Our group is driven by the passion of discovering new reactivity in organic chemistry, especially using catalysis. Basing on high energy molecules, such as strained rings or cyclic hypervalent iodine reagents for electrophilic alkynylation and other transformations, we develop non-conventional bond disconnections for the synthesis of important building blocks and bioactive molecules, as well as the modification of biomolecules. We also control the regioselective functionalization of alkenes and alkynes using in situ tethering approaches. Regular group meetings and seminars allow us to share and enhance our knowledge and love of organic chemistry.
OPENINGS IN THE GROUP For 2027, there is only one position left in Fall for either a PhD or a postdoc. After that, the next hiring will be in Fall 2028. Applications will be considered until September 30, 2026. For master projects and thesis: earliest in Spring 2027.
LCSO on Twitter (Waser Group@LcsoLab)
Latest News
September 8: Daphne Lucidarme successfully completed her candidacy exam and is now the newest senior member of the lab. Congratulations, Daphne!
September 4: We welcomed back former members of LCSO for our Alumni Night. It was a great evening of reconnecting with old friends, sharing memories, and hearing about the exciting paths our alumni have taken since leaving the lab. A big thank you to everyone who joined us and made the evening such a success!
September 1: Clara Jans joined us from the Lautens Lab at the University of Toronto for a visiting PhD stay. We are very happy to welcome Clara to LCSO and look forward to having her with us during her visit!
September 1: Lucie Orain and Felix Goebel successfully completed their candidacy exams and are now senior members of the lab. Congratulations to both!
September 27–28: The SCS Fall Meeting took place in Bern, with Clément Tanguy and Yuji Kamei presenting invited talks. LCSO was also well represented across the topics of organic chemistry, chemical biology, and catalysis. A special congratulations goes to Helena Solé-Avila, who won the Poster Prize in the Organic Chemistry section!
August 20: This year’s group outing took us to the delights of Fribourg! The day included a chocolate-making workshop at Cailler in Broc, a hike to Gruyères, and a visit to the Maison du Gruyère, where we enjoyed a delicious cheese tasting.
June 5–10: The 19th Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium (BOSS XIX) took place in Leuven, with Najung Lee, Nina Aregger, Valentas Olikauskas, and Clément Tanguy attending this outstanding forum. Nina Aregger was awarded the Best Poster Prize, sponsored by Thieme. Congratulations, Nina!
July 10: Carlo Baldassari posted a preprint entitled Photocatalytic and Copper-Catalyzed 1,3-Aminoarylation of Aryl Cyclopropanes: Complementary Mechanistic Strategies for Synthesizing 3,3-Diarylpropylamines on ChemRxiv (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.15005923/v1).
July 4: Carolin Veras successfully completed her apprenticeship at LCSO with First-in-Class Honors. We congratulate Carolin on this outstanding achievement and wish her all the very best for her future!
July 1: Stefano Nicolai and Daphne Lucidarme posted a preprint entitled Convergent Synthesis of Azabicyclo[4.1.1]octanes through the Formal Cycloaddition of Bicyclobutanes with 2-Azadienes on ChemRxiv (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.15005502/v1).
June 14–19: Josh Wu participated in the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Heterocyclic Compounds, bringing together researchers to discuss the latest developments in heterocyclic chemistry.
June 19: A preprint from Najung, Josh, Philipp, Duncan, Jozef, and Matt has been posted on ChemRxiv. The study reports BCB-Bx reagents, among the first electrophilic bicyclobutane synthons, enabling bridgehead functionalization through umpolung reactivity and reactions with nucleophiles such as thiols and Grignard reagents (DOI: https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15004944/v1).
June 10: The three-day NCCR Catalysis Annual Meeting 2026 concludes successfully. Nina presented her work on quantum dots, Valentas on single-atom catalysts (SACs), and Laurin on her master’s thesis project. In addition, poster presentations were given by Uttam, Helena, and Carlo.
June 9: The SNE Chemical Biology Retreat 2026 comes to an end in Tramelan. Lucie and Felix are grateful for the valuable exchanges with the chemical biology community in Switzerland and would like to thank the organisers.
June 5: Today marks the last day in the lab for Alejandro and Gustav. We thank them for the great times, their enthusiasm, and their valuable contributions to LCSO. We wish them all the best for the future.
June 4: During this year’s Peptide Therapeutics Forum 2026, organised by the Swiss Chemical Society, Lucie had the opportunity to present her work on the modification of proteins using hypervalent iodine reagents.
May 7: The Bürgenstock Conference of the Swiss Chemical Society concludes today. The conference was co-organised by Jérôme with the support of Josh.
