Thomas RizzoEDUCATION
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1983
B.S., Chemistry, cum laude, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1978
ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Dean, Faculty of Basic Sciences, EPFL, 2004-present
Head, Department of Chemistry, EPFL, 1997-2004
Professor of Chemistry, EPFL, 1994-present
Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1993-1994
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1986-1992
Research Associate, The James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, 1984-1986
Ursula RöthlisbergerU. Röthlisberger was born in Solothurn (Switzerland). In 1988 she made her diploma in Physical Chemistry in the group of Prof. Ernst Schumacher at the University of Berne (Switzerland). Her Ph.D. thesis was done in collaboration with Dr. Wanda Andreoni at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon. After finishing her Ph.D in 1991 she spent some time as a postdoctoral research assistant at the IBM Research Lab. From 1992-1995 she was a postdoctoral research assistant in the group of Prof. Michael L. Klein at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA). In 1994 she was awarded an advanced researcher fellowship (Profil 2) from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Before starting her Profile 2-fellowship she spent another year as postdoctoral research assistant in the group of Prof. Michele Parrinello at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1996 she moved as Profile 2-fellow to the ETH in Zurich, hosted by the group of Prof. Wilfred F. van Gunsteren. In 1997 she became Assistant Professor of Computer-Aided Inorganic Chemistry at the ETH Zurich.
Stefano RusponiEducation:
• 1999 Doctoral degree in Physics obtained at the Physics Department, University of Genova PhD thesis title: “STM study of nanostructures induced by ion sputtering on noble metals”.
• 1994 University degree in Physics achieved at the Physics Department, University of Genova. Final mark: 110/110 cum laude
Diploma thesis title: “A project for a new method of EELS spectroscopy”.
• 1988 High school at the Liceo Scientifico G. P. Vieusseux in Imperia. Final mark: 60/60.
Research career plan:
• 2016 – present MER: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the group of Prof. Harald Brune
• 2003 – 2016: 1er. Assistant: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the group of Prof. Harald Brune
• 2000-2003: Assistant: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) under the direction of Prof. Harald Brune
• 1999-2000: Research associate: Max-Planck-Institut of Stuttgart under the direction of Prof. Klaus Kern
Miscellaneous of professional activities:
a) Review panel
• Member of the Elettra proposal review panel
• Member of the committee of the EDPY doctoral school in Physics at the EPFL
b) Co-worker in the building of the X-Treme beamline:
c) Referee for scientific journals:
• Nat. Commun., Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev. B, J. Appl. Phys., Surf. Sci., J. Magn. Magn. Mater.
Funding record
a) Funding awarded
• Quantum Properties of Nanostructures at Surfaces, FNS 200020-157081/1;
(01/10/2014 – 31/09/2017); total amount attributed: 832'558 CHF; co-applicant
• Controlling magnetic anisotropy by interfacial coupling, FNS 200021_146715/1;
(01/01/2014 – 31/12/2016); total amount attributed: 367'800 CHF; co-applicant
• Self-assembled bi-metallic magnetic pillar superlattices with enhanced blocking temperature, SER C10.0135; (01/08/2011 – 01/08/2013); total amount attributed: 170'000 CHF; co-applicant
• Magnetic and Catalytic Properties of Surface Supported Metallic Nanostructures, FNS 200020-120493/1; (01/04/2008 – 31/03/2010); total amount attributed: 402'669 CHF; co-applicant
• Magnetic and Catalytic Properties of Surface Supported Metallic Nanostructures, FNS 200020-112322/1; (01/04/2006 – 31/03/2008); total amount attributed: 347'633 CHF; co-applicant
b) Approved proposals for the allocation of beamtime
Swiss Light Source (SLS):
main proposer: 9
co-proposer: 4
Elettra:
main proposer: 5
co-proposer: 1
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF):
main proposer: 2
co-proposer: 11
Student supervisor
• Co-director of PhD thesis: 4 PhD students
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Dimitris Mousadakos: Seeking the smallest room temperature magnets; (in progress)
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Romana Baltic: Controlling single atom magnetic anisotropy by interfacial coupling; (in progress)
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Alberto Cavallin: Growth and magnetism of nanostructures investigated by STM, MOKE, and XMCD; (Oct. 2013), Thèse N°5941
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Sergio Vlaic: Magnetism and atomic scale structure of bimetallic nanostructures at surfaces; (Dec. 2012), Thèse N° 5625
• Supervisor of PhD thesis (without co-direction): 4 PhD students
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Anne Lehnert: Magnetism of individual adatoms and of epitaxial monolayers; (Jun. 2009), Thèse N° 4411
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Geraud Moulas: Growth and magnetism of 2D bimetallic nanostructures; (Dec. 2008), Thèse N° 4231
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Philipp Buluschek: Submonolayer growth of cobalt on metallic and insulating surfaces studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations; (Nov. 2007), Thèse N° 3944
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Nicolas Weiss: Propriétés magnétiques de nanostructures de Co adsorbées; (Apr. 2004), Thèse N° 2980
• Supervisor of Master thesis: 6 students
• Supervisor of semester projects: 9 students
• PhD thesis referee: 2 students Benoît Marie Joseph DeveaudBenoit Deveaud is now Research Director at Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau (France)
Benoît Deveaud was born in France in 1952. In 1971, he enters Ecole Polytechnique in Paris where he specializes in physics. In 1974, he joins the National Center for research in Telecommunications (CNET).
He undertakes at the same time studies on the main impurity centers in III-V semiconductors, and continues his studies in physics by preparing a diploma in solid state physics in Rennes. In 1984, he defends his PhD thesis at the University of Grenoble, under the supervision of Gérard Martinez. Meanwhile, his team gets interested in semiconductor microstructures and launches studies on the structural and optical properties of superlattices based on gallium arsenide. These studies highlight for example vertical transport in superlattices as well as the quantification of excitonic energies in a quantum well.
In 1986 he joins the team of Daniel Chemla in Bell Laboratories (Holmdel, USA) and takes part in the development of the first luminescence set-up having a temporal resolution better than 1 picosecond. He studies then ultrafast processes in quantum wells.
Returning to France in 1988, at CNET, he coaches a laboratory of high-speed studies, interested in the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor materials.
Appointed professor in Physics at EPFL in October 1993, his research team studies the physics of ultrafast processes in semiconductor micro and nanostructures and in devices that use them. He has been the Director the Institute of Micro and Optoelectronics since 1998, then of the Institute of Quantum Photonic and Electronics from 2003 to 2008.
His team takes an active part in the "Quantum Photonics" National Center of Competence in Research, of which he was the Deputy Director from 2001 to 2005 then the Director from July 2005 till the end of the NCCR in 2013
From 2008 till 2014 he has been Dean for Research at EPFL and president of the research commission.
Starting in 2014, he has been head of Physics, till his departure from EPFL in 2017.
He has been a divisional editor of Physical Review Letters from 2001 to 2007.
Marcel DrabbelsDr. Marcel Drabbels studied experimental physics at the University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and in 1993 obtained his Ph.D. at that same university. He then moved to the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied the dynamics of highly vibrationally excited molecules and developed a new detection technique to investigate the photodissociation of molecules. When he returned to the Netherlands in 1996 he joined the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam where he worked on the development of new types of infrared imaging and streak cameras. In 1997 Dr. Drabbels was awarded a fellowship of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and he moved to the Free University of Amsterdam where he studied the collision dynamics of molecules and initiated photodissociation experiments using ultrafast lasers. In October 1998 he was appointed as senior scientist at the EPFL where he studies the spectroscopy and dynamics of nanoscale systems. In March 2021 he was promoted to titular professor.
