Anne-Sophie Chauvin

EPFL SB SCGC-GE
CP1 268 (Amphipole UNIL)
Rte de la Sorge
1015 Lausanne

Mission

Anne-Sophie Chauvin is involved in the fields of chemistry, and supramolecular chemistry, especially with f elements, with a focus on developing novel coordination polymers with actinides and exploring luminescence properties with lanthanides for biological and technological applications (such as invisible inks).
In parallel, she is also developing palladium-based metallacages, further expanding her interest in the construction of functional supramolecular architectures through coordination-driven self-assembly.
She is teaching General and Analytical Chemistry to first-year Pharmacy and Biology students at UNIL, and overseeing practical sessions for students in chemistry, pharmacy, and biology.
She is elected at the FSB Faculty Council and was member of the EPFL Assembly (AE) for 6 years, until 2018. She was member of the Management committee of the Cost CM 1006 action entitled Eufen: European F-Element Network and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). She is Member of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS).
 Anne-Sophie Chauvin began her academic journey at the University Paris V-René Descartes in France, where she earned her PhD in bioinorganic chemistry, focusing on mimetic complexes of Nitrile Hydratase's active site under the guidance of Prof. Jean-Claude Chottard. After completing a postdoctoral stay at the University of Geneva with Prof. Alexandre Alexakis, where she researched the determination of the absolute configuration of chiral alcohols  by 31-P NMR , she continued her work in supramolecular chemistry in Prof. Jean-Claude G. Bünzli's group. Here, her research centered on designing ligands that form water-soluble complexes with luminescent lanthanides for biological applications. She was appointed part-time lecturer in 2001, and in 2006, she obtained the habilitation to direct research (HDR) from the University René Descartes. In 2007, she became Maître d'Enseignement et de Recherche at EPFL. Her later research interests have included photovoltaics and organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) at the Laboratory for Photonics and Interfaces (LPI) headed by Pr. Michaël Graëtzel, as well as developing invisible inks based on lanthanide complexes. Since 2014, with the arrival of Dr Marinella Mazzanti at EPFL she has returned to studying lanthanide and actinide chemistry, focusing on luminescence and coordination polymers involving actinides (U(IV), U(V), Th(IV)). In March 2025, she joined the group of Pr Kay Severin to further her work in supramolecular chemistry and she is now exploring Pd metallacages.

Awards

Teaching award for SCGC section

Best pedagogical team in the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering section

2020

Outsanding Undergraduate Teaching award for Biologie bachelor for biology and pharmacy students

UNIL FBM

2023

Teaching & PhD

Past EPFL PhD Students

Julien Alexandre Andres, Andreichenko Andrei

Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector

Steve Comby, Aurélien René Willauer

Courses

Approfondissements en chimie analytique (pour PHA)

UNIL-132

This course is complementary to the course entitled general and analytical chemistry II (UNIL 102) for biologists and pharmacists. It is given only to the pharmacy students. It makes it possible to go further in analytical chemistry.

Chemistry Laboratory Work I

CH-108(a)

The student will learn how to work in a chemistry laboratory. He/she will acquire a quantitative and/or qualitative approach. TP carried out are in relation to the courses of chemistry and will be followed by a second part "TP2".

Chemistry Laboratory Work II

CH-109(a)

Introduction to basic manipulations in general, inorganic and analytical chemistry. Introduction to classical quantitative analysis. Learn to carry out quantitative analysis. General principles of the classical quantitative analysis.

Chemistry analytic laboratory I (for BIO)

UNIL-103

The objective of these practical works is to familiarize the student one with the techniques of basic manipulations and with the classical and instrumental methods of analysis. The laboratory work are also an illustration of the concepts described in the courses of general analytical Chemitry I+ II

Chemistry analytic laboratory I (for PHA)

UNIL-104

The objective of these practical works is to familiarize the student one with the techniques of basic manipulations and with the classical and instrumental methods of analysis. The laboratory work are also an illustration of the concepts described in the courses of general analytical Chemitry I+ II

Chemistry analytic laboratory II (for PHA)

UNIL-105

These practical works are the continuation of the practical works TP I given to the fall semester

General and analytical chemistry I (for BIU+PHU)

UNIL-101

To acquire the basic concepts to understand the impact of chemistry for a biologist or a pharmacist, in particular with regard to the comprehension of the essential phenomena of the Life (breathing, cellular activities)

General and analytical chemistry II (for BIU+PHA)

UNIL-102

This formation is in continuation to the course "General Chemistry I". It aims to give to the biologists and pharmacists a broad knowledge on chemistry and at applying the basic concepts previously acquired.