Originating from Peseux (Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland), Raymond Roulet was born in 1940. He studied at the Polytechnical School of the University of Lausanne. He carried out research work in the area of Analytical Chemistry and obtained his degree in Chemical Engineering in 1963 at the University of Lausanne. In 1966, he was awarded his PhD from the University of Lausanne and was highly commended for his research work on the separation of rare earth metal ions utilising ion exchange chromatography. He then had a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology in the group of Prof. H.B. Gray in the domain of Coordination Chemistry.
Upon his return to the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Lausanne, he was nominated Assistant Professor in 1971. In 1974, he carried out research work in the domain of Organometallic Chemistry in the faculty of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Venice. In 1978, he was nominated Professor in the faculty of Science at the University of Lausanne.