Speaker — Neptune Forum 2026
Philippe Baptiste
Ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Espace
Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space
Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Espace
Philippe Baptiste has served as Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space since December 2024.
He holds a doctorate from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne and is a civil engineer from the École des Mines de Nancy. He also holds an MSc from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, a DEA from Sorbonne Université, and a habilitation to supervise research. He began his research career at CNRS in 1999 and then at IBM's Watson Research Center between 2000 and 2001. He taught at École Polytechnique from 2002 to 2012, where he headed the computer science laboratory and founded the Institute for Information Sciences and their Interactions.
He subsequently joined the Ministry of National Education as Head of the Strategy and Innovation Department, before becoming Deputy Director-General of CNRS in 2014. He served as Research Director then CTO of the Total Group from 2016 to 2017, then as Partner and Director at Boston Consulting Group from 2020, while also serving as ministerial Chief of Staff and adviser to Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. Since 2021, he had been President of CNES before joining the government.
