Carl Petersen studied physics as a bachelor student in Oxford (1989-1992). During his PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Sir Michael Berridge in Cambridge (1992-1996), he investigated cellular and molecular mechanisms of calcium signalling. In his first postdoctoral period (1996-1998), he joined the laboratory of Prof. Roger Nicoll at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to investigate synaptic transmission and plasticity in the hippocampus. During a second postdoctoral period, in the laboratory of Prof. Bert Sakmann at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg (1999-2003), he began working on the primary somatosensory barrel cortex, investigating cortical circuits and sensory processing. Carl Petersen joined the Brain Mind Institute of the Faculty of Life Sciences at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2003, setting up the Laboratory of Sensory Processing to investigate the functional operation of neuronal circuits in awake mice during quantified behavior.

1992-1996. Doctoral Student. Advisor Prof Sir Michael Berridge at the University of Cambridge, England.
1989-1992. Bachelor Student of Physics (1st class degree) at the University of Oxford, England.

2019-2022. Director of the Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland.
2014-present. Full Professor. Head of the Laboratory of Sensory Processing, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland.
2010-2013. Associate Professor. Head of the Laboratory of Sensory Processing, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland.
2003-2009. Assistant Professor. Head of the Laboratory of Sensory Processing, Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, Switzerland.
1999-2003. Post Doctoral Research Fellow. Advisor Prof Bert Sakmann, Department of Cell Physiology, Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany.
1996-1998. Post Doctoral Research Fellow. Advisor Prof Roger Nicoll, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
1991. Research Assistant. Advisor Prof Yasunobo Okada, Department of Physiology, Kyoto University, Japan.
1990. Research Assistant. Advisor Prof Ole Petersen, The Physiological Laboratory, University of Liverpool, England, UK.