Xile HuXile Hu was born in 1978 in Putian, southeastern China. He entered the Peking University in Beijing in 1996. Besides learning too little chemistry, his biggest regret in the college was not able to correct his southern accent in Mandarin. After graduated from PKU, he went to the United States and began his doctoral studies at the University of California, San Diego. In December 2004, he finished with a Ph.D. in chemistry and some fond memories of the beautiful city of San Diego. He then moved to the Los Angeles area and become a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology. There he enjoyed numerous stimulating scientific (and other) discussions with friends and colleagues. He also made plenty of friends outside the campus and was a frequent in many local Chinese restaurants. In 2007, after two pleasant visits to Switzerland, he decided to move across the continent one more time and join the faculty of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He now directs the Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis and is interested in developing chemistry for synthesis, energy and sustainability.
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.
André MerbachOriginaire de Pully (Vaud), André E. Merbach est né en 1940. Il étudie à l'Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne (Prix Pelet et de l'A3E2PL) et obtient son diplôme d'ingénieur chimiste en 1962 avec un travail de recherche en chimie organique. En 1964, l'Université de Lausanne lui confère le doctorat ès sciences avec félicitations du jury pour ses travaux sur les systèmes quaternaires de solubilité avec formation de cristaux mixtes. Il effectue ensuite un stage postdoctoral au Lawrence Radiation Laboratory de l'Université de Californie à Berkeley, où il étudie la ionisation d'électrolytes forts par RMN.
En 1965, de retour à l'Institut de chimie minérale et analytique de l'UNIL, on lui demande de développer une recherche et de créer un enseignement en chimie de coordination. En 1971 il y est nommé professeur assistant.
En 1973, la Société Suisse de Chimie lui attribue le Prix et la Médaille Werner pour ses travaux sur la structure, la stabilité et la dynamique d'adduits d'halogénures métalliques par RMN. Cette même année, l'UNIL le nomme professeur de chimie minérale et analytique.
Il a été membre de la division mathématiques, des sciences naturelles et de l'ingénieur du Fonds national de la recherche scientifique (1985-1996). Il représente la Suisse au Comité Technique COST Chimie (Coopération Européenne dans le domaine scientifique et technique: 35 pays, 1000 groupes de recherche en chimie) et a présidé ce Comité de 1998 à 2000. Il a présidé le Comité de gestion européen pour l'Action COST D6 pour les "procédés et réactions chimiques dans des conditions extrêmes ou non classiques" (1992-1997).
Il a organisé à Lausanne, en 1992, la XXIXe Conférence Internationale de Chimie de Coordination (ICCC). L'Université Lajos Kossuth, de Debrecen (Hongrie), lui a conféré, en 1993, le doctorat honoris causa pour ses études par RMN sous haute pression des mécanismes réactionnels en chimie de coordination. Il a été appelé à la présidence de la Société Suisse de Chimie (2001-2004). L'Université de Genève lui a délivré un doctorat honoris causa en 2003.
Francesco StellacciFrancesco Stellacci graduated in Materials Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano in 1998 with a thesis on photochromic polymers with Prof. Giuseppe Zerbi and Mariacarla Gallazzi. In 1999 he moved to the Chemistry Department of the University of Arizona for as a post-doc in the group of Joe Perry in close collaboration with the group of Seth Marder. In 2002 he moved to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor. He was then promoted to associate without (2006) and with tenure (2009). In 2010 he moved to the Institute of Materials at EPFL as a full Professor. He holds the Alcan EP Chair. Francesco was one of the recipients of the Technology Review TR35 "35 Innovator under 35" award in 2005, and the Popular Science Magazine "Brilliant 10" award in 2007. He has been a Packard Fellow starting 2005.
