Prof. Dr. Olivier Bachmann
Prof. Dr. Olivier Bachmann
Full Professor at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Deputy head of Dep. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Additional information
Research area
Olivier Bachmann’s research focuses on better understanding the eruptive dynamics of volcanoes, and the generation of magmas, tied to the evolution of the continental crust.
His group’s main research areas are (1) the causes and consequences of large, explosive, volcanic eruptions, (2) magmatic differentiation, (3) magma reservoir dynamics and (4) controls on eruptive styles.
The group uses a variety of techniques, which involves field observations, geochemical analyses of natural and experimental samples, geophysical analyses and numerical modeling, to provide an integrated picture of the processes involved from magma generation to the eruption at the Earth’s surface.
Olivier Bachmann has been a Professor of Volcanology and Magmatic Petrology at the Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology in the Department of Earth Sciences since 2012.
He was born in Geneva in 1973.
Olivier Bachmann obtained a BSc in earth sciences at the University of Geneva in 1995, an MSc in 1997 and a PhD in Volcanology-Petrology-Geochronology in 2000. From 2001 to 2003 he was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
In 2003 he returned to Switzerland to work as a lecturer at the University of Geneva until 2007. In 2007 he was appointed as Assistant Professor and in 2011 an Associate Professor at the University of Washington.
CV PDFHonours
| Year | Distinction |
|---|---|
| 2018 | AGU Fellow |
| 2018 | Joanne Simpson Medal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| 2015 | Mineralogical Society of America, Distinguished Lecturer |
| 2004 | Paul Niggli Medal Paul Niggli-Foundation, young scientist award in the earth sciences. |
| 2001 | Schläfli Award, Swiss National Academy of Science, for outstanding work of young scientists of Swiss nationality |
Additional information
Professor Bachmann is married and has three children.
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2025
| Number | Unit |
|---|---|
| 651-0254-00L | Seminar Geochemistry and Petrology |
| 651-3002-01L | Earth Science Excursions I |
| 651-3503-00L | Magmatism and Metamorphose II |
| 651-4032-00L | Volcanology |
| 651-4032-01L | Volcanology Field Course |
| 651-4180-01L | Integrated Earth Systems I |