Paris de la Recherche - Marc Fontecave 2

Marc Fontecave (born 27 September 1956) is a French

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. An international specialist in bioinorganic chemistry, he currently teaches at the Collège de France in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he heads the Laboratory of Chemistry of Biological Processes.

Biography

Marc Fontecave is a graduate of the École normale supérieure de l'enseignement technique (which became the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay in 2016), and holds a doctorate in science. In 2005, he was elected a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

and in 2019 foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

. Since 2008–2009, he holds the Chair of Chemistry of Biological Processes at the Collège de France. He chairs the Fondation du Collège de France and is a member of the EDF scientific council.Ecologie : « Il n’y a aucune chance de voir une révolution se réaliser »
sur ''lemonde.fr'' du 3 septembre 2018. , estime Marc Fontecave.

Research studies

Marc Fontecave has deepened his understanding of the structure and reactivity of the metal centres present in metalloproteins. Its research can have applications in the fields of chemistry (selective

catalysts Catalysis () is the increase in reaction rate, rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst ...

), health (anti-cancer,

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

s), environment (

bioremediation Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi in mycoremediation, and plants in phytoremediation), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, wate ...

green chemistry Green chemistry, similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Wh ...

) and energy (

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

production and

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

transformation).

Awards and honours

2015: Chevalier of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

2011: Achille-Le-Bel Grand Prize of the Société Chimique de France 2010: Chevalier of the Ordre National du Mérite 2009: Sir Raman Chair of the Indian Academy of Sciences 2005: Member of the French Academy of Sciences 2005: Senior member of the

Institut Universitaire de France The Institut Universitaire de France (IUF, Academic Institute of France), is a service of the French Ministry of Higher Education that annually distinguishes a small number of university professors for their research excellence, as evidenced by t ...

(IUF) 2004:

CNRS Silver medal The CNRS Silver Medal is a scientific award given every year to about fifteen researchers by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is awarded to a researcher for "the originality, quality and importance of their work, re ...

1996: Policart-Lacassagne Prize of the French Academy of Sciences 1991–1996: Junior member of IUF.

Position statements

He intervened in the public debate to encourage public reappropriation of major scientific research and simplification of the French research system; according to him, the evaluation of researchers a posteriori is the only method for taking the necessary risks in research. During the reflection on the energy transition, with his colleagues from the French Academy of Sciences, he encouraged the use of nuclear and shale gas. As the problem of storing and restoring intermittent renewable energies has not been solved, he criticizes the forced march towards energy transition. He argues that the intensification of nuclear use is a necessity to reduce CO₂ emissions. On 29 December 2018, he strongly criticised L'Affaire du siècle, a successful petition in a World Forum calling for the French State to be condemned for its failure to respect climate commitments, as "unfair, stupid, and ineffective".« Pétition " L'Affaire du Siècle" : Attaquer la France en Justice est la fois injuste, idiot et inopérant », ''Le Monde'', 28 décembre 2018 (lire en ligne)

Publication

Chemistry of biological processes: an introduction, Paris, Éditions Fayard, "Collège de France" series, 2009, 60 p. (, )

Article

Ecology: "There is no chance of a revolution happening "2 on lemonde.fr on 3 September 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontecave, Marc 1956 births 20th-century French chemists 21st-century French chemists Members of the French Academy of Sciences French National Centre for Scientific Research awards Academic staff of the Collège de France Recipients of the Legion of Honour Living people