Rayan Chikhi and Darragh Duffy, winners of the 2024 Pasteur Vallery-Radot Prize

Jacqueline Pasteur Vallery-Radot, the wife of Louis Pasteur's grandson, chose the National Library of France (BnF) as the residuary legatee of her estate. Under the terms of her will, the BnF awards two prizes every year, in consultation with the Institut Pasteur, funded by the revenue from her legacy.

Since 2007, these prizes have been awarded annually to two French Institut Pasteur scientists under the age of 50 who have led a major scientific project in the field of biology or physics/chemistry over the last five years, thus proving themselves to be worthy heirs of Louis Pasteur himself. Winners are chosen by a panel of Institut Pasteur and French Academy of Sciences members, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences.

At a ceremony hosted by the President of the French National Library (BnF), Gilles Pécout, and attended by Antoine Triller, Permanent Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences, and Professor Yasmine Belkaid, President of the Institut Pasteur, these two prizes were awarded on July 4 to Rayan Chikhi and Darragh Duffy.

Photos : Hafida Fsihi

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