This is the focus of the ANR ITALLIX project, led by Marie Plazanet, a CNRS researcher at LIPhy, which aims to study the migration of metal ions between two liquid phases at the molecular level.

Liquids are supposed to flow, not fold. Yet microscopic oil droplets can reliably morph into lenticular hexagrams ( six-pointed stars) while staying liquid inside.

Bastien Lebreux, a doctoral student in the MODI team, is one of the 16 finalists!

Guillemin Raymond presented the Matosthèque during the third environmental transition in research day organized by the CNRS.

Electrostatic screening in ionic liquids -the ability of ions to neutralize a charge- is actually short-range, contrary to previous observations of abnormally extended interactions.

The laboratory was present at the technology and innovation festival, which took place on February 4 and 5, 2026, at Alpexpo Grenoble.

Large-format panels illustrate some of the research activities carried out at the laboratory.

The MATERIALS 2026 international conference will be held from November 16 to 20, 2026, in Grenoble (Isère). This event is organized by the French Materials Federation (FFM), which brings together 26 scientific and technical associations involved in materials. It is part of the MATERIALS series of conferences, which have been held every four years since 2002 and have established themselves as the must-attend French-language event for all academic and industrial players in the world of materials.

The school explores how living and synthetic active matter communicate, coordinate, and make decisions through physical, chemical and informational cues. Moving beyond contact and hydrodynamic interactions, the school focuses on chemical communication, quorum sensing, and informed active matter—three paradigms linking physics, chemistry, and biology. Emphasis is directed on how chemical signaling shapes collective motion, how cell populations self-organize through density-dependent feedback, and how agents can harness environmental information to optimize their behavior. By bridging active matter physics with biological regulation, the school aims to reveal new principles of organization in complex, living-like systems.

Arthur Hernandez (Leiden University)

Manon Valet (MC2)

Sophie Monnery (Institut Jean le Rond d’Alembert, Paris)

Irina Mihalcescu (MC2)