After the Second World War, Gaston F. Dubois, a Swiss chemist who had previously had an executive role at the agrochemical company Monsanto in the USA, became concerned about Switzerland’s supply of materials from abroad. On December 15, 1951, he established The Rare Metals Foundation (“Entwicklungsfonds Seltene Metalle” in German) in Zurich with himself, the ETH Zurich Professor E. Baumann, and Dr. O. Zipfel, who worked as a federal council delegate for job creation at the time, as first Board members, and industry consultant Dr. O.H. Messner as first President of the Board of Trustees.
Based on its bylaws written more than 70 years ago, the foundation aims to support and conduct research and investigations in the field of rare metals with respect to their industrial use. Since then, the ESM foundation has supported more than 30 research projects in fields where less common elements played a crucial role.
When establishing ESM, the founding fathers had the ambition to create new industries in the field of “rare metals” and by this new working places. By financing research and development it was envisaged to support the exploitation and valorization of such results, creating innovations and marketable products.
Today, ESM continues the work of its founders, bringing together novel ideas related to rare and critical elements elements and their strategic implication in science and engineering.
