Joël François Mesot (born 31 August 1964) is a Swiss
physicist and academic. He is currently the
President of the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, also known as
ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
.
Biography
Mesot was born in
Geneva, Switzerland, where he grew up. He studied physics at the
ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
from 1984 to 1989, followed by doctoral studies at the same university as well as at the
Institut Laue-Langevin,
Grenoble in France. In 1992, he was awarded a PhD in physics (Dr. sc. nat.) from the ETH Zurich with a thesis on high-temperature superconductors supervised by Albert Furrer. Thereafter he joined the
Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) as a researcher in the field of
neutron scattering. He continued his research at the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...
in
Chicago to perform angle-resolved photoemission
spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
(ARPES) experiments. In 1999, he returned to the PSI, where he was responsible for the laboratory investigating neutron scattering. He became chair of the PSI Research Commission in 2007. In August 2008, he was promoted to head the entire operations at PSI as its Director. At the same time, he was named full professor at the ETH Zurich as well as at the
EPF Lausanne. He is a member of the ''ETH Board'' since 2010. Mesot is a trustee of the
Marcel Benoist Prize committee. Since January 2019, he is President of the ETH Zurich. Mesot is the first President of the ETH Zurich coming from the French speaking part of Switzerland. He is fluent in French, German and English.
Awards
* 1995: IBM prize of the Swiss Physical Society for ''Outstanding Work in Neutron Spectroscopic Studies of the Crystal Field in High-Tc Superconductors.''
* 2002:
Latsis prize of the ETH Zurich for his ''outstanding contribution to the investigation of high-temperature superconductors by neutron scattering and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy.''
[''Présentation des Traveaux des quatres Lauréats.'' Fondation Latsis Internationale, No. 18, 2002]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesot, Joel
1964 births
Living people
ETH Zurich faculty
Swiss physicists