Olivier Lafon, scientific manager of the very high field NMR platform at the Lille siteINFRAANALYTICS and the NMR and inorganic materials team (RM2I) of the Catalysis and Solid State Chemistry Unit (UCCS), was appointed to the rank of Knight of the National Order of Merit.
His research activities aim to push the boundaries of solid state NMR spectroscopy, in order to understand the structure and dynamics in materials for positive and catalysis and earned him several awards, including the Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry Award for Young Scientists in 2013 and appointment as a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2016. He also collaborates with industrialists on these themes and is involved in the development of industrial relations at INFRANALYTICS.
In addition, he piloted the installation of a spectrometer 1,2 GHz NMR, unique in France, offering unparalleled resolution as part of the CPER RMN1200 project (2015-2022). He notably supervised the construction of a building to house this equipment, as well as its installation and opening as part of the INFRANALYTICS infrastructure from 2023.
He also develops INFRANALYTICS' international collaborations, allowing it to participate in two European infrastructures: EUSMI (2017-2021) in the field of soft matter and RIANA (2024-2028) in that of nanosciences. He also coordinates theInternational Research Project CYAN in partnership with the key laboratories for magnetic resonance of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the East China Normal University. This project aims to probe the synergies between active sites in zeolites by combining very high field NMR and dynamic nuclear polarization and strengthens cooperation between INFRANALYTICS and Chinese NMR infrastructures.
As a professor at the University of Lille, he also created massive open online courses (MOOCs) in English that bring together thousands of participants from over 90 countries each year.
He is also a member of the journal's editorial board. Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and has an expert role for national and international organizations (Horizon Europe, Germany, Belgium, Canada, United States, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.).
At the national level, it runs a network of infrastructures in material sciences and engineering (IR SMI) which brings together around fifteen research infrastructures, including the ESRF and Soleil synchrotrons, the ILL neutron source, the national laboratory for intense magnetic fields, etc.