Michael GraetzelProfessor of Physical Chemistry at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Michael Graetzel, PhD, directs there the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He pioneered research on energy and electron transfer reactions in mesoscopic systems and their use to generate electricity and fuels from sunlight. He invented mesoscopic injection solar cells, one key embodiment of which is the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). DSCs are meanwhile commercially produced at the multi-MW-scale and created a number of new applications in particular as lightweight power supplies for portable electronic devices and in building integrated photovoltaics. They engendered perovskite solar cells (PSCs) which turned into the most exciting break-through in the history of photovoltaics. He received a number of prestigious awards, of which the most recent ones include the RusNANO Prize, the Zewail Prize in Molecular Science, the Global Energy Prize, the Millennium Technology Grand Prize, the Marcel Benoist Prize, the King Faisal International Science Prize, the Einstein World Award of Science and the Balzan Prize. He is a Fellow of several learned societies and holds eleven honorary doctor’s degrees from European and Asian Universities. His over 1500 publications have received some 220’000 citations with an h-factor of 218 (SI-Web of Science) demonstrating the strong impact of his scientific work.
Mohammad Khaja NazeeruddinDr. Md. K. Nazeeruddin received M.Sc. and Ph. D. in inorganic chemistry from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. He joined as a Lecturer in Deccan College of Engineering and Technology, Osmania University in 1986, and subsequently, moved to Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, as a Research Associate. He was awarded the Government of Indias fellowship in 1987 for study abroad. After one year postdoctoral stay with Prof. Graetzel at Swiss federal institute of technology Lausanne (E P F L), he joined the same institute as a Senior Scientist. His current research focuses on Dye-sensitized solar cells, Hydrogen production, Light-emitting diodes and Chemical sensors. He has published more than 380 peer-reviewed papers, ten book chapters, and inventor of 40 patents. The high impact of his work has been recognized with invitations to speak at over 80 international conferences, including the MRS Fall (USA, 2006) and Spring 2011 Meetings, GORDON conference (2014), and has been nominated to the OLLA International Scientific Advisory Board. He appeared in the ISI listing of most cited chemists, and has more than 33'500 citations with an h-index of 89. He is teaching "Functional Materials" course at EPFL, and Korea University; directing, and managing several industrial, national, and European Union projects on Hydrogen energy, Photovoltaics (DSC), and Organic Light Emitting Diodes. He was awarded EPFL Excellence prize in 1998 and 2006, Brazilian FAPESP Fellowship in 1999, Japanese Government Science & Technology Agency Fellowship, in 1998, Government of India National Fellowship in 1987-1988. Recently he has been appointed as World Class University (WCU) professor by the Korea University, Jochiwon, Korea (http://dses.korea.ac.kr/eng/sub01_06_2.htm) and Adjunct Professor by the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 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.
Christophe BallifChristophe Ballif is director of the Phototovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratoryb) (PV-Lab at the institute of microengineering (IMT) in Neuchâtel (part of the EPFL since 2009). The lab focus is on the science and technology of high efficiency heterojunction crystalline cells,so-called passivating contacts for solar cells, multi-junction solar cells include novel generation Perovskite on innovative optical high speed detector and on various macroelectronics application. It also deals with energy management with a focus on integration of solar electricity into the energy system. The PV-Lab has strongly contributed to technology transfer and industrialization of novel devices and full technology with numerous companies. Christophe Ballif graduated as a physicist from the EPFL in 1994, where he also obtained in 1998 his Phd degree working on novel PV materials. He accomplished his postdoctoral research at NREL (Golden, US) on compound semiconductor solar cells (CIGS and CdTe). He worked then at the Fraunhofer ISE (Ge) on crystalline silicon photovoltaics (monocrystalline and multi-crystalline) until 2003 and then at the EMPA in Thun (CH) before becoming full professor at the University of Neuchâtel IMT in 2004, taking over the chair of Prof. A. Shah. Since 2013, C.Ballif is also the director of the new CSEM PV-Center, also located in Neuchâtel. The CSEM PV-Center is focussing more on industrialisation and technology transfer in the field of solar energy, including solar electricity management and storage. At the core of the CSEM PV-center activities lies several "pilot lines" for various kinds of solar cells manufacturing, with a focus coating technologies, wet chemistry processes for crystalline silicon, metalisation techniques for solar cells, and a platform for developing "ideal packaging solutions and polymers" for PV modules. In addition, joined facitilites between CSEM and EPFL of over 800 m2 are available for modules manufacturing, measuring and accelerated aging. CSEM PV-center has also full team dedicated to storage and energy systems and operates a joined center with BFH in Biel for research on electrochemical storage. He (co-) authored over 500 journal and technical papers, as well as several patents. He is an elected member of the SATW, member of the scientific council of the Swiss AEE, and member of the board of the EPFL Energy center. In 2016, he recieved the Becquerel prize for his contributions to the field of high efficiency photovoltaics.
Jacques-Edouard MoserProfesseur titulaire en chimie physique, Jacques Moser dirige actuellement le Groupe de dynamique photochimique (Groupe Moser) de l'EPFL. Jacques Moser est diplômé de l'École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), où il a reçu en 1982 un diplôme d'ingénieur chimiste et en 1986 un doctorat ès sciences pour sa thèse en chimie physique, menée sous la direction du Pr Michael Grätzel. En 1984 et 1985, il effectue deux séjours à l'Université Concordia de Montréal (Canada). A partir de 1986, il rejoint les laboratoires de recherche centraux de Eastman-Kodak Co. à Rochester (New York, USA) et est ensuite associé au Center for photoinduced charge transfer du NSF à l'Université de Rochester. De retour à l'EPFL, Jacques Moser dirige depuis 1991 un groupe de recherche dans le domaine de la photochimie. Il est chargé de cours à partir de 1992 et reçoit en 1998 l'habilitation ès sciences techniques et le titre de privat-docent. Il est nommé professeur titulaire en 2005. L'activité de recherche du Groupe Moser se focalise plus particulièrement sur létude de la dynamique des processus de transfert d'électron induits par la lumière aux interfaces et de séparation de charges dans des semiconducteurs nanostructurés. Le Pr Moser enseigne la chimie générale avancée (Équilibre et réactivité chimiques) en première année aux étudiants en chimie de l'EPFL. Il dispense les cours Photochemistry I et Photochemistry II aux étudiants de Master et des écoles doctorales en chimie, en énergie et en photonique. Lauréat du prix de la fondation Latsis internationale, Jacques Moser est auteur et co-auteur de près de 200 publications dans des revues scientifiques à comité de lecture (H-index = 75). Il a été président de la Société suisse de photochimie et photophysique, membre du comité international de l'European Photochemistry Association, membre de la direction centrale de la Société suisse de chimie (SSC) et membre du comité executif de la division Recherche scientifique de la SSC. Il a été le directeur de la Section de chimie et de génie chimique de l'EPFL et l'un des membres de la direction de la Faculté des sciences de base de 2007 à 2015.
Klaus KernKlaus Kern is Professor of Physics at EPFL and Director and Scientific Member at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. He also is Honorary Professor at the University of Konstanz, Germany. His present research interests are in nanoscale science, quantum technology and in microscopy at the atomic limits of space and time. He holds a chemistry degree and PhD from the University of Bonn and a honorary doctors degree from the University of Aalborg. After his doctoral studies he was staff scientist at the Research Center Jülich and visiting scientist at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill before joining the Faculty of EPFL in 1991 and the Max-Planck-Society in 1998. Professor Kern has authored and coauthored close to 700 scientific publications, which have received nearly 60‘000 citations. He has served frequently on advisory committees to universities, professional societies and institutions and has received numerous scientific awards and honors, including the 2008 Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz Prize and the 2016 Van‘t Hoff Prize. Prof. Kern has also educated a large number of leading scientists in nanoscale physics and chemistry. During the past twenty-five years he has supervised one hundred PhD students and sixty postdoctoral fellows. Today, more than fifty of his former students and postdocs hold prominent faculty positions at Universities around the world.
