Appointment of EPFL professors

Professor Emmanuel Abbe was namedas Full Professor of Mathematics at 75% in the School of Basic Sciences (SB) and 25% in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC).
Emmanuel Abbe is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in data science, working at the interface of mathematics, information theory, statistics and theoretical computer science. His specialist area is stochastic block model analysis. The advances he has made are important to a number of other subject areas and have applications in human biology, genomics and the analysis of artificial neural networks, for example. Emmanuel Abbe has already received several prestigious awards, including the Latsis Prize from EPFL, his alma mater.

Dr Maria Colombo was named as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Mathematics in the School of Basic Sciences (SB).
Maria Colombo is a very talented young researcher who has already attracted international attention for a number of articles in prestigious academic journals. Her areas of research are the analysis of partial differential equations and variational calculus, which is concerned with functionals (e.g. integrals involving an unknown function and its derivatives). She has attracted particular interest for making significant advances in the regulation of the transport equation, which describes the behaviour of particle systems in the presence of external force fields.

Dr Dusan Licina was named as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Indoor Environmental Quality in the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC).
Dusan Licina is a very promising young researcher who has already gained an outstanding international reputation. His research focuses on environmental and air quality in indoor spaces, and he investigates the behaviour and distribution of air flows and airborne particles along the human body as well as in the overall context of indoor spaces. He conducted one of his studies in the neonatal department of a maternity hospital. The aim was to protect premature infants from the effects of dirt particles as far as possible, e.g. by optimising the ventilation system.

Dr Sahand Jamal Rahi was named as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biophysicsin the School of Basic Sciences (SB).
Sahand Jamal Rahi is an innovative scientist with a multidisciplinary approach who shows great potential. In particular, he studies the behaviour of biological molecules such as DNA and proteins. His work makes use of findings from theoretical physics and statistics. One of his specialist areas is the calculation of the Casimir effect between metallic objects. At EPFL, Sahand Jamal Rahi will work closely with colleagues from the disciplines of physics, cell biology and molecular biology, and will contribute to the international positioning of the Institute in these subjects.

Dr Carmela Troncoso was named as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Communication Systems in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC).
Carmela Troncoso is an up-and-coming specialist in IT security and the protection of privacy in information technology and communication systems. Her results have already attracted international attention. She is particularly interested in researching systems that allow privacy to be safeguarded. Among other things, she develops methods by which software engineers can integrate protection guarantees into their designs. Recently, Carmela Troncoso has been also been working on the protection and safe use of genetic data and the human genome.

Professor Ignacio Pagonabarraga was namedas Adjunct Professor at EPFLin the School of Basic Sciences (SB).
Ignacio Pagonabarraga is an internationally recognised researcher and specialist in soft condensed matter. As Director of the Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire (CECAM), which is based at EPFL, he makes important contributions in the field of computer-aided calculation. Ignacio Pagonabarraga is also very successful at attracting research funding from the EU.