PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Sereina Riniker

Sereina Riniker is a computational chemist whose research combines molecular dynamics, cheminformatics and machine learning. After earning a chemistry degree and doctorate at ETH Zurich, she works at Novartis and joins ETH's faculty in 2014. With Gregory Landrum, she introduces similarity maps in 2013, and her 2020 project applies machine learning to crystal-packing prediction. ETH awards her the Latsis Prize in 2018 and the Hansch Award in 2024; her group publishes a graph neural network model for implicit solvation in 2024, and she is an ELLIS Fellow by 2025. As of October 2026, she is an ETH Full Professor and deputy head of its Institute of Molecular Physical Science, and serves on ETH's Risk Management and Prize Commissions.

Born
1985
Works
253
Citations
9,172
h-index
41
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2008–2012

    Chemistry degree and doctorate

    She completes a chemistry degree at ETH Zurich in 2008. After an internship in Givaudan's research department and a research stay at the University of California, Berkeley, she returns to ETH in 2009 and earns a PhD in molecular-dynamics simulations in 2012 under Wilfred F. van Gunsteren.

  2. 2012–2014

    Postdoctoral research at Novartis

    From 2012 to 2014, she holds a postdoctoral position in cheminformatics at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Basel and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

  3. 2013

    Similarity maps for molecules

    In 2013, she and Gregory Landrum introduce similarity maps, an open-source method to visualize atomic contributions to molecular similarity and a machine-learning model's predicted probability.

  4. 2014–2020

    ETH professorship and Latsis Prize

    In June 2014, she becomes an Assistant Professor of Computational Chemistry at ETH Zurich's Institute of Physical Chemistry. ETH awards her the Latsis Prize in 2018 for her work on molecular-dynamics methods and applications, and promotes her to Associate Professor in 2020.

  5. 2020

    Machine learning for crystal packing

    In 2020, NCCR MARVEL funds her project to improve the generation and sampling of crystal packings with machine learning. The project aims to develop machine-learning models that support crystal-structure prediction for organic compounds.

  6. 2024

    A graph neural network solvent model

    In 2024, her group publishes a transferable graph neural network model for implicit solvation of organic molecules in water. Chemical Science selects the article as a 2024 ChemSci Pick of the Week and for its 2024 HOT Article Collection.

  7. 2024–2025

    Hansch Award and ELLIS Fellowship

    In 2024, she receives the Hansch Award from the QSAR, Cheminformatics and Modelling Society. By 2025, she is an ELLIS Fellow and a member of the ELLIS program for Machine Learning for Molecule Discovery.

  8. As of October 2026

    Full Professor at ETH Zurich

    In March 2025, ETH appoints her Full Professor of Computational Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences. Her research develops methods and software for molecular-dynamics computer simulations and cheminformatics. In February 2026, ETH elects her to its Risk Management Commission; in September 2026, she joins the Prize Commission for a term through August 2028. As of October 2026, she is a Full Professor and deputy head of the Institute of Molecular Physical Science at ETH Zurich.

Career

  1. Since 2014ETH ZurichProfessor of Computational Chemistry, Associate Professor
  2. 2012–2014Novartis
  3. GivaudanIntern

Education

  1. 2012ETH ZurichPhD
  2. 2008ETH ZurichChemistry degree

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Definition and testing of the GROMOS force-field versions 54A7 and 54B72011 · European Biophysics Journal · 2,507 citations
  2. Better Informed Distance Geometry: Using What We Know To Improve Conformation Generation2015 · Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling · 750 citations
  3. Open-source platform to benchmark fingerprints for ligand-based virtual screening2013 · Journal of Cheminformatics · 360 citations
  4. Improving Conformer Generation for Small Rings and Macrocycles Based on Distance Geometry and Experimental Torsional-Angle Preferences2020 · Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling · 256 citations
  5. On developing coarse-grained models for biomolecular simulation: a review2012 · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · 246 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes ETH Zurich. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes ETH Zurich. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes ETH Zurich. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Universities had a net outflow of 2,068 moves in AI careersIncludes ETH Zurich. Our estimates of career flows and median h-index across universities and companies in AI, including the role of joint appointments and earlier academic jobs.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Sereina Riniker yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Sereina Riniker – Wikipedia de.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Similarity maps - a visualization strategy for molecular fingerprints and machine-learning methods pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. New at ETH Zurich: Sereina Riniker – Staffnet | ETH Zurich ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Sereina Riniker receives the Latsis Prize 2018 of ETH Zurich | ETH Zurich ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Four new Agility Plus projects to cover research topics from crystal packing to topological materials - Communication - News - nccr-marvel.ch :: NCCR MARVEL nccr-marvel.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Journal Articles – Computational Chemistry | ETH Zurich riniker.ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. News – Computational Chemistry | ETH Zurich riniker.ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Spotlight on Sereina Riniker | European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems ellis.eu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Twelve professors appointed | ETH Zurich ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. News from the Executive Board 1/2026 – Staffnet | ETH Zurich ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  11. Die Schulleitung informiert 2026/6 – Staffnet | ETH Zürich ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  12. Homepage – Computational Chemistry | ETH Zurich riniker.ethz.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.