SENSE missions are to explore climate change and greenhouse gas biogeochemistry through engineering / new technologies, with a focus on extreme and marine environments. The corresponding motto summarizing our mission could be expressed as “Tech for Climate”.
Research topics
1
Greenhouse gas biogeochemistry in aquatic environments, i.e. what are the production and consumption mechanisms of these gases, possibly affecting the fluxes between the aquatic environment and the atmosphere
2
Smart sensors : additional data are required, at better spatial and temporal scales. We develop sensors, including affordable ones, allowing to increase the data coverage
3
Low tech and citizen science : engage sailors to equip their sailing boats with low cost sensors allowing to get scientific profit of their expedition
Our key projects
BASAL-CH4
A project funded by the Swiss polar institute, during which we evaluated methane (CH4) fluxes from west Greenland fjords in summer, making use of our in-situ sensor called SubOcean and of an expedition by the Swiss scientific sailing boat FOREL.
We continue to acquire detailed measurements of dissolved nitrous oxide (N2O) and dissolved CH4 in Lake Geneva and other Swiss lakes at different seasons, with the final goal to evaluate their production and consumption mechanisms, as well as fluxes towards the atmosphere.
LéXPLORE platform Eawag UNIL
Sailowtech
We design, construct and improve low-cost sensors to measure temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and dissolved CO2 in aquatic environments. This will help to develop citizen science for a better spatial and temporal recording of these important variables. Since 2025, our team ensures the overall academic coordination of Sailowtech.
Our detailed in-situ analyses of dissolved CH4 in Lake Geneva have demonstrated that high concentrations far from the Rhone river delta are mostly generated by lateral transport from the delta itself.
2
Prof. Dr. Jérôme Chappellaz, who leads the SENSE unit, received the Belgica Medal from the royal academy of sciences in Belgium.
3
Projects supported by the Swiss polar institute : BASAL-CH4 and NITRO-BAFFIN
Team & talents
Lab team size
7
Specific team member
This year Isabel Wild as administrative assistant. She conducts an incredible job following the whole aspects of administration of the team, but also in accompanying ALPOLE Professors with the organization of the bimonthly meeting of all ALPOLE Professors. Her dedication and professionalism are truly astonishing and a great asset for our team and for ALPOLE.
Skills developed by the scientific team
Multi-disciplinary approach at the interface between environmental geosciences and engineering. Field work and associated logistics. Demanding field environments (lakes, polar regions).
Other
Communication. Such a research topic is of interest for a broad public. Therefore it is important to be able to handle media interviews for instance.
Regional and social impacts
1
Our research provides essential information regarding potential biogeochemical feedbacks activating under a warmer world, which is particularly important in Switzerland where the current warming is stronger than global average.
2
Our research shows that the canton of Valais takes its share of responsibility in better understanding how the climate system works. Our know-how could find ramifications with activities in Valais related with water quality, the carbon and nitrogen cycle.
3
Our research on new sensors may lead to discoveries finding ramifications into industrial applications.
Perspectives and challenges
Priority 1
Improve our current sensors
Priority 2
Deploy the sensors in collaboration with international programs, through new scientific expeditions in different parts of the world
Priority 3
Expand the capacity of citizen science around aquatic environments but possibly other ones as well
Main challenges
There are engineering challenges, requiring to develop connections with different disciplines at EPFL. There are also deployment challenges, as we rely in part on the complex logistics of foreign operators in polar regions. Last but not least, citizen science requires to minimize the budgets of the instruments, which is not always easy.
Future Partnerships
Other Professors within EPFL. Collaboration with Eawag around new types of CTD instruments able to document the physical state of water systems. Collaboration with other nations (in particular Norway) for deployment in polar oceans, with perspectives in Svalbard and in the Southern ocean around Antarctica. Prospect to take part to the BeauPair expedition in 2027 together with Germany and Canada.
Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials (LFIM)
Prof. Wendy Queen
Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials (LFIM)
LFIM pioneers advanced porous materials for gas and liquid separations—specializing in CO₂ capture, water purification, and recovery of valuable metals from waste—to reduce global energy consumption and advance environmental stewardship.
Research topics
1
Carbon Capture: We will develop better ways to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere e and from large point sources, with the aim of making the process cheaper and more effective to help reach carbon neutrality goals.
2
We create cost-effective and sustainable ways to extract valuable and critical metals like platinum, palladium, and gold from waste for its reuse, with the aim of helping ensuring secure material supply chains necessary for the energy transition while promoting environmental stewardship.
3
LFIM designs selective porous materials capable of removing targeted contaminants from water sources, with the aim of helping secure clean water access for all and aid environmental remediation.
Our key projects
NCCR Separations
This year we received funding to launch the NCCR Separations, a Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research dedicated to developing the next generation of separation technologies. By harnessing advanced materials and/or novel processes, we aim to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges — from capturing CO₂ directly from the air to separating ammonia and recovering critical metals from waste streams.
We are developing porous materials able to capture CO2 directly from the air. The project will feature the design and implementation of a CO2 capture unit that will be installed at a local incineration facility in conjunction with ton scale carbon capture from the plant itself.
The group received an SNSF grant this year to develop piperazine- and dihydrophenazine-based building blocks for the design of highly efficient, cost-effective porous adsorbents targeting water treatment and heavy element recovery from complex waste streams.
In collaboration with our industry partner, we started a project to capture fluorinated molecules from gas mixtures. These persistent gases have very high global warming potential, and we aim to reduce their emissions using efficient, cost-effective porous adsorbents.
Scaling Adsorbents for Gold Recovery & Clean Water
Supported by a BRIDGE Proof of Concept Fellowship, our team member Dr. Nazanin Taheri aims to scale up efficient adsorbents for recovering gold and removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater and e-waste, advancing clean water and circular resource recovery.
Our postdoctoral researcher Dr. Nazanin Taheri was selected as a BRIDGE Proof of Concept Fellow, receiving CHF 130k to advance her innovative work. Her project was later selected among the Top 5 startups out of 50 at the Energy & Environment Innovation Day organized by STARTUP CAMPUS Switzerland. In 2026, she also received 2nd place at the Sustainability Week Zurich Startup Award for her work on gold recovery from e-waste and industrial streams, combined with heavy metal removal to support cleaner water and circular resource recovery.
2
Our former PhD student Dr. Till Schertenleib received the EDCH Doctoral Program Thesis Distinction, placing his thesis among the top 8% of 2025 submissions. He was also selected as one of the 2025 MatChem PhD Student Award winners, recognizing the outstanding contribution of his PhD thesis and highlighting his scientific excellence. Dr. Timo Felder was awarded the Outstanding Poster Award at EuroMOF 2025, highlighting the strong impact of his research within the porous materials community. In addition, one of his recent publications was selected for the 2025 Most Popular Porous Materials Articles Collection, highlighting the relevance and visibility of his research. Our PhD student Sanjay Venkatachalam received the Outstanding Poster Award at the Gordon Research Conference in the USA, recognizing the quality and impact of his research presentation.
3
The NCCR “Separations” brings together 20 research groups to accelerate technology transfer, support Swiss sustainability goals, and strengthen innovation. It aims to position Switzerland as a leader in sustainable separation science by strengthening national expertise and building lasting interdisciplinary collaborations.
4
A BRIDGE Proof of Concept Fellowship was secured to support Dr. Nazanin Taheri’s innovative adsorbent technology, paving the way toward a potential EPFL spin-off in the near future. In addition, one patent has been filed based on her innovative adsorbent materials and their application in resource recovery.
