Last year’s achievements are summarized in our Short Report 2022. The foundation made significant strides in our funding areas of ophthalmology and forestry.
We are thrilled to share that we approved 27 new projects with a funding volume of CHF 8.2 million in 2022, with a significant portion of 71% going to projects focused on Daylight Research and Healthy Ageing.
We are particularly proud of our funding program Ophthalmology research in low- and middle-income countries, which has now sharpened its focus to strengthen research capacities at the institutional level. Our goal is to support sustainable growth and success in ophthalmology research in these countries, which could include providing support for skills development in research management or fundraising for research institutes.
The new funding program in Forestry had a positive start. The program aims to foster innovative, sustainable forest management that integrates the challenges of climate change and the biodiversity crisis without neglecting society’s need for forest products or non-timber forest products. A specific focus of the program is to connect research with practice. It started successfully and we received 21 applications from Europe, Asia, North America, and South America.
As an innovative research funder, we started to integrate the values of Open Science into our funding operations. We have signed the Declaration on Research Assessment, DORA, and are committed to a broader research evaluation. We believe in supporting non-traditional forms of knowledge transfer. Consequently, we think it is vital to integrate these outputs in the evaluation process – especially as a funder who is aims to create change and benefit for society.
The foundation continues to advocate for the benefits of natural daylight by supporting:
* The Daylight Academy is an international membership organisation bringing together scientists from all backgrounds along with other daylight professionals. The aim is to strengthen daylight research and its applications for the benefit of society and nature. In 2022, the Daylight Academy stimulated knowledge transfer through an interdisciplinary summer school, an annual conference and several online webinars.
* The international Daylight Award honours and raises awareness for Daylight in Architecture and Daylight Research. The laureates of the 2022 Daylight Award are: Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara, Founders of Grafton Architects, Ireland for Daylight in Architecture and Anna Wirz-Justice, Neurobiologist and Professor emerita at the University of Basel, Switzerland for Daylight Research.
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