Jérôme Waser

Jérôme Waser is a Full Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he leads the Laboratory of Catalysis and Organic Synthesis (LCSO) within the School of Basic Sciences and the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering. He also serves in teaching roles through the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (SCGC) and the Doctoral Program in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (EDCH). Additionally, he is an active member of the Strategic Committee for Open Science and the EPFL Academic Evaluation Committee.

Waser's educational background includes chemistry studies at ETH Zurich (1997-2001), a Diploma under Prof. Erick M. Carreira, followed by PhD studies at ETH Zurich under the same supervisor (2002-2006), and postdoctoral research at Stanford University with Prof. Barry M. Trost.

His research focuses on discovering new reactivity in organic chemistry, with particular emphasis on catalysis, hypervalent iodine chemistry, alkynylation reactions, asymmetric synthesis, and cyclopropane chemistry. His work enables non-classical bond disconnections and has led to numerous methodological advances in synthetic organic chemistry.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trend toward developing novel reagents (particularly ethynyl benziodoxolones for alkynylation), exploring cyclopropane chemistry for complex molecule synthesis, and advancing catalytic asymmetric methodologies. His research bridges fundamental reagent development with applications in natural product synthesis and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Waser has supervised an extensive list of doctoral students across various projects in organic synthesis, mentoring over 30 PhD candidates according to available records. His teaching responsibilities include Advanced General Chemistry courses, Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering in Industry, and specialized courses on asymmetric catalysis and sustainable chemical synthesis.

He maintains an active research laboratory with dedicated web resources for teaching and synthesis problems, reflecting his commitment to both research excellence and educational innovation in organic chemistry.