The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Descartes-Huijgens Prize 2004 to Professor M.P. Pileni. The Frenchwoman was nominated by the Solid State Physics research group of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
Pileni is currently working at Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris. She will receive a sum of 23,000 euros to fund a six-month research position in the Solid State Physics group. She will arrive at the University of Twente in early 2005.
The Descartes-Huygens Prize was instituted in 1995 by the French and Dutch governments to stimulate scientific cooperation between France and the Netherlands. The prize is awarded on a rotating basis to scientists from the humanities and social sciences, the natural sciences and the life sciences. The agreement between the two countries stipulates that the Netherlands will select the French candidate for this prize, and that France will select the Dutch candidate
Dr Stefan Kooij of the Solid State Physics group says, `Professor Pileni is an expert in our field and is highly regarded for her research. She received an honorary doctorate from Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg. We are honored that she will be doing her research with us.' The Descartes-Huygens Prize will be presented officially in the spring of 2005.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
