Curriculum Vitae

First name: Olivier Family name: Mousis French Citizenship, Married, 2 children


Director of the Origins Institute, Professor at Aix-Marseille University (AMU), research carried out at the UMR-7326 Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM), Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France

Education:

  • 2006 Habilitation à Diriger des Recherche (HDR) in Astrophysics, University of Franche-Comté

  • 2001 Ph.D in Astrophysics, University of Paris 7

  • 1998. M.S. in Astrophysics, University of Paris 7

  • 1997 B.S. in Physics, University of Rennes 1


Career:

  • July 21 - present: Director of the Origins Institute (AMU Institute gathering together 160 researchers, University Professors or Assistant Professors, engineers and PhD students from 13 laboratories)

  • September 2017 - present: Full Professor at Aix Marseille University

  • February 2015 - December 2019: Co-Head of the Planetary Systems Group (~25 scientists and PhD students) at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille

  • February 2015 - August 2017: Endowed Senior Chair of Excellence granted by Aix-Marseille Université

  • January 2011 - January 2015: Full Professor at the University of Franche-Comté (UFC)

  • April 2014 - July 2014: Visiting Scientist at Cornell University

  • September 2009 - August 2014: Junior Member of the Institut Universitaire de France

  • September 2009 - May 2010: Visiting Scientist at the University of Arizona

  • January 2005 - December 2010: Associate Professor at the Université de Franche-Comté


Awards and Achievements:

  • 2017: ESA Certificate of Outstanding Contribution to the Rosetta Mission.

  • December 2015: Installation grant by the city of Marseille (a few researchers/year).

  • July 2014: Endowed Senior Excellence Chair attributed by AMU (total of 17 chairs offered to 104 international applications).

  • Feb. 2011: 2011 Beatrice M. Tinsley Research Award.

  • Oct. 2009: Appointment as Junior Member of IUF.

  • July 2008: "Young Teacher-Researcher 2008" Prize of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

  • 2006 – now: Scientific Excellence Award attributed by UFC and AMU.

  • Sept. 2003: Award of an ESA International Fellowship at Bern Univ.

  • Sept. 2003: Award of a NASA NPP postdoc at CalTech/JPL (offer declined).


Scientific production:

My research focuses on themes related to the origin of the solar system and, more generally, that of planetary systems. From thermodynamic modeling, I try to bring constraints on the origin and the evolution of planets and small bodies by using data derived from ground-based facilities or space missions. So far, I have 229 papers published or accepted in peer-reviewed international journals and 6 chapters in peer-reviewed books, including 54 papers as first author, 51 papers as second author (including 23 papers as second author behind a PhD student or a postdoc). I contributed to a dozen of papers published in Nature and Science journals. I am also first author or co-author of more than 500 oral and written contributions to conferences, as well as 26 IAUC, CBET, MPEC, and ATEL circulars.


Main topics investigated in the last fifteen years:

  • origin and evolution of icy moons (context Cassini-Huygens, ESA/JUICE and NASA/Europa-Clipper missions);

  • evolution of subsurface /surface/atmosphere interfaces (Mars, Europa, Enceladus);

  • formation and thermal evolution of cometary nuclei (context Rosetta);

  • formation and evolution of giant planets (context NASA/JUNO);

  • interiors of Super-Earths (context ESA/CHEOPS and PLATO missions).


Scientific responsibilities in space missions:

PI of 2 proposals for a Saturn entry probe. White paper submitted to ESA in May 2013. Proposal submitted to the ESA M4 call in June 2015, with D.H. Atkinson (JPL) as co-PI, including 50 researchers from Europe and the USA. Resubmission to the ESA M5 call in October 2016. Ranked in the top 5 of the 30 proposals submitted. ESA and NASA are now working on a joint mission to the frozen giants. I am currently one of the 4 European scientists who are members of an ESA study team of a NASA/ESA mission to the frozen giants. I am also member of a NASA/JPL team studying a Saturn entry probe concept. I recently started at LAM the study of 2 instruments which could be part of the payload of such a probe: He abundance detector and aerosol counter in collaboration with LPC2E. Since 2014: Co-I of the MASPEX mass spectro (PI J. Burch) selected to fly on NASA/Europa Clipper; member of the PEP team (PI P. Wurz) and Co-I of the SWI Radar (PI P. Hartogh) selected to fly on ESA/JUICE. 2012-2019: Co-I of the PTOLEMY instrument (PI I. Wright) which was on Rosetta/Philae and member of the Rosetta/ROSINA team (PI K. Altwegg). Co-I of several past mission proposals: NASA NF4 SPRITE entry probe (PI A. Simon); NASA NF3 PRIME cometary mission (PI A. Cochran); ESA class M mission to Uranus (PI C. Arridge). 2005-2006: co-lead with A. Coradini of the ESA working group "Origin of the Jovian system" for the preparation of JUICE.


