Olivier Soppera is Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and leads the PHOTON research group at the Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse (IS2M, France). He graduated in Chemistry at ENS Cachan and obtained his PhD from the University of Haute-Alsace in 2003, working on photopolymerization processes in hybrid. materials. After a postdoctoral fellowship in Portugal, he joined CNRS in 2004, where he progressively developed a research program at the interface of photochemistry, nanofabrication, and materials science.

Over the past two decades, his work has focused on the use of light as a versatile tool for materials design and structuring, with a strong emphasis on sol–gel chemistry, hybrid materials, and laser-assisted processing. He has pioneered photoinduced strategies for the fabrication of nanostructured films, functional coatings, and responsive surfaces with tunable optical and chemical properties.

His current projects span several research directions, including laser-assisted nanofabrication, development of hybrid organic–inorganic materials, and the integration of metallic nanoparticles to exploit plasmonic effects . These approaches open new perspectives for advanced optical sensors, environmental monitoring devices, and biomedical applications.

Olivier Soppera has coordinated and participated in numerous national and European research projects and has established long-term collaborations with both academic institutions and industrial partners. He is the author of more than 180 peer-reviewed publications and several patents. In addition to his scientific activities, he has been actively involved in fostering international collaborations, in particular with Taiwan and contributing to the scientific networks in France on Photochemistry (SP2P at SCF) and Nanosciences (C’Nano).

Talk Title: Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Meets Plasmonics: Light-Assisted Routes to Smart Sensors