Pascale Launois
French crystallographer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pascale Launois is a French crystallographer[1] whose research has included the study of quasicrystals, carbon nanotubes, and their environmental applications. She is a director of research for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides at Paris-Saclay University.[2]
She is president of the French Neutronics Society (Société Française de la Neutronique).[3]
Education and career
After earlier student work in theoretical physics, Launois turned to experimental studies.[2] She earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1987 through the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin at Paris-Saclay University;[1] her thesis concerned incommensurate phases in neutron scattering.[2]
She joined CNRS in 1988, and has been affiliated with the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides since 1993.[4] Her early work continued the study of incommensurable phases and quasicrystals, through X-ray scattering techniques; her interests shifted to the study of carbon nanotubes in the early 2000s.[2]
Launois was very active in promoting science to the public through the International Year of Crystallography, in 2014.[1][2] She was elected president of the French Neutronics Society in 2024.[3]
Recognition
Launois was a recipient of the CNRS Bronze Medal in 1991.[1] The magazine La Recherche gave her their Prix de la Recherche, for her research with Philippe Poulin and Cécile Zakri on carbon nanotubes.[2] She was the 2024 recipient of the André Guinier Prize of the French Crystallographic Association.[2][4]