Activity Report / Rapport d'activités 2025
» A few words from Matthias Kliegel, director
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» Highlights Year 2025
» PhD Obtained in 2025
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» Grants — Ongoing projects
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A few words from Matthias Kliegel, director
2025 has been a year of consolidation for the CIGEV. After several years marked by transition, relocation, and the need to develop flexible and sometimes temporary solutions, we are pleased to report that the Centre has now entered a more stable and structured phase. A particularly important step has been the reinstatement and consolidation of our administrative structure. With all administrative positions now secured on permanent contracts, the period of improvisation has come to an end. We are especially grateful to Aurélie, our administrator, and Ruth, our secretary, whose professionalism, dedication, and reliability ensure the excellent day-to-day functioning of the CIGEV and provide indispensable support to our research, teaching, outreach, and governance activities.
This consolidation has also been reflected in our new home at Pinchat. Following the major relocation from the city centre to Carouge, 2025 was the year in which our research, teaching, and meeting routines at Pinchat became fully established. The new location has increasingly become a lively and productive environment for academic exchange, collaboration, and community-oriented activities, while maintaining strong links with colleagues and partners across the University and beyond.
Scientifically, 2025 has again been a highly productive year. New SNSF-funded projects have been acquired, ongoing projects have advanced successfully, and the CIGEV’s members have continued to produce excellent research, reflected in a strong publication record and in the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations. These achievements confirm the Centre’s central role in advancing research on aging, vulnerability, life course development, cognitive and mental health, and social participation.
A particular highlight of the year has been the further establishment of CIGEVCité and the BELS Unit as a fully functional outreach and prevention structure. By translating scientific knowledge into accessible, evidence-based workshops and public activities for older adults, this unit has become an important bridge between research and society. Its strong development in 2025 illustrates particularly well one of the CIGEV’s key ambitions: to move from scientific excellence to concrete contributions to healthy aging, well-being, and prevention in the Geneva community.
Looking back, 2025 was therefore not only a year of continuity, but also a year in which important foundations were secured for the future. With a consolidated administrative team, stable routines at Pinchat, successful research activities, and a rapidly developing outreach and prevention unit, the CIGEV is very well positioned to continue its mission at the interface of research, teaching, intervention, and service to society.
Members
Management
Matthias Kliegel, Clémentine Rossier
Team
» Have a look at all the team members on our website!
Highlights Years 2025
CIGEVCité and the BELS Unit: A Growing Initiative to Support Healthy Ageing in Geneva
Established in 2024, BELS (Bien-être et longévité pour les seniors, “Well-being and Longevity for Seniors”) is a joint initiative of CIGEVCité and the FPSE’s Pôle Cité, driven by a clear ambition: to translate scientific knowledge into concrete actions that support the cognitive and mental health of seniors. Through free workshops designed for individuals aged 60 and over, the unit provides accessible, evidence-based tools to strengthen adaptive capacities, foster engagement in personal goals, and actively promote well-being throughout the ageing process.
Following a highly promising pilot year, 2025 marked a significant phase of expansion. Funding from the Department of Health and Mobility of the Republic and Canton of Geneva proved to be a key enabler, allowing the team to expand its capacity, broaden its offering, and respond to growing demand from September 2025 onwards. The recruitment of a dedicated psychologist, Cassandra Belin, played a central role in increasing outreach and consolidating the quality of its interventions. This expansion was reflected in strong public engagement, with over one hundred participants enrolled in the workshops in 2025 alone — with participation already increasing further in 2026.
Beyond its workshop activities, CIGEVCité strengthened its mission to disseminate knowledge to the broader public. Several public lectures were delivered throughout the year, including a notable contribution to the cantonal Mental Health Week, supporting large-scale psychoeducational efforts. This commitment to accessibility was further reinforced through the production of video materials presenting the programme, developed at the end of the year by Grégoire Métral, thereby extending the programme’s reach and visibility.
In parallel, 2025 further strengthened BELS's position as a credible and increasingly sought-after actor within Geneva's ageing landscape. The signing of an initial service agreement with a major health network, together with the strong interest expressed by several municipalities in implementing local programmes, highlights the potential for integrating the initiative into local and regional prevention strategies. A pilot project in this direction is scheduled for spring 2026, in a context marked by a continued increase in workshop capacity and the development of new service offerings for the community.
