Each year, thanks to the support of private donors, public bodies and companies, the Académie des Sciences awards nearly 80 prizes covering all areas of science, from fundamental research to its most practical applications. These awards honour the excellence and contribution of French and international researchers. In 2025, the Henri Deslandres Foundation’s prize for the Sciences of the Universe, created in 1946, was awarded to Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, a researcher at the LIRA.
An acknowledged specialist in comets, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan explores their composition using millimetre and infrared spectroscopic observations, both from the ground and from space. Her work has identified numerous molecules in cometary ices, shedding new light on the chemical history of the Solar System. Involved in the ESA’s Rosetta mission, she recently signed off the discovery of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the exosphere of Ganymede thanks to the JWST space telescope.
The official presentation of the Académie des Sciences prizes will take place on 28 October 2025, from 3pm to 4.30pm, under the famous dome of the Institut de France (23 quai de Conti, Paris 6ᵉ). The ceremony will also be broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the Académie des sciences.
