Change in ICOS General Assembly chairpersons: Maarten Lupker replaces Christian Plass-Dülmer as chair
Maarten Lupker, ICOS General Assembly delegate for Switzerland, has officially taken up the position of Chair of the ICOS General Assembly. He replaces Christian Plaß-Dülmer from Germany.
Maarten Lupker works at the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). With a research background in earth and environmental sciences, Maarten works on strengthening Switzerland’s position in European research infrastructures.
“I have been serving as the Swiss delegate to the ICOS General Assembly for approximately four years,” Maarten outlines. “That said, my interest in ICOS-related topics goes back much further, rooted in my own background as a researcher in the broader field of carbon cycle science — so in many ways, ICOS has always felt close to my scientific interests.”
Maarten was elected Chair at the 25th ICOS General Assembly in November 2025, held in Helsinki, Finland. He officially took up the position at the 26th General Assembly held in May 2026. Outgoing GA Chair Christian Plaß-Dülmer has onboarded Maarten to the tasks.
“As incoming Chair of the General Assembly, I see my role as contributing to ensure that ICOS remains highly relevant and continues to deliver the scientific insights that researchers, policymakers and society so urgently need,” says Maarten.
“The General Assembly is ultimately the forum where member countries reaffirm - or strengthen - their commitment to ICOS. I hope to foster the dialogue and shared sense of purpose that allows the ambitions of so many dedicated ICOS staff, scientists and technicians to be met with the support they need and deserve.”
“Successful integration of the ICOS science community”
Maarten takes over from Christian Plaß-Dülmer, who took up the position of General Assembly chair in May 2022 during the 16th General Assembly, but his involvement in ICOS stretches further back than that.
“I started work on the set-up of a German ICOS Atmosphere tall tower network in 2009, coordinated set-up projects in Germany from 2012 onwards, and I participated in securing long-term support for ICOS through the German federal ministry of transportation,” Christian explains.
A major highlight of his tenure as General Assembly chair was the successful negotiation of the 5-year financial plan for 2025-2029. The negotiations took place across several General Assembly meetings between 2022 and 2024.
“Negotiations were rather complicated and required close cooperation with the Head Office and the delegates. Finally, in November 2023 in Offenbach a conclusion was made and is the current basis of ICOS ERIC finances, which I highly appreciated.”
Another highlight of this period was the ICOS 10-year anniversary celebrations which took place in November 2025 in Helsinki.
According to Christian, “(former ICOS Director General) Werner Kutsch and the Head Office team organised the event in a great way, and which demonstrated the substantial achievements and the successful integration of the ICOS science community.”
Christian will continue his involvement in ICOS, including being a German General Assembly delegate, until retiring at the end of February 2027.
Jiří Švehla takes up Vice-Chair position
Jiří Švehla, a delegate for the Czech Republic, was elected as the Vice-Chair for a two-year-period at the 25th ICOS General Assembly in November 2025 and took up the position at that time. He replaced Ritva Dammert from Finland.
Jiří has experience representing the Czech Republic in international research infrastructures and coordinating activities across environmental and energy-related research domains in the Czech Republic. “I am motivated to actively contribute to the strategic development and governance of ICOS,” Jiří said after the election.
ICOS would like to thank Christian Plaß-Dülmer and Ritva Dammert for their service as ICOS GA Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively. We wish Maarten and Jiří all the best in their new roles!