News

Exactly a century ago, in April 1911, Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity — the property of certain materials to conduct electricity with zero electrical resistance, and which is capable of causing certain objects to levitate. Superconductivity has been the subject of intensive research at ESPCI ParisTech for decades. To celebrate the centenary of the discovery, several events have been organized at the School, with a range of films, exhibitions, and creative activities. Some are factual and others are more fanciful. Here’s a review of the initiatives and a small selection of links.

ESPCI ParisTech researchers publish on average one scientific article a day. We plan to discuss a number of key papers with their authors, through interviews to provide background on their work and the implications of their research. The first interview is with Serge Birman, the director of the Neurobiology Laboratory. Keywords are neurosciences, Parkinson’s disease, and genetics. Here he discusses a study on the behavioral consequences of dopamine deficiency in the Drosophila central nervous system.

Professor and Honorary Scientific Director of ESPCI ParisTech, and director of the School’s LEG (Electrical engineering laboratory), Jacques Lewiner recently received the Grand Prize awarded by L’Usine Nouvelle and Industrie & Technologies (with the French National Council of Engineers and Scientists) for his career achievements.

Laurence de Viguerie, an ESPCI graduate (Class of ’06), unveiled one of the mysteries of the Mona Lisa, i.e. a brilliant pictorial process used by Leonardo da Vinci. For her PhD, conferred by the UPMC Paris 6 University and dedicated to the characterization and the physical chemical properties of the materials used to create the sfumato effect, she was awarded the 2010 University Research Prize by the French authoritative journal Le Monde.