Gaétan de Rassenfosse
Gaétan de Rassenfosse is associate professor at the College of Management of Technology, EPFL, since late 2014. He holds the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. Prior to joining EPFL, he was a senior research fellow at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne (Australia). He obtained a PhD in economics from the Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, in 2010.
Atin Aboutorabi
Atin Aboutorabi is a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy since mid-September 2021. Prior to starting her doctoral studies, she obtained an MSc in mechanical engineering with a minor in management, technology & entrepreneurship from EPFL in 2020. Atinâs research is primarily inspired by the intersection of economics and machine learning. Her research interests include the economics of innovation and the applications of machine learning.
Euan Richardson
Euan Richardson is a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy since August 2025. Prior to starting his doctoral studies, he worked at Motu Research, an economics-focused research institute in New Zealand. Euanâs research interests include the economics of innovation, incentives to innovate, and innovation policy.
Ilona Ball
Administrative Assistant
EPFL – STIP
Odyssea 3.16, Station 5
1015 Lausanne – Switzerland
Phone: +41 21 693 00 39
Visiting PhD Students & Guests
The STIP chair welcomes PhD students for long or short research visits. Visiting PhD students include, among others, Leonardo Giuffrida & Vincenzo Mollisi (University of Rome “Tor Vergata”) in February 2017, Laurie Ciaramella (MINES ParisTech in Paris) in December 2016, Antonio De Marco (Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin) from October 2015 to February 2016, and Vanessa Behrens (Centre for European Economic Research, Manheim) from September to November 2017. Â
Daniele Moschella (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) was invited to work with the STIP chair from April to June 2018.
Former Members
Emilio Raiteri is an assistant professor at TU Eindhoven. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy between April 2015 and July 2018. He earned a PhD in economics at the University of Turin (Italy) in February 2015, where he was affiliated to the Bureau of Research on Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge (BRICK), Collegio Carlo Alberto (Italy).
Gabriele Pellegrino is an assistant professor at UniversitĂ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy between August 2015 and December 2018. His work at the STIP chair led him to collaborate on joint projects with the World IP Organization in Geneva. Prior to joining EPFL, Gabriele was a research fellow at SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex. He obtained a PhD in economics at the University of Barcelona in 2014.
Orion Penner was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from June 2015 to January 2020. Prior to joining EPFL, he was a postdoctoral fellow at IMT, Lucca (Italy). Orion completed his PhD in physics at the University of Calgary in 2011, holding an Alexander Graham Bell Graduate Scholarship. In February 2020, after his postdoc, Orion joined the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva.
David Portabella worked at the STIP chair as a senior software engineer from December 2018 to November 2019 focusing his work on machine learning and big data. He earned a PhD in artificial intelligence at EPFL, Switzerland, in 2006. The last time we spotted David, he was living in a farming community in the jungle in Ecuador.
Kyle Higham was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from February 2019 to April 2020. He completed a PhD in physics at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) on a scholarship provided by Te PĆ«naha Matatini, a transdisciplinary complex systems research centre. In May 2020 Kyle joined Hitotsubashi University as a postdoctoral fellow.
Omar Ballester was a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from September 2016 to September 2020. Prior to joining EPFL, Omar worked as an IT consultant and data scientist for a big law firm and had hands-on experience in a biophysics lab at the University of Barcelona. Omar is now working at EPFLâs General Secretariat studying various questions about the âimpactâ of EPFL.
Ling Zhou was a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from August 2017 to September 2021. Prior to joining EPFL, Ling completed her undergraduate studies at Nanjing University and later obtained an M.A. in economics from Simon Fraser University in Canada. In October 2021, Ling joined AlixPartners’ London office as an economic consultant.
Matthias van den Heuvel was a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from February 2018 to May 2022. Prior to joining EPFL, he worked as an economist in a private bank and as a researcher at the WTO. Matthias obtained a masterâs in international economics in 2015 from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and Yale University. After obtaining his PhD at EPFL, Matthias joined the Brattle Group in New York.
George Abi Younes was a PhD student at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from November 2018 to August 2023. Prior to starting his doctoral studies, George obtained a B.E. in mechanical engineering from the Lebanese American University as well as an MSc in management of technology at EPFL, specializing in data science. George successfully completed his PhD entitled âEconomic Effect of Patents and the Patent System : Insights from Linked Patent-Product Dataâ in August 2023.
Wolf-Hendrick Uhlbach was a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy from September 2021 to October 2023. He joined Tilburg University as an assistant professor in October 2023.
Samuel Arnod-Prin worked at the STIP lab as the lead software engineer for IPRoduct from January 2020 to January 2025.