“I never once thought that I couldn't do it”

“Cool,” “pretty cool,” “really cool,” “super cool,” or “totally cool!” – Clémance Bachmann makes life sound like a string of unforgettable moments, amazing people and powerfully positive experiences. But few would want to trade places with her. Owing to a sudden, serious illness at the age of 11, her range of vision is now limited to only a few centimeters. But that hasn’t stopped her from flying high.

“I see myself as someone who’s positive, loves to learn and has a lot of energy and enthusiasm – who tries to live life to the fullest,” says Bachmann. That certainly describes her attitude throughout her time at EPFL. She’ll soon begin a PhD program in Germany, and neither the new environment nor the new surroundings intimidate her. “I love striking out on new adventures,” she says modestly.

Accepting her disability

Things haven’t always been so straightforward. “I naturally went through the phase where I had to accept my disability,” she says. “I had to come to terms with the fact that I’m different and will always be so in the eyes of others – but that doesn’t diminish my worth. What’s more, that was right during adolescence, when kids are thoughtless and still unkind.”

Bachmann was assisted by a social worker until she completed her compulsory schooling in northern Vaud. “She was the eyes and I was the brain,” says Bachmann. Then she gradually became more independent. When she was young, she attended some of the science outreach events held by EPFL and decided early on that’s where she wanted to study, with a major in physics because “it’s incredibly interesting and fun.”

However, some people strongly advised her against that, suggesting instead that she train to become a telephone operator. Bachmann simply ignored them. “They didn’t see how a vision impairment could be compatible with a university program in science,” she says. “However, my parents, deans and supervisors were always supportive. At first I had to fight for it a little, but after people saw my grades come in, they were more accepting.”

Solution-oriented

For Bachmann, every step forward was a small victory. “As soon as I started high school, I began writing all my mathematical equations in LaTeX even though people said that would be too complicated,” she says. “Looking back, that was probably one of my best decisions – by the time I started at EPFL, I’d been writing in LaTeX for three years. I think that’s the only way you can get an accurate, concise speech synthesis of mathematical content.”

Bachmann carried this solution-oriented approach with her to EPFL. She contacted the School a few months before classes started to say she intended to go there and to explore what special arrangements could be made for her classes, including for lab sessions, teaching materials and exams. Exams in particular were a recurring topic that required some creativity. “The physics department was really accommodating,” she says. In terms of housing, she chose to stay at the Atrium, one of the dormitories on the Lausanne campus. The white lines we now see on the pavement and along most of the stairs on the campus are thanks to Bachmann. “At first there was no signage, no contrast indicators,” she says. “But I asked for them, and they were added in just two or three weeks.”

Because she couldn’t read the chalkboard or presentation slides during class lectures, she relied entirely on the oral explanations given by her professors. “Sometimes I was able to get 80% or 90% of the information, or even close to 100%,” she says. “But other times, it was just 30%. That’s when I needed class materials in digital form.”

Obtaining the content for her math classes was particularly challenging. “During my bachelor’s degree, I had to use the services of a transcription center so I could use the class materials. It was a little annoying because the center took a while, so I had to set priorities. But at the start of my master’s degree, I began using Mathpix. It’s software that can scan PDFs, which I then exported into a format compatible with a screen reader in LaTeX or HTML. This was incredibly liberating because it opened the door to all the content I wanted.”

Advancements in artificial intelligence meant a growing number of software programs were available to assist Bachmann, but the updates often came with bugs. She took those in stride, finding a solution to every problem. Yet that doesn’t mean it was easy. She had to spend a considerable amount of time looking for information and resolving accessibility problems.

Knowing how to communicate

And then there was the personal side. Bachmann saw a counselor once a week during the first year of her bachelor’s degree to check in. “The key is to be aware of your needs and limitations, and to simply discuss them with people to see what’s possible,” she says. “Communication is really important in all aspects of life, and especially if you have a special condition. You’ve got to know how to communicate and be clear in your own mind.”

In terms of reaching out to people, her years at EPFL were unforgettable. “I made a great group of friends in the very first semester. It had nothing to do with my eyesight. I simply found myself surrounded by people who were eager to learn and happy to be at EPFL, and who I could really connect with. It’s not like we were talking about physics all day – it was just a shared mindset.”

It helps that Bachmann is someone who loves to get involved. In 2019, she joined the International Physics Olympiad association to help students prepare for both the national and international competition – just one of her many extracurricular activities while at EPFL.

A broad range of interests

Bachmann learned to play the saxophone when she was eight and played in the EPFL Big Band for three years. She’s always loved skiing, and continued after her illness with the help of the Groupement romand de skieurs aveugles et malvoyants, a local skiing association for the blind and visually impaired. Dancing is yet another hobby – she practiced ballet as a child and has since learned all types of partner dances: rock, swing, Lindy hop, tango, ballroom dance and folk dance. “It’s also a cool way to meet people!” she says.

An avid traveler, Bachmann has been to Japan, partly on her own, and completed an exchange year in Norway. She went there by train “because I thought it’d be fun, and I generally think train travel is better.” Her worst experience? “Let me think. Once, a critical program I used to read and write in LaTeX crashed right at the beginning of an exam. And one or two of my classes were particularly difficult for accessibility reasons. Those are really frustrating situations. And of course, I’ve been known to get on the wrong train or bus,” she says. “But kind people are everywhere. I’ve honestly almost always been able to find a solution, either on my own or with somebody’s help.”

From anomaly to adaptability

Knowing Bachmann, it’s no surprise that her exchange year was a “fantastic experience!” The application she used to get around the Norwegian University of Science and Technology campus was compatible with voice technology. What really struck her about Norway was “people there have a much more relaxed, simpler approach. For instance, the university came up with the idea that I take some exams orally rather than in writing.”

It was also in Scandinavia, during a summer-school program in Sweden, that Bachmann met the University of Würzburg professor who will be her PhD thesis supervisor starting this fall.

In her master’s thesis – for which she unsurprisingly earned the highest grade of 6 – Bachmann focused on the dynamics of liquid crystal skyrmions, which are a form of topological defect. Considering everything that Bachmann has achieved, you could say she’s made her own anomaly a hallmark of her success, with adaptability as her defining trait.

For her, it boils down to this: “You can complain about the cards life has dealt you – but that won’t change the way things are. So you might as well figure out where you can make a real difference.”