Jacques Jestin

Jacques Jestin joined the ILL in May 2020 as head of the Projects and Techniques Division (DPT). He was appointed head of the Science Division (DS) in November 2021 and  French Associate Director in October 2022.

He is an expert in neutron and x-rays small-angle scattering to soft matter, polymer nanocomposites and complex fluids, on the relationship between the nanoscale structure of materials and macroscopic properties for both fundamental and applied systems.

After studying physics and chemistry at the University of Bretagne Occidentale (France),  in 2001 Jacques Jestin completed his PhD in physics at the CEA (French atomic agency), on critical adsorption in binary liquids by neutron reflectometry. 

In 2004, he obtained a permanent CNRS research position at CEA's Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, the French national neutron facility. There, he developed a programme on polymer nanocomposites, grafted nanoparticles, and filled elastomers in collaboration with Michelin, while also being in charge of a Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) instrument and of the SKADI project for ESS. 

In 2014, Jacques Jestin spent a one-year sabbatical at the Chemical Engineering Department of Columbia University (New York, USA) working with S.K. Kumar on semi-crystalline polymer nanocomposites with grafted nanoparticles. 

Early in his career, Jacques worked at IFPEN (the French petroleum research institute) for two years, from 2002 to 2003, characterizing complex fluids using X-ray and neutron scattering.