Institutions

Route Cantonale
Lausanne, Vaud 1015
Switzerland

Summary: Top European technical university with the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE, est. 2022). Key groups for quantum sensing: Kippenberg Lab (world-leading cavity optomechanics, microresonator frequency combs, room-temperature quantum mechanics β€” foundational for astro spectrograph calibration and force sensing); Galland LQNO (NV sensing in biological and nanoscale contexts, plasmonic nanocavities); Brantut Lab (ultracold fermions for precision measurement); Schueder Lab (DNA-PAINT super-resolution for biological imaging). The CMi cleanroom and BioImaging & Optics Platform (BIOP) support device fabrication and bioimaging respectively.

Notes: Γ‰cole Polytechnique FΓ©dΓ©rale de Lausanne. Top European technical university (QS #16 overall). Houses the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE, est. 2022). Key groups in scope: Kippenberg Lab (cavity optomechanics, microresonator frequency combs, room-temperature quantum mechanics); Galland LQNO (NV sensing, quantum nano-optics, plasmonic nanocavities); Brantut Lab (ultracold fermions); Schueder Lab (DNA-PAINT super-resolution). Has EPFL Center for MicroNanotechnology (CMi) cleanrooms, and BioImaging & Optics Platform (BIOP). Strong quantum research across physics and engineering schools.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics – Laboratory for Solid State Physics (ETH) / PSI / EPFL | Quantum Technologies Group (Aeppli, ETH/PSI/EPFL) @ ETH Zurich
Summary:

Aeppli leads the Quantum Technologies Group spanning ETH Zurich, EPFL, and PSI. Research directions: (1) Quantum materials imaging β€” using SLS synchrotron X-rays (including SwissFEL ultrafast pulses) and neutrons at SINQ to image quantum phase transitions, skyrmions, and correlated phases; non-destructive imaging of device structures; (2) Rare-earth quantum magnets and qubits β€” LiHoF4 as a model quantum system; Er, Pr, and Nd spin qubits in crystals for quantum information and sensing; (3) Semiconductor quantum devices β€” silicon and germanium nanostructures probed by synchrotron nanoscale X-ray imaging; (4) Van der Waals materials and CDW memory devices. Strong interface with PSI large-scale facilities as unique quantum sensing tools for materials.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics – Institute of Physics (IPHYS) | Brantut Lab (Ultracold Fermi Gases) @ EPFL
Summary:

Brantut's lab studies quantum transport in ultracold Fermi gases, using them as quantum simulators for nanoscale solid-state devices. Research directions: (1) Mesoscopic quantum transport β€” fermionic cold atoms transported through quantum point contacts, studying conductance quantization, shot noise, and thermoelectric effects in atomic-scale channels; (2) Fermionic superfluidity in confined geometries β€” observing and probing pairing in constrictions; (3) Dissipation and open quantum systems β€” controlled introduction of loss to study non-Hermitian quantum physics; (4) Quantum thermometry in ultracold systems β€” using transport signatures as precision thermometers. Analogous to quantum Hall measurements and nanoelectronics in an ultra-clean platform.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics – Institute of Physics (IPHYS) | Laboratory of Quantum and Nano-Optics (LQNO, Galland Group) @ EPFL
Summary:

Galland leads LQNO at EPFL investigating light-matter interactions in nano-structures and the quantum regime. Research directions: (1) NV centers in diamond for quantum sensing β€” spectroscopy of NV spin states in ultra-thin diamond membranes, development of diamond nanophotonic platforms for enhanced sensing sensitivity; collaboration on quantum sensing with color centers; (2) Plasmonic nanocavities β€” few-nm gap junctions enhance Raman scattering by Γ—10^9, enabling single-molecule vibrational spectroscopy and coherent control; ultrafast and single-photon detection of coherent phonon dynamics; (3) 2D heterostructure photonics β€” entangled photon pair generation enhanced by TMD heterostructures; valley-polarized exciton sources; (4) Optical frequency conversion for quantum applications. SNSF-funded professor, internationally recognized for molecular optomechanics and carbon nanotube quantum optics.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics – Institute of Physics (IPHYS) / CIBM | Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (Gruetter Group, CIBM) @ EPFL
Summary:

Gruetter leads the Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LFMI) at EPFL and co-directs the CIBM (Centre for Biomedical Imaging). Research directions: (1) Ultra-high-field in vivo MR spectroscopy β€” developing 1H, 13C, 31P, 23Na MRS at 14.1T animal and 7T human systems to measure metabolite concentrations (glutamate, GABA, lactate) in brain with unprecedented sensitivity; (2) Quantum coherence effects in NMR β€” exploiting J-coupling evolution and JPRESS sequences for quantum-selective metabolite editing; (3) Hyperpolarization β€” DNP-enhanced metabolite sensing in vivo for tracking metabolic flux in real time; (4) Neuroimaging β€” quantitative BOLD fMRI calibration and cerebral blood flow mapping. The 14.1T magnet is among the world's most powerful for biological NMR spectroscopy.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics – Institute of Physics (IPHYS) | Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements (K-Lab) @ EPFL
Summary:

Kippenberg leads the Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements (K-Lab) at EPFL, pioneer of chip-scale microresonator frequency combs and cavity optomechanics. Research directions: (1) Soliton microcombs β€” dissipative Kerr solitons in Si3N4 microresonators for massively parallel coherent optical communications, precision ranging/LiDAR (Science 2018, Nature 2017); dual-chirped microcomb parallel ranging at megapixel rates; (2) Room-temperature quantum optomechanics β€” phononic-crystal-patterned Si3N4 membrane-in-the-middle cavity reduces frequency noise 700Γ—, observing quantum backaction at room temperature (Nature 2024); (3) Superconducting circuit optomechanics β€” topological lattices, electromechanical sensing (Nature 2022); (4) Free-electron–photon interactions in microresonators. Spin-off companies and strong industry ties. Over 85,000 citations, h-index ~80.

Department(s)/lab(s): School of Life Sciences (SV) | Schueder Lab (High-Resolution Microscopy) @ EPFL
Summary:

Schueder is a newly appointed (2025) EPFL Assistant Professor specializing in high-resolution microscopy and its biological applications. He played a key role in the development of DNA-PAINT, a super-resolution microscopy technique enabling nanometer-scale (~5 nm) visualization of cellular structures via transient programmable DNA hybridization. Research directions: (1) DNA-PAINT super-resolution β€” multiplexed, quantitative imaging of protein complexes in fixed and living cells with Exchange-PAINT; (2) Single-molecule localization below 5 nm resolution β€” resolving individual proteins within complexes; (3) Biological applications β€” imaging cytoskeletal networks, receptor clustering, chromatin organization; (4) Expanding to in situ structural biology β€” correlating super-resolution images with cryo-EM data. Transferred from ETH Zurich. Strong fit with EPFL imaging and structural biology ecosystem.