About Me

Group leader at Eawag and full professor at EPFL

Education
PhD Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Switzerland, 1989.
Diploma Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Department of Chemistry, Switzerland, 1983

Major Research Areas

• Water quality
• Water treatment
• Chemical oxidation processes in drinking water and wastewater treatment: kinetics and mechanisms of formation of disinfection by-products and degradation of micropollutants
• Role of dissolved organic matter during oxidative water treatment
  
• Characterization of oxidation treatment processes
• Advanced oxidation processes

Former Professional Activities

• 2023    Chair of the Gordon Research Conference “Disinfection, disinfection by-products and health”, Mt Holyoke College, USA, July 30– Aug. 4, 2023.
• 2019    Co-chair oft he Gordon Research Conference “Disinfection, disinfection by-products and health”, Mt Holyoke College, USA, July 27 – Aug. 3, 2019.
• 2016    Co-organizer of PEAK seminar ”Neue Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze in der Wasserversorgung – Fallbeispiele aus dem Kanton BL”. Dübendorf, November 11, 2016
• 2015    Organizer of PEAK seminar “Micropollutants in drinking water”, Dübendorf, October 30
  
• 2014 Co-Organizer of Eawag Infotag "Wasserversorgung und Uferfiltration - ein System unter Druck?", Dübendorf, September 9.
• 2014 Co-Organizer of symposium "Advanced oxidation processes for water treatment", 5th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2014, Aug. 31 - Sept. 4, Istanbul, Turkey.
• 2013 Co-Organizer of PEAK seminar on "Oxidation and Disinfection Processes", Aug. 30, Dübendorf.
• 2013 Co-Organizer of the Micropol & Ecohazard Conference, Zürich, June 17-19.
• 2013 Co-Organizer of the session "Advanced Oxidation - Technologies and Applications", Leading Edge Technology Conference, Bordeaux, June 2-6.
• 2011 Co-Organizer of Korean-Swiss Science Days in Zürich “Water for the Future”, ETHZ, November 9-10.
• 2010 Co-Organizer of an international symposium “Oxidation processes in natural and technical aquatic systems” in honour of Jürg Hoigné’s 80 birthday, Eawag, May 21, 2010.
• 2010 Co-Organizer of 23. Mülheimer Wassertechnisches Seminar “Möglichkeiten und Grenzen von oxidativen Prozessen in der Wasserreinhaltung”, March 11, 2010, IWW, Mülheim an der Ruhr
• 2008 Co-Organizer of the Eawag Infotag 2008 “Vom Gewässer ins Glas”, Sept. 12, 2008, Eawag, Dübendorf
• 2008 Organizing committee of Leading Edge Technology Conference (LET), Zürich, June 1-4, 2008.
• 2008 Co-organizer of Sino-Swiss workshop “Water Resources Management and Drinking Water Quality”, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, January
• 2007 Organizer of Wave21 seminar on “New insights in the field of drinking water treatment”, Dübendorf, Sept. 14, 2007.
• 2007 Co-organizer of a symposium entitled “Sustainability in Water Supply: Advances in Oxidation Processes for Water Treatment” at ACS Spring conference, Chicago, March 25-29, 2007.
• 2006 Organizer of Wave21 seminar on “New developments of analytical methods for drinking water analysis”, Dübendorf, Sept. 15, 2006.
• 2005 Organizer of Wave21 seminar on “New applications of ozone in water treatment”, Sept. 23, 2005, Dübendorf
• 1999 Co-organizer of 200th Anniversary Symposium in honor of Ch. F. Schönbein - the discoverer of ozone, October 1999, Basel.
• 1995 Organizer of a symposium in honor of J. Hoigné, June, 1995, Dübendorf, Switzerland
• 1991 Co-organizer of the workshop "Chemodynamics of Groundwaters", November, 1991, Mont Sainte-Odile, France
  

Academic Honors

• 2024    Honor Award for Scientific Excellence of the Environmental Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society
• 2024    Sandmeyer Award of the Swiss Chemical Society
• 2023    Special Issue of Environmental Science and Technology “Oxidative Water Treatment: The Track Ahead” in Honor of Urs von Gunten
• 2023    Outstanding Achievements in Environmental Science and Technology Award, Europe, Middle East and Africa Region
• 2022    ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology
• 2021    Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher
• 2020    Environmental Science and Technology Best Paper Award
• 2020    Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher
• 2019    Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher
• 2019    Journal of the American Water Works Association Best Paper Award
• 2018    Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher
• 2015    Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher
  
• 2015 Recipient of the Harvey Rosen Award 2015 of the International Ozone Association
• 2015 Professorship under the Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship Initiative for Distinguished Scientists
• 2014 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher
• 2013 Distinguished Lecturer for AEESP at the American Water Works Association Annual Conference, Denver, June 10.
• 2012 Adjunct Professor at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Korea.
• 2011 Full Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne.
• 2010 Adjunct Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• 2010 Adjunct Professor at the Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
• 2007 Honorary Professorship at the Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, 2007
• 2007 Recipient of the Harvey Rosen Award 2007 of the International Ozone Association
• 2007 Environmental Science and Technology Excellence in Review Award, 2007
• 2006 Professor title at ETHZ, Department of Environmental Sciences, July 2006
• 2002 Habilitation thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) 2002
• 2001 Recipient of the Harvey Rosen Award 2001 of the International Ozone Association
• 1999 Recipient of the Young Water Professional Award 1999 of the IWSA
• 1993 Recipient of a short-term fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation in 1993 and 1994
• 1993 EERO short-term fellowship-holder in 1993
  