Scientific supervision:

3 PhD students mentored (M. Ali-Dib, T. Ronnet, B. Brugger) and 5 PhD students co-mentored (U. Marboeuf, C. Thomas, A. Moudens, G.S. Pekmezci, A. Bouquet). Supervisor (A. Aguichine, L. Tenelanda, G. Mercier, A. Schneeberger) and co-supervisor (L. Acuna) of 5 PhD theses started in 2019 and 2020. 20 graduate students supervised (Master 2 level in French Universities)


Participation in PhD and Habilitation (HDR) committees:

15 PhD committees (excluding my students): J. Mouzay (AMU, 12 Nov. 2020, Exam), A. Drouard (AMU, Oct. 26, 2019, Pres), E. Gloesener (UC Louvain, Sept 03 2019, Exam), A. Garcia (U. Lyon, Sept 04, 2017, Exam), O. Ozgurel (Univ. Paris 6, sept. 29 2017, Exam), N. Ligier (U. Paris Sud, Dec. 5 2016, Rev), B. Courcol (AMU, Oct. 12 2016, Pres), M. Marsset (AMU Oct. 06 2016, Pres, E. M. A. Moulay Larbi (U. Cadi Ayyad/Marrakech, Sept. 26 2016, Rev), C. de Beule (U. Duisburg, Jan. 23 2016, Rev), C.-Y. Liu (U. Nationale Tsing-Hua Taiwan Sept. 26 2014, Rev), E. Tallifet (CEA Saclay/U. Paris Sud Sept. 24 2014, Exam), G. Bampasidis (U. of Athens Oct. 30 2012, Exam), K. Mandt (U. Texas, Fev 2012, Exam), L. Maquet (Obs. Paris March 12 2012, Rev). 4 Habilitation committees: F. Duvernay (AMU, 07 Nov. 2016, Rev), S. Bouley (U. Paris Sud May 10 2017, Exam), T. Cavalié (U. Paris 6, 26 Sept 2018, Exam), P. Vernazza (AMU, May 17 2016, Exam).


Current scientific responsabilities:

PI of the project and now director of the Origins Institute (Establishment Institute of AMU, 160 researchers, engineers and PhD students from 13 laboratories). Member of the science councils of Observatory Pythéas (2021-) and LAM (2016-). Member of the ESA study team investigating the ESA contribution to a future NASA-ESA mission to the ice giants. Member of a NASA/JPL team dedicated to the study of a Saturn probe. 2016-2021: coordinator of the AMU Planetary Sciences pole. 2016-2019: head of the Planetary Systems group at LAM (23 researchers including 12 permanent staff).


Research contracts over the last 5 years:

2021-2025: AMU funding of 1.25 Meuros for the Origins institute. Senior AMU Chair of Excellence: 475 keuros over the 2014-2017 period. Several CNES funding for space experiments in progress, including: Co-I. of Europa-Clipper/MASPEX (20 keuros/yr); Co-I. of PTOLEMY and ROSINA instruments on ROSETTA (25 keuros/year over 2013-2017). PI of entry probe projects (15-20 keuros/year).


Service: 2014-2019: Member of the CNES Solar System WG. 2012-2015: Substitute member of the CNU (Section 34) 2008-2012: Elected Member at the CNRS/Section 17. Reviewer for numerous national/international projects (ANR, DIM-ACAV, NASA proposals, AERES evaluation committees, etc). Reviewer 4-5 times a year for international journals.


Editorial activities: Editor with D.H. Atkinson of an the special issue 218(1) of the journal Space Science Reviewsdedicated to the in situ exploration of the Ice Giants. Editor with K.E. Mandt and D. Bockelée-Morvan of issue 197 (2015) of the journal Space Science Reviews dedicated to the state of knowledge about comets before Rosetta.


Organization of conferences: Chair of the INSU workshop “Habitability signatures of planets and exoplanets” held in Marseille in Sept 2020. Chair of the international workshop on in situ exploration of the ice giants held in Marseille on 25-27 Feb 2019. Co-chair of the international workshop "Comets as Tracers Solar System Training and Evolution" held in Toulouse on 1-3 April 2014. Chair of 2 workshops dedicated to clathrates and held on 7-8 January 2010 (Obs. Besançon) and on 13-14 March 2008 (Rennes).


Outreach: Co-author of a collective book entitled "Impacts, meteors with craters" published on October 10, 2017 by Belin editions under the direction of S. Bouley (2 chapters written). Regular interventions (8-10 per year) at schools, colleges or public events. Close collaboration with amateur astronomers using backyard telescopes. I led a collective article (~125 pp) gathering about 70 amateur and professional astronomers depicting the state of the art of PRO-AM collaborations in planetology (paper published in 2014 in Exp. Astron.). Since 2015, regional coordinator for the monitoring network of meteoric activity FRIPON. Various interventions in the media and numerous press releases published from my publications


Invitations by foreign universities or organizations (* designates stays > one month): CalTech/JPL (2006, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019*), Cornell U. (2014*), Open U. (2007, 2012, 2015), SWRI (2011, 2012*), CADC Victoria (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011), Princeton U. (2011), U. Texas (Austin) (2011), Johns Hopkins APL (2010, 2018), ETH Zurich (2009), U. of Arizona (2007*, 2008*), ISSI, Bern (2007*), ESO Santiago (2007*).