More broadly, the initiatives led by CIGEVCité are part of a rapidly expanding trajectory, at the intersection of research, intervention, and public policy, and actively contribute to shaping evolving practices in the prevention of cognitive and mental health challenges among seniors.
* * * * *
Three Years On: Consolidating Excellence at Centre LIVES UNIGE
2025 marked the third year of the Centre LIVES, as the NCCR ended in December 2022. The UNIGE part of the Centre LIVES, located at the CIGEV, has many reasons to congratulate itself on what was achieved that year. The doctoral program managed by LIVES UNIGE is thriving under the attentive leadership of a new scientific officer, with two simultaneous cohorts of around 17 Ph.D. students each. In 2025, the program underwent an internal evaluation process and was deemed excellent by students and professors alike; the new “Causal Analysis” module was a valued addition.
Research is also flourishing at LIVES UNIGE. Several significant projects were funded in 2025, and on-going projects resulted in notable publications. The events and activities co-organized with the LIVES UNIL team (writing retreat, LIVES Day, thematic workshops, working groups, visiting scholars), as well as the LIVES UNIGE seminars led by its junior researchers, undoubtedly contributed to these successes. For example, the thematic workshops co-organized by LIVES researchers (UNIGE), held in November 2025, on loneliness and family dynamics provided important platforms for interdisciplinary exchange.
* * * * *
And the winner is...
Congratulations to Matthias Studer, winner of the 2025 SLLS Harvey Goldstein Memorial Award.
This award granted by the Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies honours scholars who have made significant contributions in advancing methodologies for life course studies.
PhD Obtained in 2025
- Mehrpour, Anahita. Connected Well-Being: Integrating Personal Networks and Social Identities in the Transition to Adulthood. Doctoral Thesis, 2025. Université de Lausanne et Université de Genève. https://iris.unil.ch/handle/iris/134658.
- Mihaylova, Mariela. Optimizing Memory in Non-Traditional Settings with Evidence-based Learning Strategies. Doctoral Thesis, 2025. doi: 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:186622
Publications
Grants — Ongoing Projects
CIGEV Projects
| Project Titles | Principal Investigators | Funding Sources |
|---|---|---|
| FREIZEIT - Betreuungs- und begegnungsfreie Zeiträume: Methodenplurale Erkundungen zum Erleben von Personen mit Demenz |
Thomas Beer |
SNSF |
| AGE.INT - Expertise internationale pour la vie des personnes âgées | Dimitri Konstantas Matthias Kliegel |
Confédération suisse - Secrétariat d'État à la formation, à la recherche et à l'innovation (SEFRI) |
| OFFLOADING - Intention Offloading and Aging: A Neurocognitive Investigation | Matthias Kliegel | SNSF |
| ADVANCE - Addressing mental health vulnerabilities from adolescence to older age : innovating prevention science for times of change | Matthias Kliegel | Confédération suisse - Secrétariat d'État à la formation, à la recherche et à l'innovation (SEFRI) |
| How emotion, stress and their regulation shape and alter episodic memories across the life span | Ulrike Rimmele |
SNSF Eccellenza |
| Tabea Meier | SNSF Ambizione |
LIVES Center Geneva Associated Projects
Sources: LIVES UNIGE Annual Report 2025
All LIVES active projects
Doctoral students enlisted in the LIVES Doctoral Program
| Doctoral Student | Cohort | Tutors | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abughul Philip | 2023-25 | Clémentine Rossier | Employment Status and Childcare Practices in Kampala and Nairobi |
| Bornet Guillaume | 2023-25 | Daniel Oesch | Political Orientation and Occupational Orientation; Disaligning Compasses? Evolution of the Links Between Occupational Class and Political Attitudes |
| Fernandez Garcia Javier | 2023-25 | Eric Widmer | Conflict, support, and family salience in personal networks: the role of societal values and family policy |
| Foretay Taïs | 2023-25 | Lavinia Gianettoni & Patrick Bonvin | The permeability of the Swiss educational system to the test of individual pathways: Intersectional perspective on aspirations and ascending educational trajectories |
