Biography
Romain Quidant received a PhD in Physics (2002) from the University of Dijon, France. He then joined the newly created ICFO in Barcelona as a postdoctoral researcher. In 2006, he was appointed junior Professor (tenure-track) and group leader of the Plasmon NanoOptics group at ICFO. In 2009, he became tenure Professor both at ICFO and ICREA. After nearly 18 years at ICFO, in June 2020, he joined the Mechanical and Process Engineering department (D-MAVT) at ETH Zurich. He is recipient of 5 ERC grants and several international and national prizes. Since January 2022, he serves as the Editor-in-chief of ACSPhotonics (American Chemical Society).
The research of the Quidant’s lab focuses on nano-optics, at the interface between photonics and nanotechnology. It uses the unique optical properties of nanostructures as enabling tools to design solutions to scientific and technological challenges, in a wide set of disciplines, from fundamental physics to biotechnology and medicine. This makes its activities highly multidisciplinary, covering both basic and applied research. The most fundamental part is mainly directed towards enhanced light/matter interaction and optomechanics. From a more applied standpoint, the team investigates new strategies to control light and heat at the nanometer scale for biomedical applications, including lab-on-a-chip technology, and for reconfigurable planar optics.