Team & talents
Lab team size
15
Introducing a specific team member
Dr. Nazanin Taheri joined LFIM in September 2022 as an organic chemist, applying her expertise to the design of efficient adsorbents for addressing environmental challenges. Over the past three years, under the supervision of Prof. Wendy Lee Queen and through strong teamwork with PhD students, she has developed efficient adsorbents for gold recovery from e-waste and industrial streams, and heavy metal removal from wastewater. Her work has led to outstanding scientific outputs, including a publication in Journal of the American Chemical Society, and has attracted CHF 130k in BRIDGE Proof of Concept funding to support the scale-up and translation of her technology toward real-world applications.
Skills developed by the scientific team
Our team members are developing the ability to translate fundamental scientific knowledge into practical solutions for pressing environmental challenges. Rather than pursuing research in isolation, they focus on technologies that combine scientific rigor with tangible environmental and economic impact.
A key skill is learning to bridge the gap between fundamental research and industry needs, from material design and characterization to application-driven testing, scale-up thinking, technology transfer, and collaboration with industrial partners. This prepares researchers to contribute to a more sustainable planet while advancing innovations with real-world relevance. In fact, while we actively explore scalable solutions for industry, we also maintain a strong focus on fundamental research. For example, our former PhD student Dr. Till Schertenleib carried out outstanding fundamental work that was recognized with the EDCH Doctoral Program Thesis Distinction and the 2025 MatChem PhD Student Award.
Regional and social impacts
1
We develop advanced porous materials to combat climate change through efficient CO₂ capture, purify water by removing toxic metals, and recover valuable metals from e-waste—enabling a circular economy while training future leaders and engaging society through research translation.
2
LFIM helps boost visibility of Valais as a world-class science hub, helps drive economic growth through the creation of startups and bringing in investments, trains future scientists globally, engages the public via GoldRush exhibitions and local media (Canal 9, Nouveliste, RTS, Migros displays), and strengthens regional partnerships for the energy transition through presentations to decision makers and working wiht local industry, and engaging with local schools
3
Our research tackles the industrial energy challenge head-on: separation processes consume 10-15% of global energy. We deliver economic impact through startup creation, patent development protecting novel materials and methods and tech transfer, and through direct industry collaborations in an effort to help bring cutting-edge separation technologies to market.
Perspectives and challenges
Priority 1
Provide new scientific knowledge that may help address exisitng global challenges related to climate change and water scarcity.
Priority 2
Scale our breakthrough materials from lab to industry—transforming CO₂ capture, e-waste recycling, and water purification from research innovations into deployed technologies.
Priority 3
Train the next generation of sustainability leaders while expanding public engagement to inspire action on climate and circular economy.
Main challenges
Bridging the gap between laboratory success and industrial-scale deployment. Making our energy-efficient technologies cost-competitive with existing methods. Securing pilot-scale funding to demonstrate real-world performance. Moving from promising prototypes to commercially viable products that industries will adopt. Developing necesary industrial partnerships
Future Partnerships
Our NCCR is aimed at adressing the above challenges and accelerate separation technology development to more rapidly meet industrial needs related to cost, energy consumption, and enviornmental sustainability. Within the context of this project we already have 8 academic partners and at least 15 supporting industrial partnerships which could be leveraged.
School of Basic Sciences (SB)
Chemistry
Prof. Wendy Queen
Laboratory for Functional Inorganic Materials (LFIM)
Chemistry, physics, materials science
Prof. Dr. Sascha Feldmann
Laboratory for Energy Materials (LEM)
Chemistry
Prof. Raffaella Buonsanti
Laboratory of Nanochemistry for Energy (LNCE)
Chemical Engineering
Prof. Kumar Varoon Agrawal
Laboratory of Advanced Separations (LAS)
CO2 capture
Prof. Berend Smit
Laboratory of Molecular Simulation (LSMO)
Energy, Hydrogen, Physical chemistry
Prof. Andreas Züttel
Laboratory of Materials for Renewable Energy (LMER)
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