Audrey Bienfait, a CNRS research associate at ENS de Lyon's Physics laboratory (LPENSL/CNRS/ENS de Lyon), is one of three recipients of the first Young Researchers Award for Excellence, established in 2025 by the CFM Foundation for Research. Photo credit: © Nil Hoppenot
Studying quantum circuits and their interactions
Physicist Audrey Bienfait joined LPENSL as a researcher after completing her PhD at CEA-Saclay—as part of the Quantronics team—and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. Today, she focuses specifically on quantum circuits and how they interact with other systems, such as electron spins (a property of electrons) and phonons (vibrations in matter).
Her research had already been recognized on several previous occasions with:
- the Brüker Prize for her PhD thesis, “Characterization of spins and dielectric defects with microsecond-scale coherence using superconducting circuits,”
- the Michelson Prize for her postdoctoral research,
- an ERC Starting Grant in 2022, which enables her to work on her project aimed at detecting and observing electron spins.
The Young Researchers Award for Excellence
Launched in 2025 by the CFM (Capital Fund Management) Foundation for Research, the Young Researchers Award for Excellence honors three young researchers each year, with each recipient receiving 120,000 euros spread over three years. In practice, this financial support supplements the salary paid by the winner’s institution, with the aim of maintaining the competitiveness of scientific research in France relative to institutions abroad.
Seven institutions contributed to the shortlisting of candidates in Mathematics, Physics, Astrophysics, Biophysics, and Computer Science and Data Science: ENS Paris, ENS de Lyon, ESPCI, Collège de France, École Polytechnique, Paris Sorbonne, and Université Paris-Saclay.