“I was fascinated by the combination of conflict research and quantitative analysis”
Alumna Michelle Ammann studied Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich and now works at the UN in New York. The innovative ETH mindset and her data analysis skills are highly valued by the international organisation.
Michelle Ammann wasn’t brought up in a politically active family. “As a child, I never imagined I would go on to pursue a career in international politics,” she says. Now 33, Ammann works for the United Nations (UN) in New York. Based at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), she supports efforts to protect civilians in armed conflict.
Growing up in the city of Zurich, Ammann was encouraged to express her creativity and curiosity from a young age. Enrolled in a Rudolf Steiner school, which encourages pupils to develop their creative and artistic skills, she soon developed a passion for theatre, crafts, music and gardening. Even back then, she had a calming influence on others: “I was good at empathising with people and reading their moods. It earned me the nickname of ‘the little diplomat’ in my first years of primary school,” recalls Ammann in her frank and good-humoured way. Looking back, this was perhaps a sign of things to come.
Globe A winning formula for education
This text appeared in the 25/02 issue of the ETH magazine Globe.
Keen to experience the atmosphere of a Gymnasium – a Swiss upper secondary level school – she left the Rudolf Steiner school and took her federal academic baccalaureate. It was at this point that her career real?ly started to take shape. A gap year in Peru, where she did a stint as a volunteer at a school for disadvantaged children, marked her first encounter with poverty and social in?equality, and by the time she returned to Switzerland she was determined to study international politics. Her first step was a Bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Lausanne, and it was during this period that a chance encounter put her on course to continue her studies at ETH: “I studied in Argentina and met someone who told me about an amazing Master’s course he was doing at ETH,” she says. It turned out he was enrolled on the Joint Master’s degree programme in Comparative and Inter?national Studies, which ETH runs in collaboration with the University of Zur?ich – and he couldn’t praise it highly enough. Impressed by his enthusiasm, she applied for a scholarship and was accepted.
The scholarship allowed her to focus all her efforts on the challenging course of study she had chosen. “It was a very international group of students,” Ammann says. “There were only about 20 of us, and the professors and my fellow students made it feel like a family. That was one of the things I loved about the programme.” It was while studying for her Master’s degree that she first developed an interest in conflict research and a passion for stat?istics, both fuelled by a seminar given by ETH professor Lars-Erik Cederman. “It was fascinating to see how he tied together conflict research and quantitative analysis,” she says. “That paved the way for my current position at the UN, where I focus exclusively on conflict regions such as Gaza, Sudan and Afghanistan, contributing to UN policy, advocacy and high-level briefings on strengthening the protection of civilians.”
Her transition into the political arena came after completing her Master’s degree, when she was appointed to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), first in the Swiss Embassy in Berlin, and then in the Peace and Human Rights Division in Bern. “My work at the FDFA brought me into contact with the UN for the first time and ultimately led to me getting my current job in New York,” Ammann says.
Her CV is certainly impressive, yet Ammann says none of this was part of a conscious strategy, but simply the result of following her interests. The creativity that inspired her as a child now under pins her enthusiasm for devising mathematical models. The innovative mindset she cultivated at ETH Zurich is highly valued by the UN, which asked Ammann to come up with ideas to help drive internal reform at the crisis-hit organisation. Wherever her path leads, she will never forget the camaraderie she experienced at ETH. “I’m still close to many of the friends I made at university,” she says.
About
Michelle Ammann gained admission to ETH Zurich through an Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP), enrolling on a Master’s degree in Comparative and International Studies. She has since held roles at organisations including the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Swiss Embassy in Berlin and the Asylum Organisation Zurich (AOZ), including overseas postings in Peru, Argentina and Haiti. Ammann currently works for the United Nations (UN) in New York.