Michael Grätzel: Honorary Doctorate from Charles University Prague
Michael Grätzel. Credit: Alain Herzog (EPFL)
Professor Michael Grätzel at EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences has received a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from Charles University in Prague.
Founded in 1348, Charles University in Prague is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe. Renowned for its rich history and commitment to academic excellence, the university has been a cornerstone of education and research for nearly seven centuries. With its impressive legacy and a forward-looking approach, Charles University continues to serve as a leading institution for intellectual advancement, attracting students and scholars from around the world. Its historical significance and dedication to innovation make it a vital contributor to the global academic community.
This year, Charles University has awarded an honorary doctorate to Professor Michael Grätzel at EPFL, one of the most important researchers in chemistry of our time. The degree will be conferred to him at a ceremony on 4 March 2025 at the Great Hall of the Karolinum, the historical seat of Charles University.
About Professor Michael Grätzel
Professor Grätzel is world-renowned for inventing the first dye-sensitive solar cell in 1991 with chemist Brian O’Reagan. Just as plants use chlorophyll to turn sunlight into energy, the “Grätzel cells” use industrial dyes, pigments or quantum dots stimulated by sunlight to transmit an electrical charge. Within fifteen years of the original invention, Grätzel evolved the cells into an applied technology that is now being developed in universities and companies worldwide.
Having discovered molecular photovoltaics, Grätzel’s research has focused on designing mesoscopic photosystems based on molecular light harvesters that convert light very efficiently to electricity. He is credited with moving the photovoltaic field beyond the principle of light absorption via diodes to the molecular level. Recently his research engendered a second revolution in photovoltaics prompting the advent of perovskite solar cells. In just a single decade, their power-conversion efficiency increased from 3% to over 26%, rivaling and even exceeding the performance of conventional photovoltaics.
Grätzel also applied his innovative mesoscopic design concept to enhance the power of lithium-ion batteries and to create photoelectrochemical cells that efficiently generate chemical fuels from sunlight, opening a new path to provide future sources of renewable energy that can be stored.
Grätzel currently directs EPFL’s Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces within the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC). His more than 1,800 publications have received over 500,000 citations, and have an h-index of 311. In 2019, Stanford University ranked Grätzel first of 100,000 top scientists across all fields. According to the Web of Science, he is currently the most highly cited chemist in the world.