Eight new nominations
© 2011 EPFL Alain Herzog
On Friday, July 8, 2011, the ETH board announced the nominations and internal promotions of eight professors, including 3 professors in our faculty.
Romuald Houdré has been promoted to Adjunct Professor in EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences. Recruited to EPFL in 1988 by Marc Ilegems, he has been studying the promising field of photonic crystals for the past decade, working autonomously and managing his own research group. During this period the group made important progress in the area of semiconductor microcavities. Their results have been showcased in an impressive number of publications in top peer-reviewed scientific journals. Houdré has filed four patents and has had a large number of invitations to speak at international conferences.
César Pulgarin, Senior Scientist, has been promoted to Adjunct Professor in EPFL’s School or Basic Sciences. He is a recognized expert in the area of chemistry of advanced oxidation processes such as photochemistry, ultrasound and their combination. He has significantly contribution to the understanding of how these processes operate on chemical and bacterial pollutants in the air and water. He is particularly interested in the issue of water treatment in developing countries. Pulgarin coordinates cooperative research between EPFL and Colombian institutions, which has led to many projects and helped a number of Colombian PhD students earn their doctoral degrees. 
Donna Testerman, Research Associate, has been promoted to adjunct professor in EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences. She is a recognized expert in the area of group theory, in particular algebraic groups. She has made fundamental contributions to the study of the structure of the sub-groups of simple algebraic groups. She is first author or co-author of sixteen publications in top scientific journals, including three full issues of the Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society. Her invitations to conferences and summer schools, the publication of a book by the Cambridge University Press, and her many collaborations with research groups in Europe and the US all contribute to the reputation of the School of Basic Sciences in the area of pure mathematics.