EWELS Chris

Directeur de Recherche CNRS

Fonctions:

• Directeur de Recherche, co-chef d’equipe PMN
• CNRS Research Director
• Joint Group head of the PMN Group
• Visiting Professor, Toyo University, Japan
• Editor Journal « Carbon »

Qualifications:

• PhD Computational Physics, Exeter University (1997)
• Habilitation à diriger la recherche, Nantes University (2011)

Expertises:

Carbon Science, DFT Modelling, Defects, Materials Physics and Chemistry, Science Communication

Major research topics:

• Dislocations and point defects in graphite and 2D carbon Materials
• Fullerene Science (formation, functionalisation, supramolecular structure formation)
• Nanodiamond Modelling
• Functionalisation and topology of novel nanomaterials
• Science Communication tools and techniques (virtual, physical)

Biography:

Chris Ewels graduated from Oxford University in 1993 in “Metallurgy and the Science of Materials”. After a Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Exeter UK, for computational studies of oxygen defects in silicon, he moved to Sussex University where he worked on radiation induced defects in graphite and carbon nanosystems.  At Sussex he joined the Vega Science Trust with Sir Harry Kroto, where he created an online science TV channel and developed a passion for public communication of science.  In Paris he worked at the national aerospace research facilities ONERA, and was then a Marie Curie Individual Research Fellow at the Université Paris Sud within the electron microscopy group of Professor Christian Colliex.  In 2006 he received the European Marie Curie Excellence Award and in the same year jointed the CNRS at the Institute of Materials in Nantes, becoming Directeur de Recherche in 2015.  His work focuses on computer modelling of nanoscale carbons in close collaboration with experimental colleagues. He has authored over 200 journal publications including nine book chapters, and is on the Stanford University list top 2% most cited active scientists.  His interest in science communication continues, with Web videos he has commissioned and produced now viewed over 1.5 million times.  He is now joint head of the Physics of Materials and Nanostructures group at the IMN, coordinating nanocarbon initiatives at the local, regional, national and European level.

Research projects:

« Current Research Projects (2026) »

• Participant ANR CADENA (« Fluorinated nanodiamonds for catalysis »)
• Coordinator ANR DISLOCARBON (« Dislocations in layered carbon nanomaterials »)
• Core-Group Committee, COST Nanospace (« Carbon molecular nanostructures in space »)
• Regional Project LUMOMAT « RunningRings »
• Regional Project « Trajectoire Nationale »

Teaching:

• M2 E-MAT  « Nanocarbon and 2D Materials »
• M2 E-MAT « Machine Learning Approaches »

Distinction:

• European Carbon Association (ECA) Award (2025)
• British Carbon Group Ubbelohde Award Lecture for Carbon Science (2014)
• European Union Marie Curie Excellence Award (2006)
• Fonds International Wernaers award pour diffusion des connaissances (2008)
• CineGlobe Public Award for best science documentary (2010)

Publications:

• 1. ‘CO adsorption on pure, defective and mixed composition AlF3 and MgF2 surfaces’
  A. Impellizzeri, J. Dieu, J. Rousseau, S. Brunet, C. P. Ewels*
  Catal. Sci. Technol. 14, 3021-3028 (2024)
• 2. ‘Electronic States of Carbon Materials’
  S. Latil, C. Ewels* (1st Edition: P. Lambin, J. Fink)
  Encyclopedia of Condensed Matter Physics, 2nd Edition, Elsevier, Vol. 5, 702-715 (2024)
• 3. ‘Noncontact Layer Stabilization of Azafullerene Radicals: Route toward High-Spin-Density Surfaces’
  Y. Tanuma, G. Kladnik, L. Schio, M. van Midden Mavrič, B. Anezo, E. Zupanic, G. Bavdek, R. Canton-Vitoria, L. Floreano, N. Tagmatarchis, H. A. Wegner, A. Morgante, C. P. Ewels*, D. Cvetko*, D. Arčon*, ACS Nano 17, 24, 25301-25310 (2023)
• 4. ‘Prismatic Edge Dislocations in Graphite’
  J. G. McHugh*, P. Mouratidis, A. Impellizzeri, K. Jolley, D. Erbahar, C. P. Ewels*
  Carbon, 188, 401-419 (2022)
• 5. Direct Observation and Catalytic Role of Mediator Atom in 2D Materials’
  G.-D. Lee*, A. W. Robertson*, S. Lee, Y.-C. Lin, J.-W. Oh, H. Park, Y.-C. Joo, E. Yoon, K. Suenaga, J. H. Warner, C. P. Ewels*, Science Advances, 6 (24), eaba4942 (2020)

Link HAL

Link orcid : 0000-0001-5530-9601

Link vers scholar.google.fr

https://ewels.info/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewels/

Contact:

Dr Chris Ewels
Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel (IMN)
2 Chemin de la Houssinière
44322 Nantes
FRANCE
+33-240 37 64 07
chris.ewels \@ cnrs-imn.fr