Prof. Dr. Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal (Image: zvg/Matt Cashore, University of Notre Dame)
Prof. Dr. Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal will take up the professorship for Digital Humanities with a focus on Artificial Intelligence on September 1, 2024. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and the Department of Film, Television, and Theater at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA), where he holds the Ruth and Paul Idzik College Chair in Digital Studies. He received his doctorate in English language and literature with a focus on science and technology studies from the University of California in 2021.
Previously, he completed a B.Tech. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indore, India), and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Chicago. His professional experience includes teaching at Notre Dame, several research visits to the US and Germany, and extensive research in areas such as digital humanities, history of technology, critical design, and game studies.
Dhaliwal’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of critical theory, literary studies, media theory, and science and technology studies, focusing on the political and cultural implications of computation and digital technologies. In his forthcoming book “Rendering: A Political Anatomy of Computation,” Dhaliwal examines the history of modern information technologies since the late 19th century in their socio-technical, aesthetic, and economic dimensions. In doing so, he shows the interactions between ideal foundations and technical manifestations (software, hardware).
Professorship for Molecular Biology
Prof. Dr. Claudia Keller Valsecchi (Image: zvg).
On August 1, 2025, Prof. Dr. Claudia Isabelle Keller Valsecchi will take up her position as assistant professor with tenure track for molecular biology at the Biozentrum. She is currently a group leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz. She received her doctorate in biochemistry from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) in Basel, specializing in epigenetic gene regulation and chromatin. She previously earned her Master of Science also at the FMI after completing her Bachelor of Science in biology with a focus on molecular biology at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel.
After completing her doctorate, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, funded by a scholarship from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization. Since May 2020, she has been leading a research group at the IMB in Mainz. Her research focuses on sex chromosomes and gene dosage changes. Her team is studying molecular processes that ensure the “equality” of the maternal and paternal genomes and is researching their significance in evolution and human diseases.
Professorship for Nephrology
Present. Dr. Pietro Cippà (Bild: zvg).
Pietro Ernesto Cippà will begin his work as Professor of Nephrology at the Faculty of Medicine on April 1, 2025. He is a specialist in internal medicine and nephrology and has a double doctorate in medicine and natural sciences. At the same time, he will become Chief Physician for Nephrology and Transplant Immunology at the University Hospital of Basel.
He completed his academic education at the University of Zurich, where he completed both his medical studies and his doctorates. His first doctorate in medicine dealt with the development of new instruments for the endoscopic harvesting of the radial artery. For his second doctorate in the field of natural sciences, he investigated the pharmacological modulation of apoptosis in lymphocytes in order to prevent rejection reactions in transplants and to induce tolerance.
After his training, Cippà specialized further in nephrology and gained extensive clinical and research experience, including as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California. Since 2018, he has been Head of Nephrology at the Ospedale Regionale di Lugano and has also been Medical Director of the Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale since 2021.
Promotion
The University Council promotes Prof. Dr. Denise Traber to Associate Professor as of January 1, 2025. Denise Traber has been Assistant Professor of Political Science with a focus on Political Sociology at the Department of Social Sciences since January 1, 2020.
Five adjunct professorships
Furthermore, the University Council approved the appointment of the following titular professorships at the Faculty of Medicine, as decided by the Regenz:
- PD Dr. Matthias Betz for Endocrinology and Diabetology
- Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Cristina Granziera for Neurology (also rehabilitation)
- PD Dr. Gregor Leibundgut for Cardiology
- PD Dr. med. Dr. phil. Dr. habil. Manuel Trachsel for Bio- and Medical Ethics
- PD Dr. et phil. David Winkler for Neurology
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