Erna Hamburger Foundation

Article 1
Under the denomination Foundation Erna Hamburger, a foundation is established with headquarters at Ecublens, within the meaning of Articles 80 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code

This foundation will acquire legal personality by being entered in the Commercial Register. By virtue of its purpose, it will be subject to the supervision of the Canton.

The Foundation will be governed by the laws of the Canton of Vaud.

Article 2
The purpose of the Foundation is to provide direct or indirect material assistance to university women or women who have completed other higher education courses of a similar level and are pursuing postgraduate studies in the Canton of Vaud.

Article 3
The Foundation's assistance will be made available to deserving persons, without distinction as to origin, birth or religion.

The Foundation's governing bodies will have complete freedom to determine the terms and conditions of its assistance.

Article 4
The registered office of the Foundation shall be in Ecublens and its duration shall be unlimited.

Article 5
The initial capital of the foundation is constituted by the villa "Le Noyer", 93, chemin du Levant at Lausanne, parcel 6632, bequeathed to the foundation with its furniture.

This capital may be increased at any time by donations made by third parties.

Article 6
The Foundation shall be administered by a Foundation Board of six members, one of whom shall represent each of the following institutions or associations:

• École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
• University of Lausanne (UNIL)
• Association of Professors of the École Polytechnique de Lausanne (APEL)
• Association of Professors of the University of Lausanne  (APUL)
• International Federation of University Women Graduates (FIFDU) known today as Graduate Women International School (GWI)
• Vaud Association of Women University Graduates (AVFU)

Article 7
The Foundation is validly committed to third parties by the collective signature of two members of the Board.

Article 8
The Board shall organise itself by appointing a Chairman and a Secretary.

The Board shall appoint a Chairman and a Secretary.

Article 9
The Board is responsible for the management and allocation of the Foundation's resources within the framework of the purpose set out in Article 2.

Article 10
The accounts are closed on 31 December of each year, for the first time on 31 December 1989. They are audited annually by a supervisory body appointed by the Board.

Article 10 bis
The members of the Foundation shall work on a voluntary basis, subject to reimbursement of their actual expenses.

Article 11
In the event of dissolution, the remaining assets shall be donated to a Swiss tax-exempt institution with a public utility or public service purpose.

The transfer of assets will be decided by the Foundation Board, in agreement with the supervisory authority, after a reasoned and written report has been drawn up by the Foundation Board.

Erna Hamburger, born on 14 September 1911 in Ixelles, Belgium, and died on 16 May 1988 in Lausanne, Switzerland, is an engineer, physicist and university professor at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL. She was the first woman to be appointed full professor at a Swiss polytechnic.

Following her studies at the girls college, then at the gymnasium, where she was the only girl among the boys, Erna Hamburger entered the engineering school at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). In 1933, she was awarded her engineering degree as the first in her class; in 1937, she obtained a doctorate in technical sciences under the supervision of Professor Ernest Julliard. Between these two university stages, she became an assistant at the Industrial Electricity Laboratory and then at the Physics Laboratory of the Faculty of Science, before being recruited to the Industrial Research Section of the Institute of Technical Physics (AFIF) at Zurich Polytechnic.

After a rich and varied career in academic and professional circles, including a position as electrical engineer with Paillard SA in Sainte-Croix in 1942, she was called to the EPUL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne) as head of works at the  Electrical laboratory in 1952, then as extraordinary professor of electrometry et electrical engineering in 1957.

She subsequently helped to set up the new Institute of electrical engineering at Les Cèdres, before being appointed full professor at EPFL, the faculty of UNIL, in 1967. The appointment was hailed by Professor Maurice Cosandey, then President of the school: "This is both a brilliant achievement and a measure of how far behind our country is in promoting women".

Erna Hamburger entered active retirement in 1979, becoming particularly involved in the work of international commissions in the field of fundamental electrical standards. She also invested a great deal of time and energy in training students, keen to pass on her values of the alliance between people, technology and the environment, and to promote academic careers in the sciences. Lastly, she has successfully ventured into various professional, sporting and sports associations, sometimes as president.

She is also an active member of a number of sports associations.

With empathy and generosity, she provided help, hospitality and unstinting support to young men and women in difficulty throughout her life; committing his skills to their rehabilitation and autonomy; among the students, exiles and teenagers.

