Sylvie Retailleau, a Normalian appointed Minister of Higher Education and Research

Sylvie Retailleau, a former student of ENS Paris-Saclay (formerly Cachan) and president of the Université Paris-Saclay, was appointed Minister of Higher Education and Research on Friday, May 20, 2022. Let's take a look back at her exceptional journey from her years as a student at Cachan.

Her Journey

After attending a preparatory class at Dumont D'Urville High School in Toulon, Sylvie joined the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (now ENS Paris-Saclay) in the EEA department (Electrical Engineering, Electronics, and Automation) and obtained the agrégation in physical sciences, specializing in "applied physics" in 1988.

As a physicist specialized in advanced electronic components (microelectronics, nanoelectronics, and quantum electronics), she defended her thesis "Study of the bipolar transistor with double Si/SiGe/Si heterojunction by Monte-Carlo simulations" in 1992 at the University of Paris-Sud under the supervision of René Castagné.

That same year, she became a lecturer at the University of Paris-Sud and then a professor at the university in 2001.

She conducted her research at the Institute of Fundamental Electronics (UMR CNRS University of Paris-Sud), a laboratory that, on June 1, 2016, merged with the Laboratory of Photonics and Nanostructures (LPN) to form the C2N (Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies - CNRS/University of Paris-Sud), a world-renowned laboratory in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnologies.

From September 2011 to May 2016, she served as Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, then as President of the University of Paris-Sud from May 2016 to December 2018, and later as President of the COMUE Université Paris-Saclay.

Sylvie Retailleau was elected President of the University of Paris-Saclay on March 2, 2020, of which ENS Paris-Saclay is a co-founder. As such, she has been an ex officio member of the board of directors of ENS Paris-Saclay since that date, after having served as a representative of partner institutions from 2016 to 2019 and having served on the scientific council from 2010 to 2016.

On May 20, 2022, she was appointed Minister of Higher Education and Research in Élisabeth Borne's government.

"ENS Cachan represents so much, it's the journey to Paris, it's independence, it's learning to think, to be more autonomous, to gain self-confidence. It also made me realize that I loved doing research." - Sylvie Retailleau

Sylvie Retailleau has agreed to share her testimony as an alumna of the school in a series of videos honoring women who study or work, have studied or worked at ENS Paris-Saclay. They reflect on their journey, projects, motivations, and share their vision of the role of women in science, today and in the future.