Jean Daillant starts as new DG of the ESRF

Jean Daillant is a widely recognised expert on synchrotron radiation. A soft matter physicist, his expertise focuses on soft matter physics and liquid interface dynamics, delving into their intermolecular interactions and surface phenomena. Utilising advanced techniques like synchrotron X-ray and atomic force microscopy, he has analysed these systems at the nanoscale. His interest also extends to practical applications, particularly in nanomaterials synthesis through self-assembly.

Jean Daillant was Director General of the SOLEIL synchrotron over the last thirteen years, during which time it has become a leading facility among the medium-energy synchrotron radiation sources. After serving as Chair, he is now Vice-Chair of LEAPs, the League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources, which aims to promote scientific excellence and strengthen the cooperation between synchrotron and X-ray free electron laser facilities to support an innovative and sustainable European Research Area.

He was a member of the ESRF Science Advisory Committee over the period 2003-2009 and headed SOLEIL’s Scientific Council between 2006 and 2010. After graduating in Physics at the École Normale Supérieure de St-Cloud, he joined the CEA in 1989, where he subsequently became Head of the Soft Matter and Interfaces Group before becoming joint director of LURE, the French national synchrotron light source in Orsay, from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, he became Head of the CEA-CNRS Laboratory LIONS for Interdisciplinary Research on Nanometric and Supramolecular Organisation, until 2011, at which time he took up the role of Director General at SOLEIL.

“The ESRF can be happy that in Jean Daillant we have a new Director General that brings both the science perspective of a user and, as the previous DG of SOLEIL, the strategic and management views that are needed to fully exploit the EBS”, says Elias Vlieg, chair of the ESRF Council. “The Council is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with him and the other members of the management team in the coming years.”

“This year, the ESRF celebrates 30 years of operation and contributions to science. This anniversary is very special for me, becoming director general thirty years after being one of the first ESRF users in 1994. Joining the ESRF at a time when, with the EBS, it is once again enabling ground-breaking experiments, is an extraordinary privilege", says Jean Daillant.

"It is indeed impressive to see how after thirty years of operation, the EBS represents a disruptive step for the exploration of matter and life from their most intimate mechanisms to full organs or fully operational devices. It enables more than ever scientists to tackle pressing global issues such as health, climate change, energy, food safety, building of a sustainable economy or the preservation of humanity’s cultural heritage", he adds.

"The ESRF has always been a source of inspiration for scientists from all over the world, and a shining example of scientific cooperation. As a scientist, as Director General, I am deeply aware of the legacy of the ESRF, and I am fully committed to maintaining ESRF’s landmark excellence and pioneering role for the benefit of science and society", states Jean Daillant.

An interview with Jean Daillant (YouTube)