Claire Pirim

Claire Pirim is Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Lille and undertakes her research in the `Analysis of Traces´ (ANATRAC) research group since September 1st, 2014. The ANATRAC research group is part of the `Molecular Physics at Interfaces´ (MPI) team. Claire Pirim now leads the ANTRAC group since July 2022, which gathers 5 permanent scientists (2 professors and 3 associate professors), 5 PhD students, and 1 postdoctoral fellow under the unifying theme of developing and utilizing state-of-the-art surface science techniques to unravel the details occurring at gas-surface interfaces. Our research is based upon an interdisciplinary approach and thus encompasses both fundamental and applied sciences that span many fields of investigation such as chemistry, biology, material science, as well as planetary and environmental science.

Claire Pirim received her Ph.D. (2011) in Physical and Theoretical Chemistry from the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris VI (France) for her study of radical reactions relevant to astrochemical environments (such as H+CO) at very low temperatures in the condensed phase. She then joined the EPICS laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech, Georgia, USA) in 2011 as a postdoctoral research fellow. Her research focused then on understanding the reactions occurring on Titan’s surface and aerosols within the atmosphere (Funding: NAI/JPL-CalTech : Titan as a prebiotic chemical system). The emphasis was also on determining whether meteoritic mineral deposits or organic ices could catalyze the formation of more complex molecules possessing a prebiotic character under the influence of space weathering agents (Funding: NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution).

Her field of research is related to surface science. As a member of the ANATRAC group, she now uses a wide range of spectroscopic and mass spectrometry techniques to characterize ices, clathrates hydrates, and soot particles. She also investigates the physical and chemical phenomena occurring at the solid-gas interface under conditions relevant to atmospheric and astrophysical environments. Specifically, she studies multi-phase processes (incorporation mechanism, freezing, gas diffusion, etc) involving ice and trace gases of atmospheric interest by laser desorption/mass spectrometry and vibrational spectroscopy. Her studies also involve the characterization of ice and PAHs adsorbed on combustion-derived soot particles. The team has been involved in many national programs, and has risen important european, national and regional funding over the last 5 years. The group expertise in regard to in-situ gas clathrate formation at high pressures, ice nucleation properties, and aerosol characterization has led to joining several projects in the last past years (MERMOSE (Direction Générale de l'aviation civile), ANR MI2C, ANR JCJC M6Fossils, ANR UNREAL, H2020 Pems4Nano, InterReg CARBON2VALUE, Labex CaPPA, CPER Climibio, CPER ECRIN, CPER WaveTech, ANR EffPhoB, ANR SOFORA, PEPR Origins.

Finally, Associate Prof. Pirim has supervised and (co-)supervised students and young researchers enrolled in 4 MSc and 5 PhDs in the last 5 years. In addition, Associate Prof. Pirim has published 26 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals (h-index = 14; scopus) and given over 68 communications in international meetings. Associate Prof. Pirim is teaching mainly Ray Optics, Point Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Physics of Energy, Introduction to Electromagnetism, and Vibrational Spectroscopy from freshmen to Masters Students.