LHC@home
Francois Grey
Professor, CUI

SDG Solution Space, Campus Biotech Innovation Park, 15 avenue de Sécheron,
1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Tel. : +41 (0)22 379 80 23
E-mail: francois dot grey at unige.ch

Twitter: @FrancoisGrey

I am a physicist with a background in nanotechnology, and a passion for citizen science. I also have broad experience in science management, teaching and communication, in the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. During the past decade, I have managed the development of a series of online citizen science projects in a wide range of research fields, starting with the launch of LHC@home in 2004 while I was a manager at CERN. In 2009, I established a partnership for citizen science between CERN, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the University of Geneva, now called Citizen Cyberlab. As an invited professor at the Centre Universitaire d’Informatique (CUI) of the University of Geneva since 2014, I coordinate Citizen Cyberlab, managing the development of technologies for crowdsourced research, exploring the broader impact of citizen science for society, and promoting public participation in science through hands-on events. I also teach courses on Open Science and Citizen Science at the bachelor and master level. Since 2016 I am Director of the Geneva Tsinghua Initiative, a comprehensive education programme for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. From 2016-18 I was Director of Digital Strategy for the University of Geneva.

Current positions
  • Director, The Geneva Tsinghua Initative, University of Geneva, since October 2016
  • Invited Professor, Centre Universitaire d’Informatique, University of Geneva, since September 2014
  • Co-Director, Lifelong Learning Lab, Tsinghua University, since June 2014
  • Adjunct Professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, since September 2012
  • Co-Director, Citizen Cyberlab, since July 2009
  • Honorary Professor, London Centre for Nanotechnology, since January 2009
Recent distinctions
  • Elected to Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2016
  • IBM Faculty Award, Centre for Urban Science and Progress, 2014
  • Named one of 12 Tech Innovators Transforming Campuses, Journ. Higher Ed., 2012
  • Awarded Shuttleworth Fellowship, Shuttleworth Foundation, 2010
  • Senior International Expert Award, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2010
Recent Research

Crowdsourcing Simulations for Water Transport in Nanotubes

Summary: In 2010, I initiated a project between Tsinghua University and IBM for simulating water flow in carbon nanotubes called Computing for Clean Water. The goal was to study low flow rates comparable to those in practical filters. This required two orders of magnitude more computing power than in previous molecular dynamics studies. We achieved this by running simulations with the help of over 150,000 volunteers providing >34k CPU-years of processing power.  We discovered that phonon modes have a large impact at low flow rates, an effect overlooked in previous studies due to lack of statistics. This opens opportunities to tune filter properties and achieve more efficient filtration. I worked with Ph.D. student Ming Ma, the PI on this project, in planning and executing the research, coordinated the partnership, which involved also experts in Australia, Israel and the UK, participated in the analysis, and co-wrote the article.

Main Publication: M. Ma, F. Grey, L. Shen, M. Urbakh, S Wu, J Z Liu, Y Liu and Q Zheng Water transport inside carbon nanotubes mediated by phonon-induced oscillating friction, Nature Nanotechnology 10, 692–695 (2015). doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.134

Selected News Coverage: L Bocquet & R. R. Netz Nanofluidics: Phonon modes for faster flow Nature Nanotechnology News and Views 10, 657–658 (2015); IBM World Community Grid News; UNIGE Press Release; IBM Press Release.

Building an Open Source DIY Atomic Force Microscope for Schools

Summary: Since 2009, I have organized an international summer school at Tsinghua University in Beijing, to encourage collaboration between Chinese and European students. Starting in 2013, I used a hands-on format challenge-based approach student teams to develop an open-source low-cost Atomic Force Microscope suitable for hands-on learning in Chinese schools. This event, called LEGO2NANO, created tremendous public interest in China and worldwide. As a result, the summer school is now supported by LEGO Foundation as part of the Tsinghua University Lifelong Learning Lab (TULLL), which I co-direct with Yingqing Xu. I was invited by Nature Nanotechnology to write about the summer school, and I am currently assisting students to spin off the microscope as a social enterprise for education, OpenAFM.

Main Publications: F. Grey Creativity Unleashed, Nature Nanotechnology 10, 480 (2015) doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.95; F. Grey, J. Li, Q. Shi, E. Doney, W. H. Chen and J Shen, Lifelong Learning Lab: Collaborative Design of Hands-on Science for Chinese Schools, Proc. 14th Int. Conf. Interaction Design and Children 383-386 (2015) doi:0.1145/2771839.2771922.

Selected News Coverage: Wired Magazine; China People's Daily;  Xinhua News Agency; UCL press release;  Hackaday.

Main Publication: M. Ma, F. Grey, L. Shen, M. Urbakh, S Wu, J Z Liu, Y Liu and Q Zheng Water transport inside carbon nanotubes mediated by phonon-induced oscillating friction, Nature Nanotechnology 10, 692–695 (2015). doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.134

Selected News Coverage: L Bocquet & R. R. Netz Nanofluidics: Phonon modes for faster flow Nature Nanotechnology News and Views 10, 657–658 (2015); IBM World Community Grid News; UNIGE Press Release; IBM Press Release.

History of employment since 2000

2013 – 2014

Head of Citizen Science and Professor, Centre for Urban Science and Progress, New York University.

2010 – 2013
Deputy Director and Professor, Centre for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University

2010
Visiting Professorship, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jan 2010 – July 2010, launched CAS@home, China’s first volunteer computing platform.

2008 – 2009
Visiting Professor, Physics Dept., Tsinghua University, July 2008 – Dec 2009 ran Asia@home workshops in Beijing and Taipei.

2004 – 2008
Head of IT Communications for the IT Department at CERN from 2004 to 2008. Responsible for dissemination of Grid technology to other scientific disciplines and industry via web, newsletters and public events.

2002 – 2004
CERN openlab Development Manager, IT Department, CERN. Recruited to CERN to develop CERN openlab, CERN’s first public-private partnership for research, with initial partners HP, IBM, Intel and Oracle. Also initiated and managed the CERN openlab student programme for masters and Ph.D. level students, co-funded by industry and European universities.

1997 – 2002
Deputy Director of MIC, the National Micro- and Nano-technology Centre, Technical University of Denmark (now called DTU Nanotek). Developed the start-up factory concept at MIC, which contributed to over 10 start-up companies being launched in micro and nanotechnology in a five-year period.

2001
Professor of Nanotechnology, MIC, DTU. First full professorship in nanotechnology in Denmark. Co-developed first graduate course in nanotech with Copenhagen and Lund universities.

Academic degrees
  • Ph.D. Physics, Copenhagen University, 1988. Carried out at the German Electron Synchrotron DESY, supported by Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart.
  • B.Sc. Physics, Imperial College, 1984. First class honours.
Publications and Patents
I am co-author of 7 patent applications (5 granted) and over 100 scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals.