Louise Harra appointed Affiliated Professor
The ETH Board has appointed or promoted nine new professors, among them Louise Harra, designated Director of the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) as Affiliated Professor of Solar Astrophysics at the Department of Physics.
For the first time, these candidates were proposed by the new ETH President, Joël Mesot. They include a high proportion of women: over forty percent. The ETH Board awarded at its latest meeting also acknowledged the departure of two professors form the Department of Physics.
Appointment
Prof. Dr. Louise Harra (*1969), currently Professor at University College, London, United Kingdom, and designated Director of the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) has been appointed as Affiliated Professor of Solar Astrophysics. Louise Harra is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of solar physics. The focus of her research is on the trigger of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, and her results have a substantial impact on instrumentation, particularly in relation to space travel. Louise Harra is currently Principal Investigator of the Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) and Co-Principal Investigator of the EUV Imager for the forthcoming ESA Solar Orbiter mission 2020. By appointing her as an affiliated professor, the Department of Physics is strengthening its activities in the field of astrophysics and, by intensifying its cooperation with the PMOD/WRC, is opening up new possibilities for space missions.
Departures
Prof. Dr. Lesya Shchutska (*1985), currently Assistant Professor of Experimental Particle Physics, will leave ETH Zurich at the end of March 2019 in order to take up a Tenure Track Assistant Professorship at EPFL. Lesya Shchutska was a Research Associate at ETH Zurich from 2013, and was appointed to an Assistant Professorship in 2018 when she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant. She is an internationally recognised expert in the search for supersymmetric particles. Her current research focuses on the search for physical phenomena beyond the standard model of particle physics.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Troyer (*1968), currently Full Professor of Computational Physics, will leave ETH Zurich at the end of June 2019 in order to work for Microsoft in the USA. Matthias Troyer was appointed to his present post in 2005. He conducts research into the development of new simulation algorithms for quantum systems and the numerical simulation of quantum phase transitions, strongly correlated fermionic systems, ultracold atomic gases and quantum computers. His contribution to teaching includes establishing the field of Computational Physics within the Master’s programme.