Stefan HAACKE

Stefan HAACKE is a Professor at the University of Strasbourg, affiliated with the Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS) and Télécom Physique Strasbourg since 2004. He served as Director of IPCMS from 2013 to 2017. Previously, he held positions as Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne (1999-2004) and Post-Doc at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL, 1994-1999). His academic credentials include a Habilitation in Physics from EPFL (1999), a PhD in Physics from Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble (1994), and an M.Sc. in Physics from TU Berlin (1990).

His research focuses on ultrafast photophysical processes in complex molecular systems, including:

• Photoisomerization mechanisms in retinal proteins and biomimetic molecular switches, examining environmental effects and vibrational coherence.
• Ultrafast spectroscopy of functional nanomaterials for energy conversion, particularly Fe(II) complexes and near-IR dye-sensitized solar cells.
• Non-linear optical phenomena and advanced spectroscopic method development.

Recent publications (2021-2025) demonstrate strong emphasis on ultrafast dynamics in solar energy materials, photoisomerization mechanisms, and spectroscopic characterization of metal complexes. Key trends include interdisciplinary approaches combining ultrafast spectroscopy, materials synthesis, and computational modeling to study photoinduced processes in biomimetic systems and renewable energy applications.

He leads multiple collaborative grants including:

• ANR Project 'PhotoMecha' (2020-2024) on femtosecond X-ray diffraction of photoswitches.
• ANR 'PhotIron' (2016-2021) and 'VISION-NIR' (2018-2022) on iron-based photosensitizers.
• DFG-ANR 'Femto-ASR' (2014-2018) on retinal protein dynamics.
• ITI QMAT 'VibCo-Fe' (2021-2023) on vibrational coherence in iron complexes.

He coordinates the Strasbourg 'École Universitaire de Recherche' QMAT (Quantum Science and Nanomaterials) and collaborates internationally, including guest scientist roles at Max-Born-Institute Berlin. He chaired the 27th International Conference on Photochemistry (2017) and serves on scientific boards for major photonics conferences.