Leadership and Staff
Sylvia Alajaji
Associate Director, IRC Discovery
Sylvia Alajaji supports the CNRS-University of Chicago International Research Center for Fundamental Scientific Discovery (IRC Discovery). In addition to supporting the center’s programmatic and strategic goals, she ensures the ongoing vitality of the Center’s contributions to scholarship on a global scale and serves as the liaison to on-campus and external stakeholders.
Sylvia comes to the University of Chicago after serving as Professor of Ethnomusicology at Franklin & Marshall College (affiliate in International Studies) and the Dumanian Visiting Professor of Armenian Studies at UChicago. She has been in higher education for over fifteen years, both as a faculty member and as a widely published scholar of global cultural production. She received her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.
Nicolas Chevrier
UChicago Scientific Director, IRC Discovery
Associate Professor of Molecular Engineering, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Nicolas Chevrier received a BS in biochemistry from the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, an MS in biochemistry and immunology from the Université de la Méditérranée in Marseille, France, and a PhD in immunology from Harvard Medical School in 2012.
He led an independent research group as a Bauer Fellow at the FAS Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University from 2012 to 2017, and joined the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as an assistant professor in September 2017.
Alexandre Gefen
CNRS Scientific Director, IRC Discovery
Deputy Director, CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences
Alexandre Gefen is research professor (directeur de recherche) at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Deputy Scientific Director of the Institute of Human and Social Sciences of the CNRS since 2018. His research concerns questions of literary theory and contemporary French literature. As founder of the website Fabula, he has developed parallel research interests in the development of digital humanities. His most recent books include Vies imaginaires de la littérature française (2014); Art et émotions (2015); Inventer une vie: La fabrique littéraire de l’individu (2015); and Réparer le monde: La littérature française face au XXIe siècle (2017).
Solène Marié
Deputy Director, Head of international cooperation with the Americas – CNRS European and International Affairs Department
At the European and International Affairs Department, Solène Marié elaborates and implements the CNRS’ international cooperation strategy with the American continent. Prior to this, she was Head of International Cooperation for CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences, where she managed the team in charge of the implementation of the organisation’s international policy for HSS, its cooperation and mobility programmes as well as its network of 31 international research laboratories.
Previously, she worked in cultural policy and international cultural projects in France, the United Kingdom and Argentina. She has held positions at Arts Council England, worked in the production teams of international circus and theatre events within the London 2012 cultural Olympiad and taken part in the production of many international projects at the crossroads of culture, human rights and migration. She holds a joint PhD in International Relations and Political Science from the universities of Brasília (Brazil) and Paris 8 and her research focuses on international cultural relations.
Jan Matas
Director, CNRS Office for the USA and Mexico
Jan Matas is the Director of the CNRS office in Washington, D.C. From 2019 to the end of 2024, he served as the representative of a joint CNRS – Université de Lyon satellite office in Canada and as the first Director of the newly created CNRS office in Ottawa. Between 2013 and 2017, he served as the Director of International Relations for the University of Lyon (COMUE), a role that follows his position as Director of International Strategy, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon) from 2007 to 2012.
Jan Matas’ scientific background is in Geophysics. He obtained his Masters degree from Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic), and received his PhD. at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon) in 1999, working on the geophysical applications of thermochemical modelling of the proprieties of solids in high pressures and high temperatures. He obtained his diploma of “Habilitation à diriger des recherches” in 2012.
After being hired as a CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) junior researcher in 2000, he has conducted his research in the Lyon’s Laboratory of Geology (CNRS/ENS de Lyon/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1). He also taught several courses at the Department of Earth Sciences at the ENS de Lyon between 2000 and 2010. He was a visiting scholar, in 1999 – 2000 and in 2006, in the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California at Berkeley. He became CNRS Senior Researcher (Directeur de Recherche – DR CNRS) in 2015.
Alain Mermet
Director of CNRS European and International Affairs
With a doctorate in physics, Alain Mermet began his academic career as an associate professor at the Université d’Orsay (now part of the Université Paris-Saclay), then as a professor at the Université de Lyon. He spent four years as a researcher at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, and then served as science and technology attaché at the French embassies in the United States and Norway before being appointed director of the CNRS office in Brussels in September 2021.
