Efrain Ochoa Martinez and Regine Maritz have joined the SPR office in April of this year. Regine supports researchers (particularly in the humanities and social sciences) in finding and applying for grants that are suitable for their needs and projects, while Efrain is a research data and ORCID specialist and prepares data for UniFr's participation in international University rankings.

Regine Maritz is a native of the city of Bern but has spent more than twelve years abroad during a research career that has led her to Belfast, Cambridge, and, most recently, Paris. She is a historian by training and has published on the cultural histories of gender, politics, and violence in the early modern German lands. As a result, she is aware of the specific challenges scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences face when seeking research funding and is particularly passionate about supporting projects in these areas. In her spare time, she participates in local political organization and enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her partner and young son. 

Efrain Ochoa was born in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, where he studied physics. He continued his academic studies in Málaga, Spain, where he earned his Master's and PhD degrees, focusing on materials science for renewable energy. Among his most recent appointments, he carried Swiss Excellence and European Marie Curie Postdoctoral grants at the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg. With an aptitude for data processing and analysis, he will be responsible for reporting for University Rankings, as well as overseeing the implementation of ORCID within the university's operational processes. Outside of academia, Efrain enjoys participating in various sports, particularly futsal, where he engages with a diverse group of fellow researchers from the university.