Pascale Launois is a French crystallographer [1] whose research has included the study of quasicrystals, carbon nanotubes, and their environmental applications. She is a director of research for the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides at Paris-Saclay University. [2]
She is president of the French Neutronics Society (Société Française de la Neutronique). [3]
After earlier student work in theoretical physics, Launois turned to experimental studies. [2] She earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1987 through the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin at Paris-Saclay University; [1] her thesis concerned incommensurate phases in neutron scattering. [2]
She joined CNRS in 1988, and has been affiliated with the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides since 1993. [4] Her early work continued the study of incommensurable phases and quasicrystals, through X-ray scattering techniques; her interests shifted to the study of carbon nanotubes in the early 2000s. [2]
Launois was very active in promoting science to the public through the International Year of Crystallography, in 2014. [1] [2] She was elected president of the French Neutronics Society in 2024. [3]
Launois was a recipient of the CNRS Bronze Medal in 1991. [1] The magazine La Recherche gave her their Prix de la Recherche, for her research with Philippe Poulin and Cécile Zakri on carbon nanotubes. [2] She was the 2024 recipient of the André Guinier Prize of the French Crystallographic Association. [2] [4]
