The Swiss Alumni Group Vancouver’s second Apéro of the year was again held at the Crate & Barrel on Granville Island in Vancouver on Thursday, July 31, 2025. The weather was amazing, albeit a little warm. With summer in full swing the island was also very crowded with hoards of tourists visiting and trying to find a place for dinner.

Eleven people attended this event. With many new faces that had not attended any previous events. We were very excited to welcome someone who attended the University of Geneva (UniGE) as well as another person who attended the University of Basel (UNIBAS). After three events this year we have now met graduates, post doctoral candidates, or professors who attended one of the following Swiss post-secondary schools: EPFL, ETHZ, FHNW, UNIBAS, UniGE, UNISG, UZH, 

There was an interesting mix of people who had been in Vancouver for a long time and others who had just recently arrived. There was also a good mix of people working in academia and others in the public or private sectors. The linguistic mix was split down the middle between Swiss German and French, but most stuck to English.

Topics of discussion revolved around border crossings (Canada-USA, Switzerland-France), Swiss National Day, and Swiss foods people missed the most.

The next event of the Swiss Alumni Group Vancouver will be a more formal Café Scientifique, on Thursday, September 25, starting at 6:00pm. Location to be confirmed. Tibor Horvath (UZH) will be telling us about the Science of Sulphur Handling in Vancouver.