Research Projects and Business Ideas
ETrash2Cash
About Us eTrash2Cash (eT2C Company Nigeria) is the first of its kind social enterprise in northern Nigeria, which embodies the use of technology to solve environmental problems in the low-income communities. Its web, mobile app and SMS platform helps…
chiweto
chiweto, en enhancing farmers farm production efficiency & livelihood through MobileTech solutions, provide cow performance status diagnostic mobile phone app., information and insurance services to livestock farmers. Our services help farmers in…
enable | digital
enable|digital developed IT solutions for fast growing companies in emerging markets. They also provided IT advisory and implementation services to companies that provide essential products and services to their customers. enable|digital has enabled…
MPower Ventures
MPower is a climate and fintech start-up that revolutionizes energy access by providing small and medium-scale solar energy infrastructure in developing countries. Using a B2B model that combines hardware, software, and financing solutions, we transf…
Synature
Synature is a Swiss based startup with the goal of reducing conflicts between animals and humans. Our team is developing an acoustic monitoring technology capable of mapping the location and health of biodiversity without interfering with the ecosyst…
Gaia Tech AG
Gaia Tech, an emerging ETH Spin-off company resulting from the research project ‘Phenoliva,’ financed by EIT Food and hosted at ETH Zurich, specializes in decentralized treatment and valorization of agricultural side-streams. Leveraging proprietary e…
SWOXID
SWOXID, revolutionizing water and air purification, specializes in a light-sterilizable nanoporous filter technology. Utilizing an innovative aerogel composite filter activated by solar irradiation, it effectively eliminates biological contaminants i…
AgFlow
AgFlow, headquartered in Geneva, at the heart of the commodities industry, is a leading agribusiness market intelligence provider. The company’s comprehensive price discovery, supply & demand, and freight features offer smart and actionable insig…
Evodrop AG
Evodrop AG from Zurich specializes in delivering water solutions that address a wide range of concerns, ensuring access to clean, healthy water for individuals, animals, and plants. The innovations cover diverse settings, including homes, workplaces,…
Igugu Clean Tech
Igugu Clean Tech is a South African startup company that aims to produce biodiesel from nicotine-free tobacco plants for a cleaner, more environmentally friendly option than traditional diesel. The founder is Ms Zinhle Ngidi. Winner of the AIT-SASBI…
Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd.
DNA Synthesis and Sequencing African high-tech helps shaping life science, health, food and agriculture in Africa Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd. was founded in 2001 by Swiss and German molecular biologists and has its headquarters in Preto…
Rwanda Green Lighting
Rwanda Green Lighting, a startup from Rwanda, harnesses airborne electrical energy to power street lights and areas still off the grid in Rwanda. The Chief Executive Officer is Ms Diane Mumararungu. Winner of the AIT-SASBI Spring Conference 2023 and…
LolaGreen
Cape Town based startup Lola Green converts waste products into sustainable construction materials. The founder is Mr Matimba Mabonda. Winner of the AIT-SASBI Spring Conference 2023 and participant of the Swiss Residency Week in Basel (Switzerland)….
Developing an Online Teaching Course on Urban Food Systems
Dr. Lena Bloemertz, Physical Geography and Environmental Change, University of Basel, Switzerland Dr. Alex Awiti, Vice Provost East Africa and Interim Dean of The Graduate School of Media and Communications, Aga Khan University, Nairobi The aim of th…
IcanFarm – Kilimo ni Mali
The Problem: Access to affordable credit Over 90% of the sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 million smallholder farmers lack access to formal credit. Less than 6% of commercial loan recipients are smallholder farmers. Source: FAQ In Kenya, only about 10% of sma…
Soso Care: My Healthcare and I
About Soso Care: is a social enterprise that aims to use garbage as a financial resource to enable millions of uninsured slum dwellers especially pregnant women and kids to access micro health insurance as well as micro capital for petty trade. Our P…
Pennysmart – Next generation bank for African millennials.
One Line Pitch: Next generation bank for African millennials. Business Summary: Pennysmart is the next generation digital bank that helps Ghanaians save anytime, anywhere with no cost. We are a Tier-4 Operator under Bank of Ghana rules and regulation…
DIY Solar Lamps
Problem Currently, 44% of the over 100 million Ethiopian people have access to electricity while 56% of them risk their health by using traditional energy sources. Studies conducted by the World Bank shows that electrification is directly related to…
MPOWER VENTURES – eMPowering local entrepreneurs as the major driving force of solar energy in emerging markets
MPower is a tech4impact venture tackling the challenges of energy access and financial inclusion in emerging markets. As local SMEs are key to the socioeconomical development of these countries, MPower creates a B2B platform to empower the next gener…
Enable | Digital
Problem Enable has identified a significant problem in a highly underserved market: IT solutions for impact ventures in emerging markets. In order to access the market, Enable has developed both a set of innovative technologies as well as a solid pr…
CommoChain
CommoChain is a web-based solution that allows Coffee Exporters to better track their samples and manage exporting documents. It delivers efficiency & traceability benefits to ultimately provide best coffee to clients. Pains for Coffee Exporters…
South African Cropland Dust Emission Risks: Physical Thresholds, Environmental and Socio-Economic Patterns
Dust emission is a growing issue affecting soil mass losses, ecosystem services, public health, and climate change. Understanding dust emission dynamics originating from farming in drylands is crucial not only to prepare and respond to the aforementi…
Information for international PhD Candidates
Doctoral Studies Before you begin the online application, please note the following: Degree programs An overview of the doctoral studies offered by the various faculties can be found in the information sheet: Doctoral studies issued by the specific f…
Transdisciplinary systems research to reduce cocoa swollen shoot virus disease in Ghana (TransdisCSSVD)
Ghana is among the world’s top producers of cocoa (The obroma cacao), with livelihoods of 800’000 farm families’ depending on the crop. The Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) is one of the major factors limiting cocoa productivity, and the onl…
Solar drying technology for lumber and food items in Ghana
The overall project is a contribution to the development of Cleaner Production Technologies in developing countries. The main aim is to create access to environmentally friendly, simple to handle, solar powered technology for drying food and material…
Assessment of food system resilience: the case of cocoa in Ghana
This research has the objective to assess the resilience of the cocoa value chain in Ghana. The cocoa value chain (production, processing, retailing and consumption) in Ghana is susceptible to various types of shocks (natural hazards, socio-political…
Cocoaagroforestry in Ghana
Even though world-wide demand for cocoa is increasing, cocoa producing regions are suffering from declining yields because of declining soil fertility, climate change, and disease, which significantly threatens cocoa supply chains. Agroforestry has b…
Developing joint research proposals in media & communication in various topics, e.g. “effectiveness of farmer communication”
“The Sabbatical of Christoph Spurk is used to develop various research proposals jointly with Kenyan researchers (Prof. Wambui Kiai and Dr. George Nyabuga) and make them ready for submission to donors. The idea is also to establish research cooperati…
bioinformatics@makerere
Here we propose bioinformatics@makerere, a hands-on bioinformatics course at Makerere University of Kampala, Uganda. The course comprises lectures in the morning and computer practicals in the afternoon. It’s a four-day course targeted at 16 particip…
Urban food systems and rural relations
The aim of the proposed activities is to build up strong research links through the development of an innovative multi-disciplinary research approach on urban-rural/regional food systems in Kenya. Furthermore, through the development of common field…
SkyIsland Biodiversity Network: Biodiversity discovery through data capture and processing
Implementation of data management system for collecting, processing, analysing and promoting biodiversity data for the poorly known Mozambican region. This complements established projects in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania a…
Edge Effects of Anthropogenic Barriers on Protected Mammal Ecosystems
Comparative Risk Assessment of Physical and Metaphorical Fences to Mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflict PhD Project, Zoology Dep. Environmental Sciences at University of Basel in Cooperation with the Animal Demography Unit at University of Cape Town UCT…
Genomic tools to study the diversity of African cichlid fishes
“I propose to organize a joint kick-starting workshop in Basel, aiming at bringing together our African partners with local scientists and students. The research of my group focuses on two enigmatic species assemblages of cichlid fishes, the exceptio…
Cocoa agroforestry in Ghana
Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) in the world, with livelihoods of approximately 800’000 farmer families partly depending on the crop. However, the sustainability of the cocoa production systems is challenged, mainly be…
Scientific Drilling at Lake Tanganyika, Africa: A Transformative Record for Understanding Evolution in Isolation and the Historical Biology of the African Continent
In collaboration with a large interdisciplinary team of international scientists including African collaborators, we propose to tap this unique historical record to understand how the ecosystems of both Lake Tanganyika and its surrounding watershed h…
