Clara Zemp doesn’t just want to produce knowledge

Author: Astrid Tomczak

There are quite a few pieces of advice that young people should not follow. Not even when they come from people in positions of authority. Clara Zemp once received such a piece of advice. She was 13 or 14 years old, a teenager with some silly ideas in her head, little desire to learn and quick to voice criticism. “I hated biology classes because we had to learn things by heart all the time,” she recalls. Whenever Clara asked a question, the biology teacher replied: “That’s not on the curriculum, don’t talk about it. And she told me I had better not continue my studies in natural sciences or biology because it wasn’t my thing.” Today, Clara Zemp is Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Neuchâtel. So, biology is likely to be more or less “her thing”.

A full professorship at the age of 36 is not the norm. So, the question arises: how did Clara Zemp do it? The short answer is: hard work, favourable circumstances, a bit of luck and a lot of determination. “During my studies, I always knew what I wanted to do in life. I focused on these projects. I think that’s one of the reasons why I progressed relatively quickly from PhD to postdoc and then to an assistant professorship.” During the Covid-19 pandemic, Clara Zemp was in Germany and used the lockdown to write papers and file applications – without fearing any setbacks. This fearlessness in the face of challenges also accompanied her when applying for jobs: “I know people who say, ‘I am too young’ or ‘First I need to publish more’ – and don’t even apply. But I didn’t do that. I just gave it a try.”

“I know people who say, ‘I am too young’ or ‘First I need to publish more’ – and don’t even apply.”

So, is she endowed with a particularly large measure of self-confidence? Clara Zemp hesitates before answering – only to disagree: “I don’t think it’s about self-confidence, but rather about determination. When I realize that something is right for me, I do my utmost to achieve it.” But she also emphasizes the backing she receives from her family: “I was fortunate that both my parents worked in academia – my father was an ethnomusicologist and my mother also has a doctorate.” When it came to the professorship, she says her mother in particular helped her. “No-one had explained to me previously what a research programme actually is – that really came from my mother.”

Herself and Neuchâtel: that is “a good match”, says Clara Zemp today. However, this path was not necessarily predetermined: as a high school student, she lived with her family in France, where there are science-oriented preparatory classes for young people intending to study at engineering schools. Clara didn’t actually want to become an engineer, but she was good at natural sciences and enjoyed this challenge. So, she ended up at an engineering school. The course lasted three years, interrupted by a year of practical work. After that, the newly-qualified engineer completed a PhD in Earth System Sciences in Potsdam before moving on as a postdoc to the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology in Göttingen. There she built the research foundation for her current work in Neuchâtel. But the seed for this had in fact already been sown much earlier: on her travels, which took her all over the world and opened her eyes to the state of the world and the environment. “I was simply saddened when I saw the destruction of ecosystems,” she says. She lived in Vietnam for six months, then spent six months in Brazil and later on two years in Indonesia. “In these countries, one sees how forests are chopped down in no time at all.” It had been a “shocking” experience for her. And she realized that she wanted to conduct research that would in some way contribute to change. “Simply producing knowledge meaninglessly – that has no significance for me.”

“Simply producing knowledge meaninglessly – that has no significance for me.”

The fact that her work is “mission driven” is a motivation and a challenge at the same time: the boundaries between scientifically-based (educational) work and activism can become blurred, and researchers sometimes walk a fine line. “My research is driven by the conviction that biodiversity should be protected and conserved,” says Clara Zemp. “But for a long time, I struggled with my role as a scientist in such a discipline, which is not merely descriptive but pursues a concrete goal.” The Young Academy also helped her to walk this fine line. “I had never had the space to reflect on it in depth before. I had that space at the Young Academy for the first time.” Zemp was involved in the “science vs activism” project, among other things, which was specifically about sounding out the grey area between these worlds. “It was very inspiring and helpful to be a part of this project and to contribute to these workshops and discussions.”

In any case, for Clara Zemp, membership of the Swiss Young Academy was all about dialogue from the very beginning: she wanted to engage over and beyond disciplinary boundaries. “As an assistant professor, one is supposed primarily to develop teaching and research. But I wanted more – I wanted to get involved myself, to reflect with other people on new forms of science and collaboration,” she points out. It was particularly important for her to build up a network outside her own university: “It was also a way for me to become more integrated into the Swiss science system and to get to know different perspectives.” Her expectations were even exceeded. “I have made contacts I never would have expected – and in doing so, I broadened my view of science and its role in society.”

”I need activities to clear my head.”

She is also gaining a new perspective on things as a mountaineer. She loves to spend her free time in the mountains most of all. “I need activities to clear my head,” she says. She is a member of the Swiss Alpine Club and goes on glacier and climbing tours. She has also been practising capoeira for over 15 years.

And what does the future hold? Zemp has been a full professor since 2025 – with growing responsibilities. “I’m very proud of what I have achieved, but I’m also aware of how lucky I have been along the way.” This path has taken her to a place which she says is the best she can imagine: “I see myself still sitting here in five years’ time, on this bench, looking out over the lake. I want to further develop and deepen what I have now built up,” she says. “I don’t feel like I would need to go anywhere else.”