Swansea University has presented Dr Laurent Charlet, an environmental molecular geochemist of global distinction, with the award of an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering (EngD).
Dr Charlet is internationally recognised as a world-leading expert in chemical reactivity at the molecular scale. A Professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, he plays a central role within the Institute of Earth Science, where his pioneering research shapes scientific strategies for safeguarding natural resources, managing subsurface environments responsibly, and advancing global resilience.
His multidisciplinary work spans a wide range of pressing scientific challenges, including the application of nanoparticles in cancer therapeutics, as well as breakthroughs in water quality, hydrogen storage, and nuclear waste management. His outstanding contributions have earned him numerous honours, notably the CNRS Silver Medal for Excellence in Research. He has served as a visiting professor at leading institutions including EPFL-Lausanne in Switzerland and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and he is an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Dr Charlet also has an exceptional record of international leadership. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hydrology, led the French Chapter of the International Medical Geology Association, and collaborated with UNESCO on the preservation of culturally significant prehistoric sites such as Lascaux. In recognition of his major contributions to environmental science, he was appointed Distinguished Professor in 2007.
Alongside his work in Grenoble, Dr Charlet holds affiliated positions at Swansea University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States, and the University of Waterloo in Canada. His longstanding partnership with Swansea University has helped drive scientific innovation in health, sustainability, and environmental protection.
On receiving the honorary award, Dr Charlet said: “I am very honoured to become a fellow of Swansea University. I have been collaborating with the University for over a quarter of a century, first in my role as an advisor to the President of Grenoble University in France when I set up and developed the strategic partnership which is still growing between the two universities, then through a series of scientific collaboration with colleagues on both campuses. More recently Professor Steve Conlan and I have started work on podoconiosis, a neglected tropical disease which combines are respective expertise in epigenic and geochemical nanoscale analysis applied to cells and tissues. This close multidisciplinary work will strengthen the multidisciplinary research teams in Swansea and in Grenoble and further expand the strategic research collaboration of our two universities.”