Imagine if you were presented with the opportunity to bring about major practical and political changes at your research institution. What would you do? Where would you start? Could you cope with the inevitable conflicting opinions? This was the task facing Giorgio Margaritondo, a physicist who was part of the team that restructured one of Switzerland’s leading institutions, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

In recent years, Margaritondo has helped to bring about several substantial changes at the EPFL, including the scrapping of traditional university departments in favour of a more interdisciplinary approach. Margaritondo is also a strong advocate of the need to create more opportunities for women and for young people to progress early in their careers.

In this video interview, Margaritondo talks to Matin Durrani, the editor of Physics World, about his experiences at the EPFL.