PRISM is a COFUND doctoral programme led by PSL University dedicated to training a new generation of scientists and innovators capable of addressing the environmental challenges of the Anthropocene era. In response to global warming, plastic pollution, resource scarcity and biodiversity loss, PRISM develops an interdisciplinary approach combining physics, chemistry, biology and engineering to design disruptive technologies for the environmental transition.
The programme aims to develop energy-efficient industrial processes operating at low temperature and low pressure by relying on soft matter science and microfluidics. Rather than incrementally improving existing technologies, PRISM seeks to overcome major bottlenecks related to carbon capture and valorisation, renewable energies, polymer recycling, waste upcycling and future bioprocesses.
PRISM is structured around 4 major scientific themes:
T1 – Development of eco-friendly chemical processes: green catalysis, flow chemistry, microfluidics, biocatalysis and sustainable synthesis.
T2 – Building a circular economy: polymer recycling and upcycling, depolymerisation enzymes, recyclable materials and vitrimers.
T3 – Innovative concepts for renewable energy: blue energy, flexible energy-harvesting materials and microalgae-based biofuels.
T4 – Carbon capture, storage and valorisation: DAC, CCUS, MOFs, electrochemical approaches, CO₂ mineralisation and low-carbon building materials.
The programme builds on PSL’s internationally recognised excellence in soft matter research, bringing together 13 joint research units and more than 100 researchers working in the field. PRISM also benefits from the unique environment of the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Institute, a world-leading centre for microfluidics and related technologies.
Highly interdisciplinary and international, PRISM combines academic research, industrial partnerships and global collaborations. Doctoral candidates will interact with major industrial partners including BASF, L’Oréal, Saint-Gobain Recherche Paris, Syensqo and TotalEnergies.
By combining scientific excellence, technological innovation and societal impact, PRISM aims to prepare the industrial and environmental solutions of the next twenty years.