Academic Career & Appointments

• Since 2026 — Directeur de recherche, CNRS, PMMH, École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris – PSL)
• 2012–2025 — Directeur de recherche, CNRS, LPTMS, Université Paris-Saclay
• 2014–2018 — Senior Research Scientist at the CNRS-MIT joint laboratory UMI MultiScale Material Science for Energy and Environment, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
• 2011 — Habilitation, Université Paris-Sud
• 2007–2010 — Heisenberg Fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
• 2006–2012 — Chargé de recherche, CNRS, LPTMS, Université Paris-Saclay
• 2001–2006 — Independent Research Group Leader (DFG Emmy Noether Programme), Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• 1999–2001 — Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MIT
• 1999 — Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CEA Saclay
• 1998–1999 — Research Fellow at Institute for Theoretical Physics, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• 1998 — PhD in Theoretical Physics, Universität zu Köln, Germany
• 1995 — Diploma in Physics, Universität zu Köln, Germany

Scientific Leadership & International Initiatives

2025 — CONFLU: Physics of Confined Fluctuations

Initiated and coordinated the development of an international research proposal targeting an ERC Synergy Grant, involving CNRS, MIT, the University of Göttingen, and Sorbonne Paris Nord. The proposed programme combined theoretical approaches to fluctuation-induced interactions with experimental investigations of confined quantum systems, including Casimir and Casimir–Polder forces, nonequilibrium phenomena, and nanostructured materials.

2021–2023 — Interdisciplinary Sport Sciences: International Research Network Initiative

Initiated and coordinated the preparation of a proposed CNRS International Research Network (IRN) connecting statistical physics, exercise physiology, medicine, biomechanics, engineering, and wearable-sensor technologies. Researchers, industry and sport federations from six countries participated in its development, with 26 letters expressing interest and support. The initiative built on established collaborations and aimed to facilitate joint workshops, scientific exchanges, and European research projects.

2019–2020 — CNRS–MIT–Polar Electro research collaboration

Established an international academic–industrial research collaboration on human running performance and wearable data, contributing to Nature Communications 11, 4936 (2020).

2019, 2021 and 2026 — Interdisciplinary environmental and physiological research

Developed interdisciplinary research proposals for CNRS funding calls (MITI and GDR Sport et Activités Physiques), combining urban environmental modelling, wearable physiological measurements, and statistical analysis. These initiatives included URBAN THERMODYNAMICS, Quantized Heart Tracking for Wearable Trackers, and SPORT-AIR, investigating the physiological effects of urban air pollution during physical activity.

Organization of Scientific Meetings

Workshop Complex HRV analysis during exercise — Oulu University, Finland, 06/2019

This workshop brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers with expertise in exercise physiology, physics, statistics and the development of sensor technology. It explored theoretical methods for analysing complex physiological signals and their application to wearable sensors during exercise and training. Co-organized with Polar Electro.

Workshop Running Science meets Physics & Engineering — MIT, Cambridge, USA, 04/2018

The scope of this interdisciplinary workshop was to bring together experts from physiology, sports medicine, engineering and physics. The workshop explored how rapidly expanding collections of biomechanical and physiological data from wearable technologies could be translated into meaningful insights through new physical models and analytical tools.

Workshop Urban physics — MIT, Cambridge, USA, 03/2016

This workshop brought together researchers working with urban observational data and theoretical physicists developing quantitative models of cities. Topics included urban heat islands, traffic flow, and the use of statistical-physics concepts to understand and improve urban systems.

Conference Disorder, Fluctuations and Universality — Universität zu Köln, Germany, 01/2008

International conference, organized jointly with Prof. Joachim Krug.

Coordination of the program The theory and practice of Fluctuation-Induced Interactions — KITP, UC Santa Barbara, USA, 08/2008

Co-organized a three-month programme on Casimir interactions, with M. Kardar, A. Parsegian, and R. Zandi. The programme explored conceptual and computational connections between Casimir physics and fluctuation-induced interactions across different fields.