Jun Ho YumTeaching & PhD Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Barbara Alexandra Primera Darwich, Simon Nussbaum Courses Energy conversion by semiconductor devices CH-429 This course aims to present an introduction to the fundamentals of semiconductor physics, photophysics,photoelectrochemistry,and the practical applications.
Franz-Josef HaugI studied Physics between 1990 and 1996 at the Universities of Ulm (Germany) and Waikato (New Zealand). While specializing mostly on Theoretical Physics and Quantum Theory during my studies, I turned towards Experimental Physics for a graduate work on gas-phase epitaxy of silicon. After that, I pursued a PhD program at ETH Zürich (Switzerland), studying Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells. As PostDoc, I went to EMPA (Switzerland) to work on plasma processes for hard coatings of TiN and to the Jülich Research Centre in Germany to study light scattering ZnO front contacts for solar cells. In 2005 I joined the Institute of Microengineering (IMT) at the University of Neuchatel to lead a research group on thin film silicon solar cells within the PV-Lab. In 2009 the IMT was integrated into EPFL. My main research interests are optics, charge transport in semiconductors and renewable energy in general. My current work is devoted to passivating contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells, using thin silicon films as contact layers. In 2015 I was appointed Maitre d'Enseignement et Recherche (Senior Lecturer and Scientist) and member of the Faculty of STI. From 2013 to 2015 I was member of the EFPL Teachers Council (CCE) and from 2016 and 2018 I was elected into the Council of the Engineering School (CF-STI). In 2020 I was elected to become a member of CF-STI. My main objective for the legislature is to represent the role of EPFL's intermediate staff and to raise the awareness for concerns of the satellite campuses.
Dario FloreanoProf. Dario Floreano is director of the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Since 2010, he is the founding director of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Robotics, a research program that brings together more than 20 labs across Switzerland. Prof. Floreano holds an M.A. in Vision, an M.S. in Neural Computation, and a PhD in Robotics. He has held research positions at Sony Computer Science Laboratory, at Caltech/JPL, and at Harvard University. His main research interests are Robotics and A.I. at the convergence of biology and engineering. Prof. Floreano made pioneering contributions to the fields of evolutionary robotics, aerial robotics, and soft robotics. He served in numerous advisory boards and committees, including the Future and Emerging Technologies division of the European Commission, the World Economic Forum Agenda Council, the International Society of Artificial Life, the International Neural Network Society, and in the editorial committee of several scientific journals. In addition, he helped spinning off two drone companies (senseFly.com and Flyability.com) and a non-for-profit portal on robotics and A.I. (RoboHub.org). Books
Manuale sulle Reti Neurali, il Mulino (in Italian), 1996 (first edition), 2006 (second edition)Evolutionary Robotics, MIT Press, 2000
Bio-Inspired Artificial Intelligence, MIT Press, 2008
Flying Insects and Robots, Springer Verlag, 2010
Paolo IennePaolo Ienne has been a Professor at the EPFL since 2000 and heads the Processor Architecture Laboratory (LAP). Prior to that, he worked for the Semiconductors Group of Siemens AG, Munich, Germany (which later became Infineon Technologies AG) where he was at the head of the Embedded Memories unit in the Design Libraries division. His research interests include various aspects of computer and processor architecture, FPGAs and reconfigurable computing, electronic design automation, and computer arithmetic. Ienne was a recipient of Best Paper Awards at the 20th, 24th, and 28th ACM/SIGDA International Symposia on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), in 2012, 2016 and 2020, at the 19th and 30th International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL), in 2009 and 2020, at the International Conference on Compilers, Architectures, and Synthesis for Embedded Systems (CASES), in 2007, and at the 40th Design Automation Conference (DAC), in 2003; many other papers have been candidates to Best Paper Awards in prestigious venues. He has served as general, programme, and topic chair of renown international conferences, including organizing in Lausanne the 26th International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL) in 2016. He serves on the steering committee of the IEEE Symposium on Computer Arithmetic (ARITH) and of the International Conference on Field-Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL). Ienne has guest edited a number of special issues and special sections on various topics for IEEE and ACM journals. He is regularly member of program committees of international workshops and conferences in the areas of design automation, computer architecture, embedded systems, compilers, FPGAs, and asynchronous design. He has been an associate editor of ACM Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization (TACO), since 2015, of ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), since 2014, and of ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES) from 2011 to 2016.
