Frédéric Girault appointed member of the Institut universitaire de France
The Institut universitaire de France (IUF) aims to promote high-level research in universities and foster interdisciplinarity. Frédéric Girault, an associate professor at UPCité-IPGP, has been awarded a five-year junior chair. This distinction recognises the excellence of his scientific work and will enable him to consolidate his position in the field.
Publication date: 06/11/2025
Research
After completing a PhD in Geophysics (2008-2011) and a postdoctoral fellowship in Physical Volcanology (2012-2013) at IPGP, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Rock Mechanics at Ens Paris (2013-2015), Frédéric Girault joined UPCité-IPGP as an Assistant Professor in 2015. His research focuses on studying fluids in the Earth’s crust and the critical zone, both in the field and the laboratory, with the aim of better understanding the interactions between fluids and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, anthropogenic factors and climate change. His work combines field and laboratory measurements to propose physical interpretations supported by analytical and numerical models. He is particularly interested in large mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, which emit carbon dioxide (CO2) sensitive to crustal deformation and earthquakes.
The conditions offered by the IUF will allow him to further our understanding of spatial and temporal variations in metamorphic CO2 emissions, in particular through the development of drone sensors, borehole instrumentation, laboratory experiments and a coupled numerical code for CO2 and radon transport. This work will overcome some of the scientific obstacles to proposing a larger-scale project.