| Lachkovska Vasilena | 2023-25 | Stephanie Steinmetz | Origin-Based Discrimination: Tracing Transferable Biases across Life Domains and Generations |
| Lenko Mariya | 2023-25 | Stefani Scherer | Linking Occupations and Couple’s Homogamy. Mechanisms and Trajectories |
| Magdaraog Kristel | 2023-25 | Claudine Burton-Jeangros | Narratives of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) during the COVID-19 Pandemi |
| Mariano Claire | 2023-25 | Laura Bernardi | The Interrelationships Between Maternal, Paternal and Child's Mental Health Over Time |
| Moles Benjamin | 2023-25 | Laura Bernardi | Lone parenthood back and forth. A multidomain and multidirectional life-course perspective |
| Petrini Sonia | 2023-25 | Michael Grätz | Essays on equality of opportunity |
| Reichert Maximilian | 2023-25 | Tom Emery | The gendered nature of care and work behaviours in European societies |
| Rohrer Niels | 2023-25 | André Berchtold | Video game consumption and life course: How to analyse gamer practice? |
| Rostekova Adriana | 2023-25 | Andreas Ihle | The impact of critical life events and context effects on the maintenance of cognitive functioning across the lifespan: protective and risk factors |
| Sampaio Greve Milena | 2023-25 | Koorosh Massoudi | Empowerment of marginalized youth. Career counseling in group setting to prevent long-term NEET status |
| Sanchez Sienra Rodrigo | 2023-25 | Flavia Fossati | Equal opportunity policies in the Swiss compulsory education system |
| Spasic Magdalena | 2023-25 | Laura Bernardi | Post-separation physical custody arrangements and child well-being in Switzerland |
| Tenorio Mucha Janeth | 2023-25 | Yves Jackson & Claudine Burton-Jeangros | Social, health and work-related factors associated to non-communicable diseases among migrants in process of regularization in Geneva, Switzerland |
| Wang Wen | 2023-25 | Meena Kumari | The role of the residential environment on biological ageing in the UK |
| Baltes-Kallas Verena | 2024-26 | Philippe Wanner | Leaving for retirement: Who and when? Old age emigration from Switzerland |
| Bonelli Flavien | 2024-26 | Stephanie Steinmetz & Boris Wernli | Revisiting the gendered paid and unpaid task division patterns among couples in Switzerland and beyond. |
| Ciaravino Gäetane | 2024-26 | Paolo Ghisletta | Evaluating resilience: Methodological approaches, psychometric analyses, and longitudinal perspectives |
| Ciavarella Laura | 2024-26 | Mauricio Avendano | The impact of early childhood education and care policies and maternity leave on preschool children’s risk of overweight and obesity: a comparative study between France and the UK |
| Gallinari Safar Pierre | 2024-26 | Camille Roth & Thomas Louail | Understanding the structuring processes of listening habits and musical tastes during the transition from adolescence to adulthood |
| Gschwend Anja | 2024-26 | Isabel Z. Martínez | Intergenerational mobility in Switzerland: Patterns, determinants, and beliefs |
| Gyöngyösi Katalin | 2024-26 | Anikó Fehérvári | Patterns of disability and homelessness in Hungary |
| Latifi Tina | 2024-26 | Clémentine Rossier | Barriers to infertility care: analyzing the gap between having trouble conceiving and care/treatment decisions in Switzerland |
| Mucchiut Olivier | 2024-26 | Jürgen Maurer | Healthy ageing in the face of death: End-of-life planning among older adults in Switzerland before and during COVID-19 |
| Novak Maruša | 2024-26 | Jörg Stolz | Balkan boundaries. Religiosity trends and ethno-nationalism in the post-socialist Western Balkans |
| Pereira da Silva Sayonara | 2024-26 | Andreas Ihle | APOE-related pathological cognitive development and cognitive reserve accumulation pathways: a detailed lifespan perspective |
| Roque Sidonie | 2024-26 | Rebecca Lacey | Dimensions of childhood adversity and autonomic functioning across the lifecourse |
| Rossier Amélie | 2024-26 | Geneviève Piérart & Dario Spini | Making decisions in the transition to adulthood of young people with intellectual disability |
| Strebel Rebecca | 2024-26 | Gaële Goastellec | The life course of teachers |
| Tinti Emilie | 2024-26 | Lavinia Gianettoni | The relevance of gender indicators for the social sciences |
| Zhang Heyi | 2024-26 | Baowen Xue & Anne McMunn | The impact of work-family lifecourse trajectories on cardiovascular diseases in England |
