Anna Fontcuberta i Morral from École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland joins the podcast to talk about compound semiconductors and their nanostructures. These more exotic relatives of silicon excel in charge transport and light emission/absorption, which makes them useful in technologies ranging from wireless communications to solid-state lighting. We also talk about the differences between academic research in Europe and the United States. We discuss how laboratories are structured, where funding comes from, and how that can influence the resulting research. (Recorded on March 26, 2018. Edited by Andrew Cannon)