Nominations of EPFL professors
© 2014 EPFL Alain Herzog
The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced the appointment three professors at EPFL.
Lyndon Emsley was named Full Professor in Chemical Physics (50% in the School of Basic Sciences, SB)
Lyndon Emsley’s research focuses on the development of spectroscopic methods for molecular and materials sciences that allow to characterize complex systems that, to date, have been inaccessible with conventional analytical tools.
At EPFL, Lyndon Emsley will set up a state-of-the-art research program for the visualization of the structure and dynamics of the constituents of molecules and materials using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques. Being able to control the dynamics of the nuclear spins opens new avenues in the study of sophisticated and complex systems such as enzymes, catalytic nanoparticles, pharmaceutical compounds, and live model organisms. It will also provide new insights into complex biological phenomena such as genetic modifications associated to pathological states.
Jérôme Waser has been named Associate Professor in Organic Chemistry in the School of Basic Sciences (SB)
Jérôme Waser is carrying out highly creative research into the development of unconventional synthesis methods, in particular using hypervalent iodide derivatives for the preparation of compounds of pharmaceutical interest such as alkaloids. He is strongly involved in teaching organic chemistry and catalysis, both to Bachelor and Master’s students.
In 2007, Waser became tenure track assistant professor at EPFL, where he founded the Laboratory for Catalysis and Organic Synthesis. He then concentrated his research on the development of synthesis strategies based on derivatives of hypervalent iodine and activated cyclopropanes. These strategies enable the preparation of natural bioactive compounds and their analogues.
Andreas Züttel was nammed as Full Professor of Chemical Physics in the School of Basic Sciences (SB)
Andreas Züttel is an internationally renowned expert on the production of energy from hydrogen, and other energy topics. He and his team research topics that include ways of storing hydrogen efficiently, and they therefore investigate the interaction between hydrogen and a wide range of materials, such as the surface of metals and insulators, as well as nanostructures and intermetallic compounds.
The appointment of Andreas Züttel and the setting up of a joint laboratory with Empa will allow EPFL to strengthen significantly the key subject area of energy at the EPFL Valais Wallis campus in Sion.