Professor at the ETH Zurich, René Schwarzenbach heads the environmental chemistry group. This renowned chemist worked for several years at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology EAWAG. Recipient of several international distinctions, he was the first person outside the USA to receive the Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology prize awarded by the American Chemical Society. His current research focuses on organic pollutants, or more specifically, on the processes that govern their behavior and fate in the environment (water surfaces, groundwater, soils, residues from treated plants, etc.). His group is studying the sorption behavior (absorption or adsorption) of complex molecules in order to facilitate the neutralization of organic pollutants.