Prof. Dr. Joël Mesot is the first President of ETH Zurich to come from French-speaking Switzerland. He was born in 1964 in Geneva, where he also grew up.

From 2007, he headed the Research Commission of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). In August 2008, he was given the position of Director of the PSI and thus had responsibility for the entire operation. At the same time, he was appointed full professor at both ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne. He has been a member of the ETH Board since 2010.

From 1984 to 1989, Prof. Dr. Joël Mesot studied physics at ETH Zurich, followed by doctoral studies at the same university and at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. He then obtained his doctorate in 1992 with a thesis on high-temperature superconductors.