Laboratory
The LPT today
The LPT currently hosts 15 CNRS researchers (including 1 junior professor chair) and 9 UPS faculty researchers, 2 CNRS technicians, 2 emeritus members, and each year typically 5-8 postdoctoral researchers and 10-16 PhD students. It also regularly welcomes undergraduate and Master’s interns, as well as numerous international visitors. Since 2007, 4 UPS faculty researchers from the LPT have been laureates of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Since January 1, 2021, the LPT has been part of the FeRMI research federation, which brings together laboratories focusing on fundamental physics and chemistry on the site.
Since 2003, the LPT has been one of the four laboratories constituting the IRSAMC Federation (FR 2568), along with the Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité – LCAR (UMR5589; atomic and cluster physics), the Laboratoire de Chimie et Physique Quantiques – LCPQ (UMR5626; theoretical chemistry), and the Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie des Nano-Objets – LPCNO (UMR5215; nanophysics and nanochemistry).
Since 2007, the LPT’s own resources have included numerous grants from the ANR (National Research Agency), the European Community, and various one-time allocations (from CNRS, UPS Scientific Council calls for proposals, Occitanie Region, CEA, Occitan Quantum Institute, PEPR, etc.) that complement the annual funding provided by our supervisory institutions, CNRS and UPS.
The latest evaluation report of the laboratory by Hcéres in 2020 can be downloaded at this link.
A Brief History of the LPT
In 1991, Jean Bellissard (formerly from the CPT in Marseille) and a handful of young CNRS researchers founded the Groupe de Physique Théorique (GPT) with the support of CNRS and the Université Paul Sabatier (UPS; University of Toulouse III). At the time, the group was hosted by the Laboratoire de Physique Quantique (now LCPQ). Around the same period, three laboratories at the Toulouse site, including the LCPQ, formed the Institut de Recherche sur les Systèmes Atomiques et Moléculaires Complexes – [IRSAMC]. IRSAMC was quickly recognized by CNRS and UPS as a Federation for Research in Fundamental Physics and Chemistry (FR2568).
In 2003, having reached critical mass and gained undeniable scientific recognition and visibility, the GPT was granted the status of a Mixed Research Unit (UMR5152) by CNRS and UPS under its current name. Didier Poilblanc was the first director of the LPT, serving from 2003 to 2006. He was succeeded by Clément Sire (2007-2015), Bertrand Georgeot (2016-2021), and Nicolas Destainville (2022-2024). Since April 2024, the director has been Sylvain Capponi.
The four teams of the LPT
Since 2003, the LPT has been organized into four groups, whose scientific activities cover a broad range of modern physics, except nuclear and particle physics:
Scientific production of the LPT
During the period from June 2014 to June 2019, researchers at the LPT published approximately 420 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and contributed to more than 300 conferences. They collaborate with over 300 researchers from more than 200 institutions across 25 countries, including 9 Toulouse-based laboratories: CRCA, IMT, IPBS, LCAR, LCPQ, LMGM, LAAS, LNCMI, OMP.
In March 2011, the “Laboratory of Excellence” project titled Nano, Extreme Measurements & Theory (NEXT), submitted by the IRSAMC Research Federation (LCAR, LCPQ, LPCNO, LPT), along with CEMES and LNCMI-Toulouse, was selected by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. This project was later extended in the form of the EUR NanoX.
The latest evaluation report of the laboratory by Hcéres in 2020 can be downloaded at this link.
Here is a schematic representation of the network of scientific themes at the LPT, generated by the MESR’s scanR tool, showcasing the diversity of research conducted at the laboratory.
Organization Chart
As of 09/01/2024, the LPT includes 14 CNRS researchers, 9 faculty researchers at UPS, 2 emeritus researchers, and 2 CNRS technical staff.
Download the complete LPT organization chart (2022).
Director of the LPT : Sylvain Capponi
Deputy Director of LPT : Matthieu Mambrini
Administrative Manager : Malika Bentour (IE CNRS)
Training Correspondent : Malika Bentour
IT (CSSI CNRS & UPS) : Sandrine Le Magoarou (IE CNRS)
Webmaster : Sandrine Le Magoarou
Communication : Clément Sire , Malika Bentour
Disability Correspondent : Malika Bentour
Europe-International Correspondent : Zoran Ristivojevic
LPT seminar: Revaz Ramazashvili
