Anna Fontcuberta i Morral elected as new president of EPFL

The Federal Council of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne has elected Dr. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral the new President of the EPFL. Dr. Fontcuberta is currently a professor of materials science and physics at EPFL in Lausanne. With this new appointment for a regular four-year term, she will succeed Martin Vetterli as President starting January 1, 2025 and will become the first woman to hold this position. 

Anna Fontcuberta i Morral is a renowned Swiss- Spanish researcher who has made her semiconductor laboratory the world leader in sustainable nanotechnologies. She is also the co-founder of the start-up Aonex Technologies. In her capacity as associate vice-president of EPFL in charge of centers and platforms, she has participated in the academic management of the institution. Likewise, she has spent more than eight years at the service of the Swiss National Science Foundation, of which she has been a member of the management committee since 2020. In parallel, she actively works on several councils, committees and scientific organizations, including ICFO’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Alongside her research at EPFL, Anna Fontcuberta i Morral is committed to teaching and promoting the next generation of scientists. She received a student prize from the Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Techniques for the quality of her teaching. She has received several distinctions for her research: the Marie Curie Excellence Grant in 2005, the Starting Grant from the European Research Council in 2009 and, in 2015, both the Swiss National Fund’s Consolidator Grant and the European Physical Society’s "Emmy Noether Distinction".

Born in Barcelona, Anna Fontcuberta i Morral studied Physics at the Universitat de Barcelona and obtained her doctorate at the École Polytechnique de Palaiseau, in France. From 2001-2002 and 2004-2005, she was a visiting researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, (USA), during which time she helped found the successful start-up Aonex Technologies. She obtained her habilitation in experimental physics at the Technical University of Munich in 2009. From 2008, she worked as a tenure track assistant professor at the EPFL Materials Institute.

Promoted to associate professor in 2014, Anna Fontcuberta i Morral has been a full professor in materials science and engineering at EPFL since September 2019.

ICFOnians congratulate Prof. Fontcuberta i Morral on this important achievement.