Michel Kenzelmann has been named as new chair of the research committee of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI FoKo). from 1 March 2026 he will succeed Marco Stampanoni who chaired the committee since 2018.
Michel studied physics at ETH Zurich and earned his doctorate in solid-state physics at the University of Oxford. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, he joined ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in 2004 as an SNF Professor. In 2008, he assumed leadership of the Laboratory for Scientific Developments and Novel Materials, which turned into today's Laboratory for Neutron and Muon Instrumentation LIN in CNM. Since 2017, he has headed the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging.
Michel is an internationally recognized expert in the field of neutron scattering as well as in magnetism and correlation phenomena in quantum materials. In addition to his own outstanding research, he has extensive experience in managing large-scale research infrastructures, in the strategic development of research and instrumentation at SINQ, and in participating in and leading international committees. He currently serves as Chair of LENS (League of Advanced European Neutron Sources). A particular focus of his work is the sustainable support of early-career researchers, the development of new funding channels for research at PSI, and the safeguarding of scientific excellence.
We congratulate Michel on this appointment and wish him every success for this important task!