ELEPH-ANTS is, so to speak, the ‘parthenogenetic’ offspring of ANTHILLS, which was founded in 2011 by agricultural engineer Andreas J. Graf with the support of a handful of tech-savvy, committed and down-to-earth mavericks. Staffing and financial constraints, new regulatory requirements, and the concentration of resources on supporting a single spin-off project made it seem sensible to dissolve ANTHILLS and make a fresh start under a new name at a later date – and that time has now come!
Our structure is as simple and flat as the earth (lol). ELEPH-ANTS runs a mobile office with one and a half staff members, who coordinate, network, moderate, synchronise and edit contributions.
ELEPH-ANTS is organized and officially registered as a non-profit and hence text-exempt Swiss association.
The Intake team consists of a small group of academic friends, each with at least 30 years’ professional experience, who will respond to your enquiries or suggestions as quickly as possible and let you know what we think, what and who we can recommend, and what the next steps or action items might be. If appropriate, we will try to put together a small project-specific team at a later date.
For reasons of confidentiality and due to the other commitments of the members of the Intake team – which is currently still provisional – we would ask you, for the time being, simply to contact our office to find out who is the best person within the Intake Team to speak to about specific matters.
Earmarked funding is actively sought from interested individuals and organisations for the think tank’s own projects – whether they are still at the planning stage or already ready for a pilot scheme. ELEPH-ANTS would be delighted and grateful if you could bring eligible projects to the attention of potential sponsors.
Donations and legacies from research funders and philanthropists that are not tied to specific projects contribute to the think tank’s long-term sustainability. Naturally, such donations may be subject to conditions set by the donor or testator.
Crowd funding is a financing option that ELEPH-ANTS pursues for projects that are easily manageable, of relatively low complexity and that promise immediate benefits for the small sponsors themselves in the foreseeable future.
Cross-financing through cooperation partners and collaborators and their networks and channels, such as integration programmes run by unemployment insurance schemes, are further funding options.
Self-financing up to 50% of the think tank’s own activities through commercial services is legally permissible and will be pursued as required and subject to availability of (wo)man power. ELEPH-ANTS offers organisations, institutions, businesses and individuals ad hoc, short-term and case-specific hands-on support in areas that overlap thematically with the three platforms. In case you need help or simply want to know more about our offer, please contact us.