Radiant is a rapidly growing green tech start-up that specialises in producing carbon-free heat for industrial use. It won first prize in the European Stage Two competition, representing École Polytechnique, and successfully raised funds at the end of last year. Meet its two founders: Thomas Delhon, an aerospace engineer, and Alexandre Meurisse, a former PhD student at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) laboratories. They received support from École Polytechnique's X-UP incubator, which provided a springboard for their success.
Ortensia Forni is a doctoral student at LadHyX* with Michael Benzaquen**, head of the EconophysiX Lab***, and Alexandre Darmon, CEO of Art in Research****. An applied mathematician by training, she is interested in human perception of colors and their harmony. Her research explores what makes certain color combinations more harmonious than others and how our preferences may be influenced by nature.
Enceladus is one of the moons of the planet Saturn. A study led by researchers at the Plasma Physics Laboratory (LPP*) reveals that the magnetic interaction between the two bodies extends over much greater distances than previously known—more than 500,000 kilometers. This finding was made possible by data from the Cassini mission.
Scientists at the Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX*) and the Laboratoire de physique et mécanique des milieux hétérogènes (PMMH*) have discovered a new phenomenon that allows fibers to be sorted according to their size in microscopic fluid flows.
From middle school to higher education, a variety of support measures can be implemented to encourage and assist women in achieving success in science. On Monday, 26 January, Juliette Toumelin (Head of the Equal Opportunities Division within the Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Responsibility Department) and Antigoni Alexandrou (CNRS Research Director at LOB) discussed the mentoring programmes available at École Polytechnique and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris.
Since its creation in 2009, the Mathematical Modelling and Biodiversity Chair (MMB), supported by École Polytechnique and its Foundation, in collaboration with the National Museum of Natural History and supported by Veolia, has been exploring the major challenges of biodiversity at the interface between applied mathematics and ecology. Through interdisciplinary research programmes, scientific meetings and training initiatives, the Chair brings together nearly 150 experts from international laboratories and research institutions to address fundamental questions about population dynamics, evolution and ecosystem resilience.
Nanomaterials are much talked-about, but the methods for making them are still the subject of fundamental research, especially when high temperatures are required. At the Laboratory of Condensed Matter for Physics, a research team is exploring new ways of synthesizing them, using molten salts and lasers.
From spring 2026, École Polytechnique's X-UP incubator will offer honor loans for the deep tech projects it hosts and supports. These honorary loans, supported by École Polytechnique’s Foundation and averaging €40,000 per project, will finance the start-ups' priority operations, leverage other funding, and accelerate the growth of the projects concerned.
Arthur Mensch (X2011), co-founder and CEO of Mistral, the French AI gem, came to meet École Polytechnique students for a talk on entrepreneurship and the implications of AI, two topics which he addressed by echoing his School's motto: “For the Nation, for Sciences, and for Glory.”
After studying science, where she developed a passion for computer science, Manon Blanc completed a PhD at the École Polytechnique's Computer Science Laboratory (LIX*). She has received the Saclay Plateau STIC PhD Prize and the L'Oréal-UNESCO Young Talents Prize. Interview.
Since 2019, the Chair in Space Science and Challenges, led by Professor Pascal Chabert and supported by ArianeGroup, Safran and the École Polytechnique Foundation, has affirmed École Polytechnique's commitment to training future experts in the space sector. Based on demanding scientific teaching, ambitious space projects carried out at the Student Space Centre (CSEP), visits to industrial sites, meetings with industry players, and the development of real space missions, the Chair is positioned as a strategic lever for preparing talented individuals capable of meeting the major technological and societal challenges of tomorrow's aerospace industry.
Experiments reveal defects in the structure of superionic water at high pressures, a phase that remains mysterious and could be present inside planets such as Uranus and Neptune. This is the result of an international collaboration led by scientists from the Intense Lasers Laboratory (LULI*), the University of Rostock, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, and other European and American institutions**. It is published in Nature Communications