Antoine FECANT

Antoine Fécant holds an engineering degree from the École Normale Supérieure de Chimie de Lille (2004) and a DEA (Advanced Studies Diploma) from the University of Lille 1 in the same year. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. from the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in Materials Chemistry, with his doctoral research conducted at IFP Energies nouvelles, for which he was awarded the "Yves Chauvin Thesis Prize" in 2008. He joined IFPEN in 2007 as a research engineer in catalysis and was appointed project leader for prospective studies in the field of synthetic fuels in 2013. Between 2018 and 2023, he was responsible for industrial projects focusing on the development of catalysts and sustainable processes in the refining sector.

Since 2023, he has been leading the Molecular Chemistry Department. This team of approximately 25 members develops innovative molecular systems for various topics, ranging from extractive chemistry for metal recycling to coordination chemistry for catalysis.

Antoine Fécant contributes to student education (interns, PhD students) and is a member of the French Chemical Society (Société Chimique de France) as treasurer of the Industrial Chemistry Division. He is the author of around twenty publications and the inventor of more than 100 patents. Notably, he initiated research in the field of photocatalysis for the production of "solar fuels" within IFPEN. To that extent, he was honored with the Young Researcher Award of the City of Lyon in the Science and Engineering for Sustainable Development category in 2012.

Antoine Fécant received the IMT - Academy of Sciences Espoir Award in 2021, followed by the Senior Researcher Award from the Energy Transverse Division of the SCF in 2022, for his work on energy-related materials.

In 2025, he was appointed Doctoral Ambassador for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Space.