Kate Moore
Senior Director, Global Initiatives and Strategy
Kate Moore leads UChicago Global’s Chicago-based programming and the University’s institutional partnership process. She creates and maintains support structures for faculty conducting international work, builds relationships with key stakeholders both on campus and abroad, advises academic units and faculty on potential partnership structures, and surfaces opportunities for their global engagement.
Before joining the university, Kate served as the Chief of Staff to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Office in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Assistant to the UNICEF Executive Director at the New York headquarters. Kate has a BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee of IRC Discovery guides its direction and priorities, assesses its progress, grows its impact, and initiates the necessary institutional processes for the association of strategic partners to the IRC. The committee convenes annually.
Alain Schuhl
Deputy CEO for Science, CNRS
Steering Committee Co-Chair
Alain Schuhl graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and is a professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes. Following his thesis in physics, his research focused on spintronics, first with the Thales group then as an academic in Nancy and Grenoble where he directed the Spintec laboratory from 2007 to 2010. He directed the Néel Institute in Grenoble from 2011 to 2014 and the CNRS Institute of Physics from February 2015 to April 2018. Alain Schuhl became a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2010.
Ka Yee C. Lee
Senior Advisor to the Provost for Global Initiatives, University of Chicago
David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry
Steering Commmittee Co-Chair
Ka Yee C. Lee is Interim Dean of the Division of the Physical Sciences and the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, the James Franck Institute, the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, and the College.
Lee, whose research focuses on membrane biophysics, holds an ScB degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, and MS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics from Harvard University. She completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lee joined UChicago in 1998 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and was appointed full professor in 2008. She is the author or co-author of more than 125 scholarly publications.
Lee’s honors include recognition as a Searle Scholar, a David and Lucile Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering, and a Sloan Research Fellow. She is also an elected member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a fellow of the Biophysical Society, and a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Additionally, Lee has received the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and holds the distinction of being the inaugural recipient of the Arthur L. Kelly Prize for Exceptional Faculty Service in the Physical Sciences Division. Previously, Lee served as provost of the University, vice provost for research, the director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and associate director of the James Franck Institute.
Alain Mermet
Director of CNRS European and International Affairs
With a doctorate in physics, Alain Mermet began his academic career as an associate professor at the Université d’Orsay (now part of the Université Paris-Saclay), then as a professor at the Université de Lyon. He spent four years as a researcher at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, and then served as science and technology attaché at the French embassies in the United States and Norway before being appointed director of the CNRS office in Brussels in September 2021.
Matthew Tirrell
D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Matthew Tirrell is the D. Gale Johnson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His personal research specializes in the manipulation and measurement of polymer surface properties. Tirrell’s work has provided new insight into phenomena such as adhesion, friction, and biocompatibility, and contributed to the development of new materials based on self-assembly of synthetic and bio-inspired materials.
Tirrell previously served as the dean of Pritzker Molecular Engineering from 2011 to 2023. Before that, he served as the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and as professor of materials science and engineering and chemical engineering and faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Prior to that, he was dean of engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 10 years. Tirrell began his academic career at the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and later became head of the department. Tirrell also served as Deputy Laboratory Director for Science at Argonne National Laboratory, 2015-2018. Effective June 2022, he serves as Interim Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology, where he is responsible for integrating the laboratory’s research and development efforts and science and technology capabilities.
Tirrell received his BS in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and his PhD in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He has received many honors, including the Polymer Physics Prize of the American Physical Society and election to the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Alexandre Gefen
CNRS Scientific Director, IRC Discovery
Deputy Director, CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences
Alexandre Gefen is research professor (directeur de recherche) at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and Deputy Scientific Director of the Institute of Human and Social Sciences of the CNRS since 2018. His research concerns questions of literary theory and contemporary French literature. As founder of the website Fabula, he has developed parallel research interests in the development of digital humanities. His most recent books include Vies imaginaires de la littérature française (2014); Art et émotions (2015); Inventer une vie: La fabrique littéraire de l’individu (2015); and Réparer le monde: La littérature française face au XXIe siècle (2017).
Nicolas Chevrier
UChicago Scientific Director, IRC Discovery
Associate Professor of Molecular Engineering, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Nicolas Chevrier received a BS in biochemistry from the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, an MS in biochemistry and immunology from the Université de la Méditérranée in Marseille, France, and a PhD in immunology from Harvard Medical School in 2012.
He led an independent research group as a Bauer Fellow at the FAS Center for Systems Biology at Harvard University from 2012 to 2017, and joined the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as an assistant professor in September 2017.