Tuong-Van NguyenTeaching & PhD Courses Energy conversion and renewable energy ME-409 This course presents an overview of (i) the current energy system and uses (ii) the main principles of conventional and renewable energy technologies and (iii) the most important parameters that define their efficiency, costs and environmental impacts. The Energy Transition : challenges and opportunities HUM-293 This course explores the energy transition from a system based on fossil fuels to a model based o
Hubert GiraultEducation: 1979 - Engineering diploma from Grenoble Institute of Technology. FRANCE. 1982 - PhD- Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton. Thesis entitled : Interfacial studies using drop image processing techniques. Positions : 1982 - 1984 SERC Research Fellow. University of Southampton. 1984 - 1985 CNRS Research Fellow. University of Southampton. 1985 - 1992 Lecturer in Physical Chemistry, University of Edinburgh. 1992 - Professor of Physical Chemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. 2011 - 2014 Dean of Bachelor and Master studies Hubert Girault is the author of 2 textbooks, the co-author of about 600 scientific publications with more than 20'000 citations and the co-inventor of more than 15 patents. During his academic career, he has supervised 70 PhD students. 30 alumni of his laboratory are now Professors. Honours: Faraday medal 2006, Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry 2007, Reilley Award 2015. Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (USA), Shikata International medal, Polarography Society of Japan. Associate editor of Chemical Science
Qiucheng XuExpertise
- Operando Water and Ion Transport: I pioneered operando high-energy X-ray scattering and fluorescence (WAXS/SAXS/XRF) to directly visualize water and ion transport in membrane–electrode assemblies. These studies revealed how water movement, flooding, and salt formation govern degradation in CO/CO2 electrolysis, establishing the dynamic transport mechanisms in confined electrochemical environments. (Nat. Nanotechnol. 2025; Joule 2024; Nat. Catal. 2023)2. Design of Membrane-Electrode Interface: I
Tobias KippenbergTobias J. Kippenberg is Full Professor of Physics at EPFL and leads the Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurement. He obtained his BA at the RWTH Aachen, and MA and PhD at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech in Pasadena, USA). From 2005- 2009 he lead an Independent Research Group at the MPI of Quantum Optics, and is at EPFL since. His research interest are the Science and Applications of ultra high Q microcavities; in particular with his research group he discovered chip-scale Kerr frequency comb generation (Nature 2007, Science 2011) and observed radiation pressure backaction effects in microresonators that now developed into the field of cavity optomechanics (Science 2008). Tobias Kippenberg is alumni of the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”. For his invention of “chip-scale frequency combs” he received he Helmholtz Price for Metrology (2009) and the EFTF Young Investigator Award (2010). For his research on cavity optomechanics, he received the EPS Fresnel Prize (2009). In addition he is recipient of the ICO Prize in Optics (2014), the Swiss National Latsis award (2015), the German Wilhelm Klung Award (2015) and ZEISS Research Award (2018). He is fellow of the APS and OSA, and listed since 2014 in the Thomas Reuters highlycited.com in the domain of Physics. EDUCATION 2009: Habilitation (Venia Legendi) in Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München 2004: PhD, California Institute of Technology (Advisor Professor Kerry Vahala) 2000: Master of Science (Applied Physics), California Institute of Technology 1998: BA in Physics, Technical University of Aachen (RWTH), Germany 1998: BA in Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Aachen (RWTH), Germany ACADEMIC POSITIONS 2013 - present: Full Professor EPFL 2010 - 2012: Associate Professor EPFL 2008 - 2010: Tenure Track Assistant Professor, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne 2007 - present: Marie Curie Excellent Grant Team Leader, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (Division of Prof.T.W. Hänsch) 2005 - present: Leader of an Independent Junior Research Group, Max Planck Institute 2005- present: Habilitant (Prof. Hänsch) Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) 2005-2006: Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for the Physics of Information, California Institute of Technology 2000-2004: Graduate Research Assistant, California Institute of Technology PRIZES AND HONORS: ZEISS Research Award 2018 Fellow of the APS 2016 Klung-Wilhelmy Prize 2015 Swiss Latsis Prize 2014 Selected Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in Physics, 2014/2015 ICO Prize, 2013 EFTF Young Scientist Award (for "invention of microresonator based frequency combs") 2010 Fresnel Prize of the European