April 25: We congratulate Christine on successfully defending her PhD thesis. As the 34th PhD student to obtain her degree at LCSO, she focused primarily on the synthesis of non-natural amino acid building blocks and introduced a new research direction to the lab with her work on site-selective modification of proteins.
April 24: Congratulations to Clément Tanguy on winning the Best Poster Prize at the French Industrial Chemistry Symposium 2026.
April 1: The work of Clement and Vladyslav with computation by Matt on the synthesis of housanes from cyclopropenes has been published at JACS (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c03013).
March 18: The work of Josh and Tobias with computation by Matt on the synthesis of trifluoromethylated building blocks has been published at Org. Lett. (DOI: 10.1021/acs.orglett.6c00410).
March 1: Laurine Palluaud and Loic Raboud have joined LCSO for their master thesis, and Alejandro Delgado Montiel as a visiting PhD student from ICIQ. Welcome!
February 24: Christine Marty has successfully passed her PhD exam. Congratulations!
February 5: Alexandre Schoepfer successfully defended his PhD thesis. He is the PhD student number 33 to obtain their degree at LCSO, and the first ever shared PhD student between LCSO and LCMD. Congratulations!
February 5: Dr. Xingyu Liu has been awarded the DMCCB PhD Prize of the Swiss Chemical Society for his thesis at LCSO. Congratulations!
January 30: The work of Clement and Emma on the formal total synthesis of strictamine has now been published at Helv. Chim. Acta (DOI: 10.1002/hlca.202500163).
January 22: A preprint of the work of Clement and Vladyslav with computation by Matt on the synthesis of housanes from cyclopropenes has been posted on ChemRxiv (DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.10001480/v1).
January 12: The work of Tin and Trinh in collaboration with AstraZeneca on chlorination via the photolysis of Willgerodt-type reagents has now been published in open access at JACS Au (DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.5c01226).
January 8: Good bye and good luck to Dr. Adriana Faraone, who has finished her postdoc in our group.
January 7: The work of Duncan and Alexandre on the palladium catalyzed carboetherificatio of cyclopropenes has now been published in open access at Chem. Sci. (DOI: 10.1039/D5SC09351A).
January 1: Welcome to Dr. Philipp Schoch for his postdoc!
December 5: Congratulations to Clément on winning the Dean’s Award 2025 for excellence in teaching and mentoring!
December 3: Congrats to Tin for receiving the Doctoral Program Thesis Distinction!
December 1: Another wonderful LCSO Christmas dinner, raclette, a fun quiz and the LCSO Awards!
November 4: Christine, Stefano, and Xinjian Ji in the Heinis group report in JACS the first use of EBX reagents for site-selective cysteine functionalization, achieving selective modification of a single cysteine in KEAP1 even in cell lysate. (DOI: /10.1021/jacs.5c13391)
November 1: Welcome to Dr. Uttam Dhawa for his postdoc!
October 14: Nina and Valentas have successfully passed their candidacy exams. Congratulations!
October 10: Another great edition of the LCSO Alumni gala buffet froid at EPFL!
October 9: Congratulations to Yuji for receiving a Best Poster Prize Award at the ChemBioParis2025!
October 9: Congrats to Clément for winning the best poster presentation award at the first EDCH Research Day!
October 4: The review of Emma on cycloaddition and annulation reactions with Donor-Acceptor cyclobutanes has now appeared in Helvetica Chimica Acta! (DOI: /10.1002/hlca.202500140)
October 1: Welcome to the lab to Felix Göbel for his PhD! Welcome to Anissa Haim from the University of Amsterdam for her exchange.
September 9: Clément has successfully passed his candidacy exam. Congratulations!
September 5: Congratulations to Adriana for receiving the SynOpen Poster Prize Award at The International Symposium on Synthesis and Catalysis in Coimbra!
September 4: Congratulations to Christine for winning the runner up poster prize in the chemical biology session of the SCS Fall Meeting!
September 1: Welcome back to the lab to Lucie Orain and Daphne Lucidarme for their PhD! Welcome to Alex-Mihai Simionescu from the University of Groningen for his master’s thesis.
August 29: The review of Xingyu on the group’s work on peptide/protein functionalization and macrocyclization has now been published in open access at Acc. Chem. Res. (DOI: /10.1021/acs.accounts.5c00451)
August 29: Emma Robert successfully defended her PhD thesis. She is the PhD student number 32 to obtain their degree at LCSO. Congratulations!
August 12: The LCSO Summer Group Outing took place in Les Diablerets and Glacier 3000!
July 10: Emma has successfully passed her final PhD exam. Congratulations!