Profile picture
Administrative data

Nicolas Grandjean

nicolas.grandjean@epfl.ch http://laspe.epfl.ch/

EPFL SB IPHYS LASPE
PH D3 325 (Bâtiment PH)
Station 3
1015 Lausanne

Nicolas Grandjean received his PhD in Physics from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis in 1994, after which he joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as a research scientist. In 2004, he was appointed tenure-track Assistant Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he established the Laboratory for Advanced Semiconductors for Photonics and Electronics (LASPE). He was promoted to Full Professor in 2009.

From 2012 to 2016, he served as Director of the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics.  In 2016, he spent six months as a Visiting Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He subsequently served as Head of the EPFL School of Physics from 2018 to 2022.

In 2025, he was appointed Associate Vice President for Education at EPFL. Since October 2026, he has served as Vice President for Education.

His achievements in research and teaching have been recognized through several distinctions, including the Sandoz Family Foundation Grant for Academic Promotion (2004–2007), the Nakamura Lecturer Award in 2010, the Quantum Devices Award at Compound Semiconductor Week in 2017, and the EPFL School of Physics Best Teacher Award in 2016. In 2022, he received the "Polysphère d’Or", awarded by the EPFL student association to recognize the best teacher at EPFL.

In addition to his academic and institutional responsibilities, Nicolas Grandjean has been actively involved in scientific governance and industry–academia collaborations. He served on the Board of RIBER company (2019–2026), and was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Paul-Drude-Institut (2018–2025). He has also served as a scientific advisor to several companies, contributing his expertise in semiconductor physics, materials science, and photonics. 

Nicolas Grandjean has authored more than 600 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has delivered plenary lectures at major international conferences. His research focuses on the physics and technology of III-nitride wide-bandgap semiconductors, with particular emphasis on quantum photonics.



Awards

Sandoz Family Foundation grant for Academic Promotion

2004

Nakamura Lecturer award

UCSB

2010

Polysphère d' Or

PolySphère award for best teacher in EPFL's School of Basic Sciences as well as the PolySphère d'Or for best teacher overall

2022

Quantum Devices Award

Compound Semiconductor Week Conference

2017

ISPlasma Prize

ISPlasma/IC-PLANTS International Symposium, Japan

2025

Teaching & PhD

PhD Students

Alexandros Bampis, Giulio Carotta, Anna Schwab, Anna Toschi, Leonardo Trentini

Past EPFL PhD Students

Yao Chen (2024), Danxuan Chen (2024), Gabriel Christmann (2009), Joachim Ciers (2018), Gatien Cosendey (2013), Etienne François Olivier Giraud (2015), Marlene Glauser (2014), Marcus Gonschorek (2011), Camille Haller (2019), Nils Asmus Kristian Kaufmann (2013), Jacques Levrat (2012), Wei Liu (2019), Pierre Lottigier (2024), Lorenzo Lugani (2015), Marco Malinverni (2015), Sylvain Nicolay (2008), Georg Rossbach (2014), Ian Rousseau (2018), Hoda Shirzad (2024), Dobri Simeonov (2008), Pirouz Sohi (2019), Johann Stachurski (2024), Luca Alex Milo Sulmoni (2014), Sebastian Pascal Tamariz Kaufmann (2019), Noelia Vico Triviño (2015), Thomas Fjord Kjaersgaard Weatherley (2023), Xi Zeng (2015), Tiankai Zhu (2009)

Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector

Antoine Maxime Delgoffe (2020), Anas Mouti (2011)

Courses

Advanced lll-Nitride Semiconductor Devices

EE-627

This course covers advanced topics on compound semiconductors (lll-Nitrides) and their heterostructures, from both physics and engineering perspectives, to explain the principles of some of the widespread electronic and optoelectronic devices used in our lives (LEDs, lasers, HEMTS, and power FETS).

Introduction to Metalorganic Vapour Phase Epitaxy of III-V semiconductors

PHYS-747

This course offers an insight into the science of epitaxial growth, a chapter of surface science requiring basic understanding of thermodynamics, crystallography, electronic and optical properties of semiconductors.

Physics of photonic semiconductor devices

PHYS-434

Series of lectures covering the physics of quantum heterostructures, dielectric microcavities and photonic crystal cavities as well as the properties of the main light emitting devices that are light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs).