In partnership with the French Academy of Sciences and supported by the Fondation Mines-Télécom, the IMT–Académie des sciences annual prize recognizes outstanding scientific contributions at the European level across four scientific and technological fields.
Applications for the 2026 edition are now open!
2026 : The Prix IMT – Académie des sciences evolves with two renamed distinctions
In 2026, the IMT–Academy of Sciences Award is evolving. Starting with this edition, the Grand Prize becomes the Women in Science Grand Prize, while the Young Talent Prize becomes the Emerging Talent Prize.
Grand Prize for Women in Science
In 2026, the French Académie des sciences will award the IMT – Académie des sciences Grand Prize for Women in Science, presented with a €15,000 cash award.
This annual prize is intended to reward women in science and to reward outstanding scientific contributions that have helped advance issues arising from the industrial or business world, in the service of a sustainable economy, in one of IMT’s four major scientific and technological fields listed below, in scientific and technological fields that contribute to:
- Advanced and responsible technologies for industry;
- Digital sovereignty and sobriety;
- Energy, circular economy and society;
- Engineering for health and well-being.
Emerging Prize
In 2026, the French Académie des sciences will award the IMT – Académie des sciences Emerging prize, presented with a €10,000 cash award.
This annual Prize is intended to reward a scientist under 40 years old who has made a major scientific contribution in an emerging field, a disruptive technological innovation, or the creation of a deep-tech start-up, while maintaining the objective of recognizing outstanding and widely acknowledged scientific advances in IMT’s fields, in scientific and technological areas that contribute to:
- Advanced and responsible technologies for industry;
- Digital sovereignty and sobriety;
- Energy, circular economy and society;
- Engineering for health and well-being.
Good to know
- The deadline for applications is Tuesday, 2 September 2026, at 11:00 p.m. (CEST) for both award categories.
- Direct applications will not be considered. All nominations must be submitted to the French Academy of Sciences by a laboratory director, the head of an institution, or a Member of the Academy, who must endorse and support the nomination.
Past Recipients of the IMT – Académie des sciences Prize
In 2025, the IMT–Académie des sciences Grand Prize was awarded to Stéphane Avril, IMT Professor of Biomechanics at Mines Saint-Étienne and Director of the SAINBIOSE laboratory, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to solid mechanics, soft tissue biomechanics and mechanobiology—a hybrid discipline that he pioneered and applied to the study of the aorta.
The 2025 IMT–Académie des sciences Young Talent Award was presented to Damien Texier, a CNRS researcher at the Clément Ader Institute on the IMT Mines Albi campus, for his research on metallic alloys and their mechanical and oxidation behaviour. His work supports applications in the transport and aerospace sectors operating in complex environments.
