 to 2009, and head of the Lifelong Learning area and Bologna Coordinator at the Medical University of Innsbruck from 2009 to 2013. In November 2015, she was appointed Vice-Rector of the Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein (UFL) and took over the interim leadership of the university. She was appointed Rector in 2018 and reappointed for another five years in 2023.
Contact: barbara.gant@ufl.li
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