Created in 1987, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation (recognized as being of public utility) has set itself the mission of “giving wings to talents” in three key areas: life sciences, the arts and solidarity. Since 1989, its commitment to research has resulted in the awarding of 505 scientific prizes to promising teams and individuals. On December 2, the Foundation lifted the veil on the 2025 list of its Scientific Prizes and its Impulscience® program. Nine exceptional women and men, who embody excellence in research, are being honored this year.
© Bettencourt Schueller Foundation
Discover and highlight the French talents who will revolutionize the medicine of tomorrow
Since its creation, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation has been committed to scientific research. This commitment is today reaffirmed by the President of the Foundation, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who declares: “For more than 35 years, our family foundation has ambitiously supported French research. We are committed to helping, supporting and accompanying over the long term those who have put all their passion and talent at the service of advances in life sciences, for the progress of humanity in the crucial field of health. We are pleased to expand our community of laureates, today constituting a vast network that embodies research excellence in our country. »
If the Foundation's action is mainly oriented towards fundamental research, its ultimate objective is the improvement of human health. Indeed, fundamental research, which explores in depth the mechanisms of life, is an essential breeding ground for tomorrow's medical discoveries. It is therefore essential to invest in this area, with a long-term strategy, to achieve progress in the medical and public health sectors. By choosing, supporting and promoting these women and men through its scientific sponsorship programs, the Foundation aims to actively contribute to the success and influence of France in this crucial area for the future.
The 9 winning scientists of the 2025 list
This year, the list is enriched with nine new names, whose work covers a broad spectrum of life sciences. These winners will benefit from financial support and support from the Foundation to carry out their research. Seven scientists were distinguished by the Impulscience® program. The winners of the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for life sciences and the ATIP-Avenir program endowment were also revealed.
Impulscience®: giving the freedom to innovate to the 7 rewarded scientists
Among the Foundation's flagship programs is the Impulscience® program, launched in 2022. This program responds to a dual essential imperative for science: preserving the freedom of innovation of researchers and supporting them over the long term. With support and an endowment of 2.3 million euros per year for each of the candidates, the Foundation allows the winners to pursue sometimes daring avenues, and to dare to take risks, without short-term financing constraints. This program is sponsored by Emmanuelle Charpentier, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in 2020.
The 7 scientists rewarded by the Impulscience® program this year are:
• Camille Berthelot, research director at Inserm and head of the “Comparative functional genomics” group at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
• Sagar Bhogaraju, head of the “Structural biology of ubiquitin signaling” team at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Grenoble.
• Raphaël Ceccaldi, research director at Inserm and head of the “Alternative DNA repair mechanisms in cancers” team at the Institut Curie in Paris.
• Gergő Gógl, research fellow at Inserm and head of the “Quantitative interactomics and disease-related networks” team at the Valrose Institute of Biology in Nice.
• Filipe Pinto Teixeira, research fellow at CNRS and head of the “Development of neural circuits” team at the Center for Integrative Biology in Toulouse.
• Sophie Polo, research director at Inserm and head of the “Epigenome Integrity” team at the “Epigenics and Cellular Destiny” Center at Paris Cité University.
• Germán Sumbre, research director at Inserm and head of the “Dynamics of neural circuits and behavior” team at the Institute of Biology of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS) in Paris.
© Bettencourt Schueller Foundation
The Liliane Bettencourt Prize for life sciences
The 2025 list also includes the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for life sciences. This prize (personal endowment of 100,000 euros) is awarded each year to a European researcher under 45 years old. The distinguished researcher is recognized by the scientific community for the excellence of his career and the significant impact of his contributions in his field of research. This award highlights the European dimension of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation's support for research excellence. This year the winner is Abdou Rachid Thiam, physicist, research director at the CNRS and head of the “Biological emulsions” group at the physics laboratory at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.
The fight against glioblastoma supported by the ATIP-Avenir program
The Bettencourt Schueller Foundation has been a partner of the Inserm Future program since 2005, which merged with the CNRS ATIP program in 2009. This year, the work of Mehdi Touat, university lecturer-hospital practitioner (AP-HP Sorbonne Université) and head of the “Heterogeneity, immunity and therapy of brain tumors” team at the Institut de Cerveau in Paris was put to use. honor. This neuro oncologist is tackling one of the cancers with the worst prognoses, glioblastoma, a relatively common brain tumor. He receives an endowment of 300,000 euros over 3 years, which is added to the endowment granted by Inserm.
© Bettencourt Schueller Foundation
With more than 500 scientific laureates awarded since its creation, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation continues to build a network of talents who, through their work, imagine the scientific and medical world of tomorrow. The announcement of the 2025 winners confirms this desire to accompany and support researchers in their work, the results of which could change the lives of millions of people around the world.
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