| Alesci Ludovica | 2025-27 | Matthias Studer, Igor Francetic & Valentina Rotondi | Healthcare and caregiving inequalities between natives and immigrants in Switzerland |
| Allouchi Neila | 2025-27 | Coralie Delorme & Greta Pelgrims | Processus d'orientation et de transition en enseignement spécialisé : une étude longitudinale des expériences et conceptions d'élèves au fil du passage du secondaire I vers le secondaire II |
| Bermúdez Plaza Neili Caorlina | 2025-27 | Mauricio Avendano | Gender Inequalities in Health and Human Capital Across the Life Course: Three cross-national studies in low- and middle-income countries |
| Cerf Julien | 2025-27 | Tania Zittoun & Emmanuel Schwab | Socio-Health Trajectories of Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers in Geneva During the Transition to Adulthood: Forms and Functions of an Integrated Multidisciplinary Care Approach |
| Chervinskii Igor | 2025-27 | Julie Lacroix | Changes in parenting intentions and transitions to parenthood among same-gender couples in Switzerland over time: a population-register-based study |
| Farhat Hania | 2025-27 | Andreas Ihle | Cognitive reserve accumulation pathways and pathological cognitive development: a detailed lifespan perspective |
| Fontanellaz Sarah | 2025-27 | Christian Staerklé & Eric Widmer | The Reciprocal Links between Personal Networks and Social Identities: Evidence from Young Adults in Switzerland |
| Gafner Morgane | 2025-27 | Caroline Roberts | Digital trust: understanding and addressing its impact on digital data collection in surveys |
| Guarnerio Mattia | 2025-27 | Stephanie Steinmetz | Revisiting the Double Devaluation Hypothesis: An Intersectional Analysis of Over Time Changes and Cross-Country Differences in the Relationship Between Occupational Composition and Wages |
|
Marx Esperanza |
2025-27 | Caroline Sahli Lozano | Allocation and Impact of Curriculum Modifications in Inclusive Mainstream Classrooms |
| Moruzzi Chiara | 2025-27 | Giulia Dotti Sani | Breaking the cycle of disadvantage: a cross-national analysis of the intergenerational persistence of poverty |
| Perneger Emma | 2025-27 | Claudine Burton-Jeangros & Stéphane Cullati | Aging in the shadows: health and living conditions in the life trajectories of older adults without legal status |
| Rebien Thea | 2025-27 | Stephanie Steinmetz | Organisational Diversity Policies and Management: Firm-Level Commitment, Implementation and Impacts of Diversity Charters at the Intersection of Gender and Migration Background |
| Tauch Marlène | 2025-27 | Flavia Fossati | Migration, Gender Norms, and Inequalities in Access to Education and Health |
Other doctoral students
| Doctoral Student | Tutors | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Constantin Madeleine-Ioana | Julie Péron | Left or Right? The Clinical and Neurobiological Implications of Motor Symptom Asymmetry in Parkinson's Disease |
| Fahrat Hania | Andreas Ihle |
Cognitive reserve accumulation pathways and pathological cognitive development: a detailed lifespan perspective |
| Harumi Jacot De Alcantara Isabele | Julie Péron | Le rôle de la personnalité dans la sclérose en plaques |
| Lenko Minja | Elcheroth Guy | Cicatrice sans blessure? Transmission de traumatismes de guerre de la première à la deuxième génération chez les Bosniaques vivant en Suisse. |
| Matias Almeida Igor | Katarzyna Wac et Matthias Kliegel | Providemus alz: Ubiquitous Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Screening |
| Morel Sandrine | Bühlmann Felix |
Divorce et séparation, toujours des événements critiques ? Une études des trajectoires de parents mariés et non mariés avant et après la séparation |
| Nuber-Champier Anthony | Julie Péron |
Investigation des prédicteurs neuro-immunitaires du syndrome neuropsychologique post-Covid |
| Unterlerchner Leonhard | Matthias Studer |
Divorce et séparation, toujours des événements critiques ? Une études des trajectoires de parents mariés et non mariés avant et après la séparation |
Previous Activity Reports
Rapport d'activités 2023-2024
Rapport d'activités 2022
Rapport d'activités 2021
Rapport d'activités 2019-2020
Rapport d'activités 2017-2018
Rapport d'activités 2016
Rapport d'activités 2015
Rapport d'activités 2014
Rapport d'activités 2011-2013
Rapport d'activités 2009
Rapport d'activités 2006-2008
Rapport d'activités 2005
Rapport d'activités 2004
Rapport d'activités 2003