Benoît Marie Joseph DeveaudBenoît Deveaud est maintenant Directeur Adjoint à l'Enseignement et la Recherche, Ecole Polytechnique Palaiseau.
Benoît Deveaud est né en France en 1952. Il est admis en 1971 à l'Ecole Polytechnique de Paris et s'y spécialise en physique. En 1974, il entre au Centre National d'Etudes des Télécommunications. Il mène à la fois les études sur les centres profonds dans les semi-conducteurs III-V, et poursuit ses études de physique en préparant un diplôme d'études approfondies en physique des solides. En 1984, il soutient sa thèse de doctorat à l'Université de Grenoble.
Entre-temps, son équipe s'intéresse aux microstructures et lance une recherche sur les propriétés structurales et optiques des super réseaux à base d'arséniure de gallium. Ces études mettent en évidence par exemple le transport vertical dans les superréseaux ou la quantification des énergies de transition dans un puits quantique. En 1986 il rejoint l'équipe de Daniel Chemla aux Bell Laboratories (Holmdel USA) et participe à la mise au point de la première expérience de luminescence ayant une résolution temporelle meilleure qu'une picoseconde. Il étudie les processus de relaxation ultra-rapide dans les puits quantiques.
Rentré en France, au CNET, en 1988, il dirige un laboratoire d'études ultra-rapides, portant sur les propriétés optiques et électroniques des matériaux semi-conducteurs.
Nommé professeur en physique à l'EPFL en octobre 1993, son équipe de recherche étudie la physique des processus ultrarapides dans les micro- et nanostructures et les composants qui les utilisent.
Il a dirigé l'Institut de Micro et Optoélectronique depuis 1998 puis l'Institut de Photonique et électronique quantique de 2003 à 2007. Son équipe participe activement au Pôle national de Recherche "Quantum Photonics" dont il a été le Directeur Adjoint de 2001 à 2005 puis le Directeur de 2005 à 2013.
Il a été Doyen pour la recherche à l'EPFL de 2008 à 2014.
De 2014 à 2017, il a dirigé l'Institut de Physique.
Il a été editeur divisionnaire de Physical Review Letters de 2001 à 2007.
Maher KayalMaher Kayal received M.S. and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) in 1983 and 1989 respectively. He has been with the Electronics laboratories of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) since 1990, where he is currently a professor and director of the Energy Management and Sustainability" section. He has published many scientific papers, coauthor of three text books dedicated to mixed-mode CMOS design and he holds eleven patents. His technical contributions have been in the area of analog and Mixed-signal circuits design including highly linear and tunable sensors microsystems, signal processing and green energy management. Prizes and Honors : Electronics Letters journal Premium Award 2013, Outstanding Paper Award? IEEE Mixdes 2013 Basil Papadias paper Award, IEEE Powertech 2013 Best Paper Awards, Mixdes 2013 Best Paper Awards, ICCAS 2012 Outstanding Paper Award- IEEE Mixdes 2012. Poland Section IEEE ED Chapter special award in 2011. Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching- 2009. The William M. Portnoy Award at the Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition , California Sept 2009. Best Paper Award - IEEE-Mixdes 2009. High Quality Paper - IEEE Power Tech Conference June 2009. Best Paper Award - IEEE-Mixdes 2007. Best Paper Award - IEEE-TTTC International Conference on Automation, Quality and Testing, Robotics - 2006. Best Application Specific Integrated Circuit at the International European Design and Test Conference ED&TC - 1997. Ascom Award for the Best Work in Telecommunication Fields 1990. Publications Books. Books: Methodology for the Digital Calibration of Analog Circuits and Systems, Marc Pastre & Maher Kayal. Springer Publisher- (ISBN 1-4020-4252-3)-2006. Structured Analog CMOS Design, Danica Stefanovic & Maher Kayal. Springer Publisher-(ISBN 978-1-4020-8572-7)-2008. Linear CMOS RF Amplifiers for Wireless Applications, Maher Kayal, Springer Publisher. (ISBN 978-90-481-9360-8)-2010. Coeditor of Microelectronics Education Kluwer Academic Publishers. (ISBN 1-4020-2072-4). -2004.
