The Swiss Psychedelic Students Network keeps growing!
The Swiss Psychedelic Student Network has members in five universities of Switzerland
As I’m writing this, the Swiss Psychedelic Student Association Network is preparing to welcome the newest member in the family, the Psychedelic Research Organisation of Bern (PROBE). You may know that the student associations are officially independent from the ALPS Foundation, but through personal contact and shared goals, we are working together to forward psychedelic sciences. And so we find ourselves like siblings excitedly waiting for our new brother or sister to come from the hospital. We can hardly contain our happiness to share the news with our readers!
PROBE stands to become the first entirely German speaking member of the student association network, meaning that the language barrier that has divided this field is slowly breaking down. While one can hardly imagine the Röstigraben being filled in by a few students, it’s important for the growth of psychedelic sciences that the grassroot spaces for discussing these issues are not contained to one linguistic region. We hope that the foundation of PROBE will be followed by other associations in cities such as Zürich and Basel.
With this milestone passed, it seems like a good occasion to reflect on how the Swiss psychedelic student associations network got started in the first place.
Before the ALPS Foundation even existed as an idea, one of our founding members and head of the foundation, Federico Seragnoli, met Adam Amrani while they were both studying psychology at the University of Lausanne. Passionate about psychedelic science, and inspired by MAPS recommendations to aspiring psychedelic researchers, they ended up founding the first node in the network: the Psychedelic Association of Lausanne for Awareness, or PALA.
This first member of our small family had a difficult birth. It took over a year from its original conception before PALA was officially recognised by university authorities. However, with official recognition in the pocket, PALA quickly started hosting events such as paperclubs and movie screenings. In short, they created a room where students could learn about psychedelic science. Both the ends and the means set down by PALA continue to shape all the associations of the network.
Cyril Petignat, currently a member of the ALPS Council, was inspired by the news of PALA, and ended up reaching out to the newly formed association to learn how he could contribute. One thing led to another, and he ended up co-founding the Association pour la Recherche sur les Psychédéliques (ARP), PALA’s Genevan brother.
Adam Amrani would bring with him the experience from PALA as he continued his studies in Fribourg. Arriving there, he co-founded the third addition to our psychedelic family: Psychedelic Research Organisation of Fribourg (PROOF).
Finally, following the first ALPS Conference, some attendees felt inspired to bring the last French speaking university city of Switzerland into the fold, by founding Neuchâtel Association for Psychedelic Awareness (NAPA).
And now, PROBE is being brought to life by students who, curious about psychedelic sciences, took the train to Fribourg, attending PROOF events. They soon felt inspired to create the same space within their own university, and reached out to members of the other associations for advice on how to proceed. Both members of PROOF and ALPS were only too eager to share what they had learned about founding a student association, considerably easing the initial administrative hurdles faced by PROBE. Some messages back and forth, a few emails to the university, and voilà! A new association was born. Only a few days ago did we receive news that they had hosted their first event!
Each local association contributes to the unique grassroot movement that surrounds the psychedelic sciences. With every new knot in the Swiss Psychedelic Student Association Network, scientific knowledge about psychedelics continues to spread. The stimulating and creative space of a student association gives members the perfect space both to learn about psychedelic sciences and practice the skills that will prepare them to join the ranks of the next generation of scientists.
We wish them all the best, and look forward to the next time we can celebrate the birth of a new member of our family! Who knows? The University of Basel and the University of Zürich are home to some of the most important psychedelic research groups in Switzerland, yet students in these cities have nowhere to turn to discuss psychedelic sciences
Maybe you or someone you know having been playing with the idea of founding a student association dedicated to psychedelic science? Do not hesitate to get in touch with us for help and advice on how to go about creating a student association dedicated to psychedelic sciences!
