Find Academic Supervisors

• Financial Management
• Accounting
• Controlling
• +4 more

Markus Gisler serves as Director of the Institute for Financial Services Zug (IFZ) and Head of the Competence Center Accounting at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Business. A full-time lecturer since 2013, he previously taught at the University of Lucerne (2014-2017) and advises MAS programs in Corporate Finance/Controlling. His academic background includes a doctorate (Dr. oec. HSG) from the University of St. Gallen with a dissertation on economic crimes, business administration studies at HSG, and certification as a federally certified auditor. Gisler's research focuses on financial management, accounting, controlling, and digital transformation in finance. His work bridges academic rigor with industry practice, addressing Swiss financial sector challenges through empirical studies on topics like financial monitoring, tax accounting, and CFO role evolution. He emphasizes practical applications in corporate finance, risk management, and digital finance transformation. Recent publications reveal strong thematic continuity around financial monitoring for Central Switzerland, digital transformation of finance functions, and tax accounting practices. These works consistently integrate Swiss regulatory contexts with global finance trends, highlighting the CFO's evolving strategic role in digitalization and crisis management. As president of CFO Forum Schweiz since 2015, Gisler fosters industry-academia collaboration through research projects like the Financial Monitor Central Switzerland and studies on UBS-CS emergency takeover impacts. He has secured funding for initiatives examining digital controlling, shared service centers, and regulatory accounting changes. Leading the IFZ and Competence Center Accounting, he oversees teams conducting applied research in financial services, with current priorities including digital finance transformation, enterprise risk management, and sustainable finance practices within the Swiss economic context.

Tom AvermaeteView profile

Professor

• Urban Design History
• Intercultural Urbanism
• Material Culture of Cities
• +4 more

Tom Avermaete serves as Professor of the History and Theory of Urban Design at ETH Zurich's Department of Architecture since 2018. His research investigates urban design through three interconnected lenses: cities as material culture, cross-cultural knowledge exchange beyond Euro-American paradigms, and urban development as a shared civic responsibility. His scholarly work centers on intercultural urbanism, examining how architects and planners operate across geographical and cultural boundaries. Key research strands include the historical development of urban commons, postcolonial urban histories (particularly in Africa), pandemic-era spatial adaptations, and alternative historiographic methods for global architectural history. His approach emphasizes the material dimensions of urban design while challenging Western-centric narratives. Avermaete's recent publications reveal consistent thematic clusters: pandemic urbanism (notably balcony studies), cross-cultural architectural exchanges (especially in postcolonial contexts), and reconceptualizing urban commons. His work frequently employs 'contact zone' theory to analyze knowledge transfer in global urban development, with significant focus on African and European case studies. As chair leader, he supervises research projects including 'Codes and Conventions for Future Zurich,' 'Exploring the Contact Zone,' and 'Building the Commons.' His team investigates qualitative densification strategies, historical urban models, and communal land use patterns across temporal and geographical contexts. Co-organized 'Transects through Alpine Water Landscapes' summer school (2020) Coordinated research studio on Zurich's land/water/green commons Developed 'Swiss Coloniality' research program examining knowledge circulation The chair functions as an international hub for critical urban studies, with members conducting fieldwork across Africa, Asia, and Europe while developing new methodologies for writing inclusive architectural histories that center non-Western perspectives and collective spatial practices.

Teresa Galí-IzardView profile

Professor

• Landscape Architecture
• Regenerative Agriculture
• Soil Science
• +6 more

Teresa Galí-Izard is a Professor at ETH Zurich where she directs the Being Alive Chair within the Institute of Landscape and Urban Studies (LUS) in the Department of Architecture. She also serves as director of the Master's program in Landscape Architecture at ETH Zurich and is a director at Arquitectura Agronomia, a landscape architecture firm based in Barcelona. As a trained agronomist from the Technical University of Catalonia, she brings interdisciplinary expertise to her work bridging landscape architecture, ecology, and agricultural science. Her research focuses on translating the hidden potential of landscapes through understanding climate and geology as foundational elements for design. She has developed innovative methodologies including the BeingAliveLanguage software integrated with Rhino/Grasshopper that revolutionizes visualization of soil-centric information. Her work emphasizes fieldwork as essential practice, with particular attention to soil systems, geological conditions, and climate patterns as primary matter for landscape design. Professor Galí-Izard leads the global Garden of the XXI Century project with installations in Spain, Switzerland, USA, and Chile, exploring regenerative landscape cultivation and experimental gardening practices. Her publications and research demonstrate a consistent focus on translating landscapes through drawing, cartography, and digital tools while maintaining deep engagement with living systems and their evolutionary processes. Nominated for Schelling Architecture Prize (2024) for revolutionary contributions to landscape architecture understanding President of the Jury of the European Prize for Urban Public Space (2022) Member of the Oberlander Prize Jury She actively supervises student work through foundation studios and seminars at ETH Zurich, with recent projects including 'Regenerative Practices for Exhausted Landscapes' and 'Slow Water: Exploring Keyline Design in Switzerland.' Her Being Alive Chair functions as a laboratory for developing new approaches to landscape architecture that emphasize care, translation, and understanding of living systems. The chair organizes fieldwork weeks, research colloquia, and public lectures that foster interdisciplinary dialogue about landscape practices in the Anthropocene.

• Space Biology
• Microgravity Research
• Neurobiology
• +5 more

Marcel Egli serves as Head of the Institute for Medical Technology (IMT) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) within the School of Engineering & Architecture. His institute combines the Center of Competence in Bioscience and Medical Engineering, the Space Biology Group, and the User Support and Operational Center BIOTESC that serves the European Space Agency (ESA). The IMT offers study programs and complementary post-graduate courses in medical technology. Dr. Egli's research focuses on cellular mechanisms of mechanosensation induced by mechanical unloading (weightlessness). His academic journey began with training as a precision mechanic, followed by a master's degree in zoology from the University of Berne and multidisciplinary graduate studies in medicine and biology. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Melbourne and Florida State University, where he became Associate Faculty studying secretory rhythms of hormones in mammals. His appointment to lead the Space Biology Group at ETH Zurich brought him back to Switzerland, where he received his Venia Legendi in space biology before moving his research group to Lucerne to establish the Institute of Medical Engineering. Egli's publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory from neurobiology and neuro-endocrinology toward space biology research. His recent work utilizes diverse research platforms including parabolic flight maneuvers, sounding rockets, and International Space Station laboratories to investigate cellular responses to microgravity. His research spans cellular mechanosensation, calcium signaling, tissue engineering, and the development of space-compatible biomedical instrumentation. Dr. Egli has led numerous significant projects including Space Bioreactor development, COSMOS Data Cockpit for Personalized Medicine, research on astronauts' low back pain, and the CaSiPaC project studying calcium signaling during parabolic flight in chondrocytes. His work has received support from space agencies including ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. The Institute for Medical Technology under Egli's leadership operates as a multidisciplinary hub connecting space research with terrestrial medical applications. His team develops technologies that function in both space environments and Earth-based clinical settings, with particular emphasis on understanding how mechanical unloading affects biological systems at the cellular level. This research has implications for both space medicine and understanding terrestrial conditions like osteoporosis and muscle atrophy.