Michael Graetzel, professor at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, directs there the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He discovered a new type of solar cell based on dye sensitized mesoscopic oxide particles and pioneered the use of nanomaterials in energy conversion devices. Graetzel is the author of over 500 publications, two books and inventor of 46 patents, he ranks amongst the most highly cited scientists in the world. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the 2007 Harvey prize, the 2000 European Millennium Innovation award and the Faraday Medal of the British Royal Society of Chemistry. He received a PhD from the Technical University Berlin and honorary doctors degrees from the Universities of Delft, Uppsala and Turin. Graetzel is a member of the Swiss Chemical Society as well as of the European Academy of Science and was elected honorary member of the Société Vaudoise de Sciences Naturelles.
