FH Graubünden receives SRG funding for students

How does a bachelor thesis become a format with publication prospects? One possible way is through the professional funding environment of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG): the so-called Pacte de l'audiovisuel. This year, the projects of the two multimedia production students Simone Etter and Steve Walker were successful.

Under the working title "Goldstatus", Simone Etter is developing a podcast about the economic conditions of the Swiss music industry, combining personal voices with an analytical view of market mechanisms and creative work. "I was delighted to be accepted," says Simone Etter. "Now I'm no longer just thinking about the final semester, but about a real audience. That makes a difference."

Steve Walker creates an animated explanatory video on the history of smuggling in the Swiss Alps. Using 3D animation, he sheds light on the historical causes, social effects and cultural traces of the phenomenon in a journalistic motion graphics format. For him, too, the grant means a change of perspective. "The funding raises the bar. Now it's about working out the concept even more precisely and carefully planning the implementation. It will be intensive, but certainly also instructive."

Step into a professional environment

With funding from the Pacte de l'audiovisuel, students not only benefit from financial support, but also have the opportunity to further develop their projects under professional conditions and receive professional feedback and insight into real industry processes. The study concept and production reality intertwine.

"Being involved in a professional support environment is enormously valuable for our students," says Prof. Dr. Ulrike Mothes, Head of the Institute for Multimedia Production. "They experience that their ideas can develop relevance beyond their studies. SRG's support creates an important framework for this."

Projects from the Multimedia Production course have already been successful in the past, which underlines the thematic and formal diversity of student projects. "Supporting young media professionals is key for us," says Benjamin Magnin, co-head of the SRG Pacte de l'audiovisuel funding program, which supports two UAS Graubünden projects each year. "We want to support projects that are innovative but also have the potential to reach a wide audience. When such work emerges from a course of study, it shows the quality of the training and opens up concrete prospects for young talent in the media industry."

Practice-oriented studies for the multimedia world

At the end of their Bachelor's degree in Multimedia Production, students will have acquired interface skills in the field of multimedia design and production. A wide range of career opportunities are open to them in a lively, creative and diverse working environment or in their own start-up. The joint degree program is offered jointly by the UAS Graubünden and the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Department of Bern University of the Arts.

Funded student projects in the past

In 2023, the interactive short film "Starrk" by Rosa Zimmermann and Jannis Pfister was one of the projects supported. The project addresses the emotional and psychological effects of sexualized violence and later won a bronze medal at the Art Directors Club of Europe, one of Europe's leading creative organizations.

In the same year, Nils Affolter and Phil Schneiter realized "La Via la Vita", a documentary journey through Switzerland by hitchhiking. From the passenger seat, they tell the stories of the people who accompany them along the way, creating a multi-layered portrait of social diversity.

One of the funded works in 2024 is the reportage "Frauen im Dienst" by Livia Gyger. In it, she explores the role of young women in the Swiss army on film and combines personal insights with a social issue.

The multimedia project "Green Production in Switzerland" by Nico Caccivio, which presents sustainable production methods in the audiovisual sector and is designed as a practical guide, was also supported. The project website can be found at https://nachhaltigfilmen.ch/ accessible.

This was followed in 2025 by the AI puzzle box "The Scent of the Future" by Léonie Schaub and the web documentary "Porchabella" by Elina Preisig. Schaub developed an interactive learning format that communicates key questions about artificial intelligence in a playful way and encourages reflection. With "Porchabella", Preisig created a multimedia web documentary about the retreat of an Alpine glacier and combined a personal perspective with digital storytelling.

Further information on the Bachelor's degree program in Multimedia Production: https://www.fhgr.ch