Philippe Walter#
| Membership Number: | 4976 |
| Membership type: | ORDINARY |
| Section: | CHEMICAL SCIENCES |
| Elected: | 2019 |
| Main Country of Residence: | FRANCE |
| Homepage(s): | http://www.umr-lams.fr |
Present and Previous Positions
- 2023 – Vice-President of the Fondation internationale de la Maion de la Chimie
- 2023 - Deputy Delegate of the Chemistry Section of the Académie des Sciences
- 2012 - 2023 Director, Laboratoire d’Archéologie moléculaire et structurale (LAMS), CNRS-UMR 8220
- 2016 - 2019 Co-director, Observatoire des Patrimoines de Sorbonne Universités (OPUS)
- 2013 - 2014 Invited Professor at Collège de France, Liliane Bettencourt Chair of Innovative Technology
- 2012 - 2014 Director, Féderation de Recherche NewAGLAE (in the Louvre Museum)
- 2008 - 2011 Director, Laboratory of the Centre de Recherche et Restauration des Musées de France C2RMF, CNRS-UMR 171
- 2007 - Research Director at CNRS (from 2018, exceptional class)
- 2005 - 2013 Associate Professor, University of Liege, Belgium
- 2003 - 2011 Head, « AGLAE » group at the Centre de Recherche et Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF)
- 1995 - 2007 Researcher at CNRS, Centre de Recherche et Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF)
- 1986 - 1990 Student at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud-Lyon
Fields of Scholarship
- In-situ, non-destructive, non-invasive spectroscopies and hyperspectral imaging for ancient materials
- Synchrotron radiation studies for cultural heritage
- Ancient materials as an unexpected source of information on long-term physico-chemical ageing
- Materials science for cultural heritage
- Colour, light and spectroscopy to unravel the origin of visual perception
- Design, creation and use of portable instruments
- Analytical studies of pigments, binders and media used by Old Masters
- Analytical chemistry to understand the formulation of pigments, cosmetic or medicinal products for health and beauty during Antiquity (Prehistoric Caves, Egypt)
- Technological innovation for the development of new instruments and analytical tools to characterize materials of cultural heritage
- Art-chemistry
Honours and Awards
- 2023 Doctor Honoris Causa, Université de Liège, Belgique
- 2022 Member of the French Academie des Sciences
- 2019 Member of Academia Europaea
- 2017 Grand Prix Le Bel, the French Chemical Society
- 2014 Principal Investigator of the POLYRE project (interdisciplinary research consortium on polychromy) of Sorbonne Universités
- 2013 - 2014 Invited Professor at Collège de France, Liliane Bettencourt Chair of Innovative Technology
- 2013 Principal Investigator of the LAMS mobile laboratory project
- 2011 Founding member of the Gordon research conference on “Scientific Methods in Cultural Heritage research” (vice-chair in 2012 ; chair in 2014)
- 2011 Co-Principal Investigator, for Cultural Heritage applications, of the ThomX Equipex project (Inverse Compton Source) in Orsay
- 2011 Principal Investigator of the New AGLAE Equipex project in the Louvre Museum
- 2010 Franklin-Lavoisier Prize, Science History Institute, Philadelphia, Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, USA-France
- 2009 Fellow of the Fundation IXCore for Research
- 2009 Guest curator of the exhibition « Le bain et le miroir » (The bath and the mirror) at Cluny Museum – National Museum national of Middle Ages, Paris
- 2008 Silver Medal, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- 2004 Grammatikakis-Neuman Prize of Chemistry, the French Academy of Sciences
- 2002 Guest curator of the exhibition « Egyptian perfumes», Cairo Museum, Cairo (Egypt)
- 2000 Bronze Medal, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- 1994 Prize in Physical Chemistry, the French Chemical Society
- Co-author of about 300 scientific publications (50% in chemistry, 50% in humanities) and invited lecturers more than 200 times in conferences, workshops, seminars, …
- Founding member of a Gordon research Conference on Scientific methods in Cultural Heritage research (vice chair in 2012 on « Non-destructive imaging and micro-analysis in cultural heritage » and chair in 2014 on « Challenges and Complexity in Characterization and Conservation ».).
- Chair or co-chair of about ten international workshop, congress or school, in particular of three schools in the framework of the International School Hubert Curien of molecular and structural archaeology, Erice, Italy: « Molecular and Structural archaeology: how did solid-solid transformation occur?» in 2006, « Non-invasive analysis of painting materials » (with David Strivay, ULg) in 2010 and « The materiality of artistic creation : weaving art, literature and chemistry” in 2015).
- Guest curator of the exhibitions: « Le bain et le miroir » au Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Age, Paris, 2009; « Egyptian perfumes», Cairo Museum, 2002.
