I-PhD Innovation competition : Two winners from FEMTO-ST in 2025

Valentin Reynaud (microforce metrology) andGaultier Gibey (predictive maintenance of hydrogen sytems) are the winners of this sixth edition of the national innovation competition .

Launched in July 2019 by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, in partnership with Bpifrance, the i-PhD competition aims to promote entrepreneurship among young researchers, particularly in the creation of “deep tech” startups that offer disruptive innovations based on scientific and technological advances.

Since the launch of this annual innovation competition, 234 winners have been awarded prizes and 78 startups have been created by winners.

The 2025 winners include 40 winners, two of whom are from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and more specifically from FEMTO-ST:

Valentin REYNAUD (SensiTips project) is developing a new generation of instruments capable of quantifying forces that were previously inaccessible to human perception. These instruments are based on ultra-sensitive MEMS sensors and high-precision robotics.
The goal of SensiTips is to enable the precise measurement of forces on a very small scale, thereby meeting the growing needs of cutting-edge fields such as robotics, microtechnology, and life sciences.

Contact : valentin.reynaud@femto-st.fr

Gaultier GIBEY ( SupervHyse project – Hydrogen system maintenance) offers a predictive maintenance software tool dedicated to hydrogen systems, which monitors equipment status in real time and predicts the optimal date for intervention, much like a doctor monitoring a patient. The result is a longer service life, enhanced reliability, and lower maintenance costs.

Contact : gaultier.gibey@femto-st.fr

These two projects are supported by PUI BFC, la SATT SAYENS and the Researcher-Entrepreneur Program In the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Region

Our two winners this year join the list of four previous winners in 2019 (Maya Geagea – micro fuel cell and Gael Matten – programmable noise absorption systems), in 2021 (Giacomo Clementi – vibration energy recovery through piezoelectric effect) and in 2023 (Julien Dufourmantelle – acoustic sensor for online monitoring of milk coagulation).

Our six winners thus illustrate the diversity of skills and innovative capabilities present at FEMTO-ST.

Artificial intelligence for next-generation ultrafast photonics

How can machine learning and associated methods improve the development of next-generation laser sources and revolutionize applications where ultrafast light plays a central role?
Read more
Strong involvement of FEMTO-ST in the H2020 project "PhotonHub Europe"

The objective of this project is to help European SMEs to increase their competitiveness through photonics with a online guidance, which will offer the support of 54 leading competence centers in Europe, including FEMTO-ST, which is also the scientific coordinator at the national level.
Read more
First demonstration of self-confined nonlinear waves in plasmonic structures

By providing the very first experimental evidence of the existence of this phenomenon, FEMTO-ST researchers and their partners hope to be able to generate this nonlinear effect using low intensity laser sources, in order to use it for nanophotonics applications.
Read more
Mengjia Wang receives the « Chinese government award 2020 »

As a PhD student of the Optics Department of FEMTO-ST , Mengjia Wang has been recognized by the Chinese Government for his outstanding work in the field of nanophotonics and plasmonics.
Read more
Laurent LARGER named Fellow 2021 of OSA

Full professor of Physics/Optics at the University of Franche-Comté and researcher at FEMTO-ST institute, Laurent Larger is rewarded for his pioneering work on nonlinear dynamics in optoelectronics and on the development of new architectures for photonic artificial intelligence.
Read more
CNRS "Proof by Image" competition

Discover the selection of the 20 images selected by the CNRS, one of which is presented by FEMTO-ST, and vote for the "audience award" photo.
Read more
Webconférences sur "e.Micronora"

Dans le cadre de l’évènement virtuel sur les microtechniques « e.Micronora », FEMTO-ST propose des conférences en ligne le jeudi 24 septembre au matin.
Read more
Imaging quantum interference of entangled photon pairs of extremely high dimensionality

Researchers from the Optics Department have developed an imaging device allowing the spatial and temporal resolution of the phenomenon of quantum interference between pairs of entangled photons of extremely high dimensionality.
Read more
Concours posters doctorants : 11 ambassadeurs récompensés

11 doctorants de 1^ère année mis à l’honneur lors de l’Assemblée générale de FEMTO-ST du 10 juillet.
Read more
Fei GAO Receives IEEE J.D. Irwin Early Career Award

As a member of the SHARPAC team and Deputy Director of FEMTO-ST, Fei Gao has been recognized by the IEEE IES Society for his outstanding work in improving the reliability of hydrogen electric powertrains.
Read more