Françoise Combes (; born 12 August 1952) is a French astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and a professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

where she has been the chair of Galaxies and cosmology since 2014. On 15 September 2017 the 'City of Success' school at Montpellier was renamed as 'High school Françoise Combes'.

Education

Françoise Combes studied at the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

from 1971 to 1975. In 1975, she obtained the Agrégation and a PhD in Physics from

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

, writing her thesis on the dynamics and structure of galaxies.

Research

Her research works are about galaxy formation and evolution, in a cosmological context. This work includes: galaxy dynamics, their spiral and barred structures, and interactions between galaxies, studied both through multi-wavelength observations and by numerical simulations. Additionally, she has published extensively on the interstellar medium of galaxies. In particular, the molecular gas which gives birth to new stars in nearby galaxies, such as Andromeda, and which can be found in high redshift systems. She has published numerous reviews that range in her areas of interest. Françoise Combes has contributed to various models of

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not a ...

, and is also interested in alternative solutions, such as modified gravity. She collaborated with Daniel Pfenniger in developing a model to account under the form of cold molecular gas for a large fraction of the dark

baryon In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite subatomic particle which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the hadron family of particles; hadrons are composed of quarks. Baryons are also classif ...

s, which have not yet been identified.

Awards and honors

* 2022: Nick Kylafis Lectureship * 2022:

Karl Jansky Karl Guthe Jansky (October 22, 1905 – February 14, 1950) was an American physicist and radio engineer who in April 1933 first announced his discovery of radio waves emanating from the Milky Way in the constellation Sagittarius. He is considere ...

Lecturer * 2021: L'Oréal-UNESCO International Prize for Women in Science 2021 * 2021: American Astronomical Society Fellow *2020: Gold Medal of the CNRS * 2019: Commander of National Order of Merit * 2017: The school ''City of Success of Montpellier'' (France) was renamed as ''High school Françoise Combes'' * 2017: Prix Jules Janssen of the Société astronomique de France, the French Astronomical Society * 2017: Lise Meitner Prize of the University of Technology CHALMERS in Gothenburg * 2017: Honorary member of the American Astronomical Society * 2015: Officer of the

French Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

* 2013: R.M. Petrie Prize of the Canadian Astronomical Society * 2013: Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

* 2012: Prix des Trois Physiciens, ENS * 2009: Officer of the National Order of Merit * 2009: Member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

* 2003: Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

, 2013 * 2009: Tycho Brahe Prize of the

European Astronomical Society The European Astronomical Society (EAS) is a learned society, founded under the Swiss Civil Code in 1990, as an association to contribute and promote the advancement of astronomy in Europe, and to deal with astronomical matters at a European lev ...

* 2006: Knight of the

* 2004: Member of the French Academy of Sciences * 2001: Silver Medal of the CNRS * 1986: IBM physics prize

Bibliography

Françoise Combes is the author of over a thousand articles, a number of books, and has participated in collective works. Her English-language books include: * ''The Milky Way'' (with James Lequeux), EDP Sciences, 2016, 196p () * ''Galaxies and Cosmology (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library)'' (with Patrick Boissé) (translator: M. Seymour), Springer, 2nd Ed 2004, 468p () * ''The Cold Universe'' Saas-Fee Advanced Course. vol 32. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (with Andrew W. Blain) (editor: Daniel Pfenniger), Springer, 2004, () * ''Mysteries Of Galaxy Formation'', Praxis, 2010, 224p () *''La Voie Lactée'', 2013, (EdP-Sciences), F. Combes & J. Lequeux *''Galaxies et Cosmologie (2009)'', (Ellipses), F. Combes, M. Haywood, S. Collin, F. Durret, B. Guiderdoni * A. Aspect, R. Balian, G. Bastard, J.P. Bouchaud, B. Cabane, F. Combes, T. Encrenaz, S. Fauve, A. Fert, M. Fink, A. Georges, J.F. Joanny, D. Kaplan, D. Le Bihan, P. Léna, H. Le Treut, J-P Poirier, J. Prost et J.L. Puget, ''Demain la physique'', (Odile Jacob, 2009) *''Mystères de la formation des galaxies (2008)'', (Dunod), F. Combes *''Galaxies et Cosmologie'' (1991), (Inter-Sciences, CNRS), P. Boissé, A. Mazure et A. Blanchard *''Galaxies and Cosmology'' (1995), (Springer), P. Boissé, A. Mazure et A. Blanchard, (réédité en 2002)

References

External links

Publications list

Homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Combes, Francoise 1952 births Living people French astrophysicists French physicists French women scientists Women astrophysicists École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences