Pre-recorded discussion featuring Stéphane Goël (Director) and Jacques Dubochet (Featured Subject), moderated by Emily Buss (Public Diplomacy Project Manager, Embassy of Switzerland in the USA)

Stéphane Goël was born in 1965 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Has worked as an editor and independent director since 1985. Lived and worked in New York between 1987 and 1993. Directed several artistic and experimental videos before moving on to feature length documentaries.

Jacques Dubochet was born in Aigle, Switzerland. He studied physics at École Polytechnique at the University of Lausanne and subsequently molecular biology at the University of Geneva. He completed his doctoral thesis on biophysics at the University of Geneva and the University of Basel in 1973. From 1978 to 1987 he worked at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg and later at the University of Lausanne. Fundamental processes of life are governed by a number of complicated molecules. The electron microscope, which uses electron beams instead of light, expands the possibilities to image these molecules. However, many biological molecules depend on water, which evaporates in the vacuum of an electron microscope. In the early 1980s Jean Dubochet succeeded in cooling the water so rapidly that it solidified around the molecules without the formation of distorting ice crystals. Electron microscope images provide knowledge that is important for the development of pharmaceuticals, among other things.

Emily Buss is an international and cultural affairs professional with an interdisciplinary background in public diplomacy, communications, arts & culture, and advocacy. Prior to joining the Embassy of Switzerland in 2019, she worked in advocacy at Americans for the Arts, and in European politics at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. She has also spent time working at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, and at the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Buss hold as Master’s of European Studies with a focus on cultural diplomacy from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, a Bachelor’s in Political Science and French from Wellesley College, and has pursued additional coursework at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.