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PORTRAIT

December 2024 ESRFnews

Jean Daillant, the new director-

general of the ESRF, first came on site

as a young researcher three decades

years ago, when the synchrotron

entered user service. The two periods

have much in common: back then

the ESRF was trailblazing brilliant,

high-energy X-rays as the world’s first

third-generation synchrotron, and

today it is leading the way again, with

the power of the Extremely Brilliant

Source (EBS). But according to

Daillant, the atmosphere is markedly

different. “Of course, 30 years ago we

were really excited with what we could

do,” he says. “But we didn’t have that

feeling the ESRF staff and users have

today, where new science is blooming

everywhere. There are just so many

impactful contributions, so many

international collaborations in key

areas of research – it’s amazing.”

Though at the time of this

interview Daillant has been in the role

only a matter of weeks, he is already

visibly enthusiastic by the scientific

themes that have newly emerged

from EBS capabilities: the pioneering

hierarchical imaging of the Human

Organ Atlas; real-time movies of

batteries in operation; novel materials

that emerge at extreme conditions;

tracking nano-scale environmental

pollutants; room-temperature serial

crystallography; neural mapping in

connectomics see p12 indeed it

is apparent that he could happily talk

about these innovations and many

others for all of the allotted interview

time We have moved from an era

that was purely samplebased to

addressing scientific questions at the

biggest scale he says

A physicist by training Daillant

spent his research career focusing on

soft matter including studies of the

van der Waals forces that shape liquid

surfaces and lipid membranes He

joins the ESRF having spent

13 years as director-general of

SOLEIL, France’s national

synchrotron, which is optimised to

deliver light at lower energies, from

the infrared through to hard X-rays.

In addition to this, he has been chair of

the League of European Accelerator-

based Photon Sources (LEAPS), which

promotes excellence and cooperation

among synchrotron and X-ray free

electron laser facilities, and, from

2003 to 2009, a member of the ESRF’s

Science Advisory Committee.

All this experience will serve him

well at the ESRF’s helm, where he

wants to expand upon the facility’s

hallmark for highly collaborative,

socially relevant, international

scientific projects. For this, he believes

the new access modes will be critical.

One example of a research area that

could receive a boost from this is

quantum technology, he says. It is

a natural subject for synchrotron

investigation, given its dependency on

multi-scale defects. “The EBS, as well

as our data and artificial intelligence

services, could really help here,” he

adds. “But a strategic project needs to

include in-house research. It can’t be

successful if we’re not participating

ourselves.”

In addition to developing the use of

the EBS, and encouraging innovative

projects in strategic fields, Jean

Daillant wants to preserve and foster

the culture that has enabled the ESRF

to pioneer Xray science what he

refers to as a special alchemy Of

course there is the instrumentation

the key scientists on site the

commitment and expertise of ESRF

staff the international collaborations

the ecosystems but still its as though

many stars have to be aligned he says

What is happening at the ESRF right

now is unique



Jon Cartwright

T he newly appointed ESRF director-

general, Jean Daillant, wants to

strengthen what makes the ESRF a

vibrant hub where cutting-edge science

is “blooming everywhere”

A new era with ESRF–EBS

E S R F/ S T E F C A N D É

JEAN DAILLANT: IN BRIEF

BORN: Chalon sur Saône, France (1963)

EDUCATION: Ecole Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud

and Université Pierre et Marie Curie; PhD, Paris-Sud

University (1989)

CAREER: Research scientist, CEA (1989); deputy

director, LURE (1999–2003); head of LIONS, CEA,

(2003–2011); member, ESRF science advisory

committee (2003–2009); head of scientific council,

SOLEIL (2006–2010); director-general, SOLEIL

(2011–2024); director-general, ESRF (2024–).

There are just so many

impactful contributions

so many international

collaborations in key

areas of research