Commissions/Editorial Boards

• Member of the main commission (until 2024) for water treatment (HK-WVS) of the Swiss Gas and Water Federation (SVGW).
• Associate Editor “Environmental Science and Technology”, 2010/11
• Guest Editor “Water Research” for special issue on “Emerging Contaminants”, 2010
• Guest Editor „Journal of water supply: Research and Technology-Aqua“ for a special issue on “Oxidation Processes”, 2008.
• Member of the editorial board of the journal ”Ozone: Science and Engineering”.
• Guest Editor “Environmental Science: Water Research and Technology for the themed issue “Drinking water disinfection and oxidation processes”, 2020
• Member in the VSA commission "micropollutants"
  

Dissertations

• 1998 K. Stemmler, Kinetics and mechanism of the hydroxyl radical initiated oxidation of oxygenated volatile organic compounds under simulated tropospheric conditions. Diss. ETH 12918, 1998.
• 2000 Y. Bichsel, Behavior of iodine species in oxidative processes during drinking water treatment. Diss. ETH 13429, 2000.
• 2002 S. Mettler, In situ iron removal from ground water: Fe(II) oxygenation and precipitation products in a calcareous aquifer, Diss. ETH 14724, 2002.
• 2004 M. M. Huber, Elimination of pharmaceuticals during oxidative treatment of drinking water and wastewater: application of ozone and chlorine dioxide. Diss. ETH No. 15768, 2004.
• 2005 M.-O. Buffle, Mechanistic investigation of the initial phase of ozone decomposition in drinking water and wastewater: Impact on the oxidation of emerging contaminants, disinfection and by-product formation. Diss. ETH No. 16266, 2005. Recipient of Willy Masschelein Award for best thesis of the International Ozone Association, 2007.
• 2008 A. Peter, Taste and odor in drinking water: sources and mitigation strategies. Diss. ETH 17761, 2008. Recipient of Otto Jaag Gewässerschutz-Preis, 2008.
• 2008 M. C. Dodd, Characterization of ozone-based oxidative treatment as a means of eliminating the target-specific biological activities of municipal wastewater-borne antibacterial compounds. Diss. ETH No. 17934, 2008. Recipient of the CH2M-Hill/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, 2009; recipient of GDCh Young Scientist Award, 2009; recipient of ETH silver medal.
• 2010 M. K. Ramseier, Assimilable organic carbon formation and disinfection during oxidative drinking water treatment. Diss. ETH No. 19157, 2010.
• 2011 S. G. Zimmermann, Enhanced wastewater treatment by ozone and ferrate: Kinetics, transformation products and full-scale ozonation. Diss. ETH No. 19615, 2011. Recipient of Otto Jaag Gewässerschutz-Preis, 2011.
• 2012 J. Wenk, The role of dissolved organic matter in aquatic oxidation processes. Diss. ETH No. 20503, 2012.
• 2014 M. Rudolf von Rohr, Redox processes during riverbank filtration under climate change scenarios: column studies. Diss. ETH No 22047, 2014.
• 2014 S. Bahnmüller, Photochemical transformation processes of micropollutants in surface waters and wastewaters, Diss. ETH No 22280, 2014.
• 2015 F. Soltermann, Chloramines in swimming pools: Occurrence, formation pathways and mitigation strategies, Diss. ETH No 22497, 2015.
• 2015    F. Soltermann, Chloramines in swimming pools: Occurrence, formation pathways and mitigation strategies, Diss. ETH No 22497, 2015. Recipient of ETH silver medal.
• 2016    M. Heeb, Bromine in oxidative water treatment, Diss. EPFL No 6982, 2016
• 2016    M. Lee, Formation of transformation products during ozonation of micropollutant- containing waters: Kinetics and reaction mechanisms, Diss. EPFL No 7177, 2016
• 2016    S. Spahr, Tracking water disinfection by-product formation by multi-element isotope fractionation analysis, Diss. EPFL No 7196, 2016 (co-advisor)
  
• 2016    F. Leresche, Antioxidant effect of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on indirect photochemical transformation of contaminants in surface waters, Diss. EPFL No 7304, 2016
• 2019    C. Wolf, Inactivation of waterborne viruses by ozone: Kinetics and mechanisms, Diss. EPFL No 9370, 2019 (co-advisor)
• 2020    S. E. Lim, Transformation of nitrogen-containing compounds with ozone: Kinetics and mechanisms, Diss. EPFL No 7095, 2020
• 2020    E. Müller, Reactions of hypobromous acid with marine organic sulfur and selenium species, Diss. ETH No 27251, 2020 (co-advisor)
• 2021    M. Voumard, Presence of sub-inhibitory concentrations of quaternary ammonium compounds in water: Effects on bacteria and their inactivation by ozone and monochloramine, Diss. EPFL No 8072, 2021
• 2021    S. Remke, Role of long-lived photooxidants in the degradation of micropollutants, Diss. EPFL No 8890, 2021
• 2022    R. Wünsch, Pretreatment options for micropollutant abatement before aquifer recharge in drinking water production: Assessment of UV/H2O2 and dense mebranes, Diss. EPFL No 9428, 2022
• 2023    J. Houska, Reactions of carbonous functional groups in dissolved organic matter with ozone, Diss. EPFL No 10092, 2023. Recipient of the PhD thesis award of the German Water Chemistry Society.
  
  

Drinking Water Chemistry, Eawag
Competence Centre for Drinking Water
Laboratory for Water Quality and Treatment, EPFL

[[ element.title ]]

[[ element.title ]]

Curriculum Vitae

[[ element.title ]]

[[ element.title ]]

[[ element.title ]]