Dr Nikita Kavokine, currently Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, is named Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry starting from the 1^st of October 2024.
The chemist Nikita Kavokine has won several awards in the young research field of nanofluidics, which investigates the behaviour and control of fluids on the nanoscale. Findings from nanofluidics help drive forward industrial innovations such as the desalination of water and the development of renewable energies. Nikita Kavokine has already produced an impressive number of groundbreaking research results. His approach to the quantum technology of hydrodynamic fluids will help EPFL assume a leading position in modern techniques of molecular separation.

Dr Suong Nguyen, currently Postdoctoral Researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA, is named Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Chemistry starting from the 1^st of March 2025.
Suong Nguyen works in the field of synthetic chemistry, for which she has won numerous awards. She uses an interdisciplinary approach in order to develop photo-controlled catalytic methods that are applied to the organic synthesis and functionalisation of materials, especially polymer structures. Her groundbreaking achievements in the field of photo-induced activation of C-H bonds open up promising prospects for duroplast elastomers such as rubber or silicone, and are of great interest to industry. Suong Nguyen’s research methods and expertise complement and enhance the research already taking place at EPFL.