Rakesh Chawla

Rakesh Chawla is an Honorary Professor at EPFL, affiliated with the School of Basic Sciences (SB) and the Department of Physics. He holds roles at both EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), where he directed the Laboratory of Reactor Physics and Systems Engineering. His career includes positions as Extraordinary Professor (1994) and Full Professor (1997) at EPFL, focusing on nuclear engineering education and reactor experiments (e.g., CROCUS reactor).

Education: PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Imperial College, University of London (1970). Early career included roles at the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

Research interests span experimental/analytical work on advanced nuclear systems' safety, fuel cycle dynamics, waste transmutation, and reactor behavior analysis. He has supervised 11 doctoral theses at EPFL, contributing to nuclear energy innovation and safety.

Labs/Teams: Former director of PSI's Laboratory of Reactor Physics and Systems Engineering, collaborating on projects like the PROTEUS research reactor.