Physical Society (for contributions to Optomechanics) 2009 Helmholtz Prize for Metrology (for invention of the monolithic frequency comb) 2009 1st Prize winner of the EU Contest for Young Scientists, Helsinki, Finland. Sept. 1996 Jugend forscht 1st Physics Prize at the German National Science Contest May 1996 FELLOWSHIPS Fellow of the German National Merit Foundation ("Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes") 1998-2002 Member of the Daimler-Chysler-Fellowship-Organization 1998-2002 Dr. Ulderup Fellowship 1999-2000 RESEARCH INTERESTS Experimental and theoretical research in photonics, notably high Q optical microcavities and their use in cavity quantum optomechanics and frequency metrology PUBLICATIONS AND OFTEN CITED METRICS*: >70 Publications in peer reviewed journals Researcher Google Profile: http://scholar.google.ch/citations?user=PRCbG2kAAAAJ&hl=en h-Index 54 (Google scholar H: 64, >25,000 citations) Thomson Reuters/Claravite List of Highly Cited Researchers (2014,2015,2016,2017) careful in its use: https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201411/backpage.cfm KEY PUBLICATIONS AND REVIEWS: A. Ghadimi, et al. Elastic strain engineering for ultra high Q nanomechanical oscillators Science, (2018) Trocha, et al. Ultrafast distance measurements using soliton microresonator frequency combs Science, Vol. 359 (2018) [joint work with C. Koos] Pablo-Marin et al. Microresonator-based solitons for massively parallel coherent optical communications Nature (2017) [joint work with C. Koos] V. Brasch, et al. Photonic chip-based optical frequency comb using soliton Cherenkov radiation. Science, vol. 351, num. 6271 (2015) Aspelmeyer, M., Kippenberg, T. J. & Marquardt, F. Cavity optomechanics. Reviews of Modern Physics 86, 1391-1452, (2014) Wilson, D. J. et al. Measurement and control of a mechanical oscillator at its thermal decoherence rate. Nature (2014). Verhagen, E., Deleglise, S., Weis, S., Schliesser, A. & Kippenberg, T. J. Quantum-coherent coupling of a mechanical oscillator to an optical cavity mode. Nature 482, 63-67 (2012). Kippenberg, T. J., Holzwarth, R. & Diddams, S. A. Microresonator-based optical frequency combs. Science 332, 555-559, (2011). Weis, S. et al. Optomechanically induced transparency. Science 330, 1520-1523 (2010). Kippenberg, T. J. & Vahala, K. J. Cavity optomechanics: back-action at the mesoscale. Science 321, 1172-1176, (2008). Del'Haye, P. et al. Optical frequency comb generation from a monolithic microresonator. Nature (2007) Schliesser, A., DelHaye, P., Nooshi, N., Vahala, K. & Kippenberg, T. Radiation Pressure Cooling of a Micromechanical Oscillator Using Dynamical Backaction. Physical Review Letters 97, (2006). Nicolas GrandjeanNicolas Grandjean received a PhD degree in physics from the University ofNice Sophia Antipolis in 1994 and shortly thereafter joined the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) as a permanent staff member. In 2004, he was appointed tenure-track assistant professor at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where he created the Laboratory for advanced semiconductors for photonics and electronics. He was promoted to full professor in 2009. He was the director of the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics from 2012 to 2016 and then moved to the University of California at Santa Barbara where he spent 6 months as a visiting professor. Since 2018, he is the head of the School of Physics at the EPFL. He was awarded the Sandoz Family Foundation Grant for Academic Promotion, received the “Nakamura Lecturer” Award in 2010, the "Quantum Devices Award” at the 2017 Compound Semiconductor Week, and “2016 best teacher” award from the EPFL Physics School. His research interests are focused on the physics of nanostructures and III-V nitride semiconductor quantum photonics.
Yves PerriardYves Perriard was born in Lausanne in 1965. He received the M. Sc. in Microengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne (EPFL) in 1989 and the Ph D. degree in 1992. Co-founder of Micro-Beam SA, he was CEO of this company involved in high precision electric drive. Senior lecturer from 1998 and professor since 2003, he is currently director of Laboratory of Integrated Actuators. His research interests are in the field of new actuator design and associated electronic devices. In 2009, he is appointed Vice-Director of the Microengineering Institute in Neuchâtel until 2011. In 2013 the Federal Council has named him the the CTI commission in Bern. In 2014 he is appointed guest professor at Zhejiang University in China. In 2017, the lab is granted by the Werner Siemens Foundation of an amount of 12 millions CHF in order to set up a new Center for Artificial Muscules. Since 2018, he is Expert with Innosuisse, the new Swiss Innovation Agency. http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=fr&user=V2onuO8AAAAJ https://actu.epfl.ch/news/a-12-million-franc-donation-to-create-a-center-for/ 