SNF AGORA funding: Prof. Sabine Pitteloud involved in interuniversity project

An interuniversity project involving UniDistance Suisse has been awarded funding under the SNSF’s AGORA programme. The project, entitled “Back to Kathmandu: Environmental and Sensory Histories of Mountain Landscape Protection”, is led by Prof. Claude Hauser (University of Fribourg) and carried out in partnership with Prof. Sabine Pitteloud (Assistant Professor of contemporary history at UniDistance Suisse) and Prof. Nelly Valsangiacomo (University of Lausanne).

The project, which is expected to begin in September 2026, has been awarded funding of CHF 199,802. It focuses on science communication: among other outputs, there are plans to produce a documentary film involving numerous partners from the fields of communications and television production, as well as from the mountaineering community.

The development of the project was supported at an early stage through seed funding. UniDistance Suisse contributed CHF 3,500, while partner institutions provided a further CHF 7,500. Such funding helps to develop research projects in their initial phase and to lay the groundwork for securing larger grants.