• Wikipedia

While taking into account the cultural relativism of her era, Erna Hamburger wanted women to gradually be able to access higher education and professional choices equivalent to those of men everywhere in the world, without gender discrimination and with equal competence.

For many years, she has worked along these lines for various women's movements. For example, she was the president of the Vaud Association of Women University Graduates (ASFDU), which she herself affiliated to the International Federation of University Women Graduates (AFFDU) and the Swiss Association of Business and Professional Women and its Lausanne Club, affiliated to the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BWP), women's movements that bear the imprint of liberal féminism.

It remains to emphasise the clear, moderate and easy-going nature of her feminist aspirations, which stemmed in part from the reactivity and appeal that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which she was a contemporary.

UNIL honoured her in 2003 by naming its largest auditorium after Erna Hamburger in the Amphimax building, a multi-purpose space with a capacity of 1,000 people that can be divided into two independent rooms, seating 600 and 400 respectively.

The Erna Hamburger Prize is awarded annually by the EPFL-WISH Foundation, Women in Science and Humanites. This foundation, set up on the initiative of EPFL women professors, aims to encourage research and the promotion of women at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne.

Among other activities, the foundation awards the annual Erna Hamburger Prize for an exemplary female career in science.

This information will be available by spring 2023.

Year 2012
Applications received: 5
Applications accepted: 5
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Lebanese, 1 Tunisian, 1 Serbian, 2 Swiss
UNIL: 2
EPFL: 0
Total amount allocated: CHF 26,39,000.

Year 2011
Applications received: 6
Applications accepted: 5
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Brazilian, 1 Luxembourger, 1 Cameroonian, 1 Italian, 1 Swiss, 1 Tanzanian
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 2
Total amount allocated: CHF 25,39,500.

Year 2010
Applications received: 7
Applications accepted: 5
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Cameroonian, 2 Swiss, 1 Iranian, 1 Polish
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 2
Total amount allocated: CHF 27,393,000

Year 2009
Applications received: 3
Accepted applications: 3
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Swiss, 1 Romanian, 1 Albanian
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 0
Total amount allocated: CHF 25,000

Year 2008
Applications received: 3
Accepted applications 3
Nationalities of applicants: 3 Swiss
UNIL: 2
EPFL: 1
Total amount allocated: CHF 25,39,000

Year 2007
Applications received: 6
Applications accepted: 3
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Swiss, 1 Romanian, 1 Albanian
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 0
Total amount allocated: CHF 21,393,000.

Year 2006
Applications received: 13
Applications accepted: 3
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Bolivian, 1 Swiss, 1 Albanian
UNIL: 1
EPFL: 2
Total amount allocated: CHF 24,39,000

Year 2005
Applications received: 10
Accepted applications: 4
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Algerian, 1 Italian, 2 Swiss
UNIL: 2
EPFL: 2
Total amount allocated: CHF 25,000

Year 2004
Applications received: 19
Accepted applications: 3
Nationalities of applicants: 2 Swiss, 1 Russian
UNIL: 2
EPFL: 1
Total amount awarded: CHF 20,39,000

Year 2003
Applications received: 14
Accepted applications: 4
Nationalities of applicants: 1 Swiss, 1 Madagascan, 1 Romanian, 1 Russian
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 1
Total amount allocated: CHF 24,39,000

Year 2002
Applications received: 24
Accepted applications: 5
Nationalities of applicants 1 Swiss, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Colombian, 1 Japanese, 1 Romanian
UNIL: 4
EPFL: 1
Total amount allocated: CHF 31,39,000

Year 2001
Applications received: 14
Applications accepted: 6
Nationalities of applicants: 4 Swiss, 1 Belgian, 1 Romanian
UNIL: 6
EPFL: 0
Total amount allocated: CHF 25,000

Year 2000
Applications received: 15
Accepted applications: 6
Nationalities of applicants: 4 Swiss, 1 Romanian, 1 Greek
UNIL: 1
EPFL: 5
Total amount allocated: CHF 24,39,000

Year 1999
Received applications: 16
Accepted applications: 5
Nationalities of applicants: 3 Swiss, 1 Colombian, 1 Albanian
UNIL: 3
EPFL: 2
Total amount allocated: CHF 23,39,600.