Portrait of Christophe Poinssot.
© BRGM
Christophe Poinssot is a former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris, where he studied Earth Sciences and Materials Sciences. He obtained a PhD in Materials Sciences in 1997 from the Pierre & Marie Curie University (Paris) and an HDR in Chemistry in 2007 from the University of Evry.
French and international experience
He has nearly 25 years of experience in Research and Development in downstream aspects of the nuclear power cycle and has supervised numerous student theses. He has thus worked on the migration of radionuclides in the environment, particularly in deep geological environments, on the thermodynamic properties of uranium-bearing minerals, on recycling processes and the assessment of the environmental footprint. He has authored some 60 scientific articles in international journals and produced more than 110 presentations at scientific conferences. He has also given numerous open lectures on energy and climate issues.
While continuing to conduct research, Christophe Poinssot held various positions of responsibility within the Nuclear Energy Department of the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), first at the Saclay site and then at Marcoule, where he headed the department of research on processes for mining and fuel recycling from 2011 to 2018. During this period, he took part in studies on the recycling of strategic metals and founded the PROMETIA association, a European network specialised in issues related to the processing and recycling of mineral resources.
Since August 2018, he had been Nuclear Advisor at the French Embassy in China (Beijing) and CEA representative in that country. In this capacity, he closely monitored the nuclear power partnership between the two countries as well as Chinese activities in the field of carbon-free technologies, digital technologies and health technologies.
Strengthening BRGM's place in the world of 21st century research
Through the issues to which BRGM is responding, Christophe Poinssot's mission will be to ensure the strategic and scientific coordination of the institution's activities, whether in terms of scientific research, support for public policies, international cooperation or transfer to the economic sector, while at the same time taking care to strengthen the institution's operational efficiency.
There is great human and scientific capital at BRGM. I hope to help this renowned institute play a leading role in the research world of the 21st century and meet the challenges it faces. I have no doubt about BRGM's ability to become a leading player in geosciences in the European and international arena.
