Jacqueline Lecourtier is a dynamic leader in France’s engineering research community, recognized both at home and internationally for her ability to question and engage researchers in a dialogue on research reform and innovation.
For twenty years, she held numerous research leadership roles at the Institut Français du Pétrole (IFP) in the areas of drilling fluids and cement, applied chemistry, and biotechnology. In 2001, she became IFP’s scientific director.
Currently, Lecourtier is the chief executive of the French National Research Agency (L'Agence nationale de la recherche) in Paris, a public funding agency created in 2007. She also serves on the World Petroleum Council’s executive committee and is responsible for overseeing its youth programme.
Lecourtier has an engineering degree from the École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques (ENSIC) de Nancy and a doctorate in physics from the Université Paris VI. She began her research career in the macromolecular chemistry laboratory at the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielle de Paris.