Aurore FINCO CNRS Bronze Medal in 2026

Aurore Finco, a CNRS research scientist at the L2C, has been awarded the 2026 CNRS Bronze Medal for her work in microscopy based on quantum sensors. She maps, at the nanometric scale, the magnetic fields of complex materials whose magnetic textures are far from those of a simple uniform magnet.

From high school onward, Aurore Finco discovered her passion for science. After completing a scientific baccalaureate, she joined a preparatory class in Paris, followed by the École normale supérieure (ENS-Ulm). “I quickly realized that pure mathematics was not for me, but physics, with its tangible applications, fascinated me,” she explains.

Her interest in magnetism began during an internship at EPFL (Lausanne), where she discovered skyrmions, swirling magnetic quasiparticles. “It was a rapidly emerging field. I had the opportunity to join the group of Prof. Roland Wiesendanger in Hamburg for my PhD, where I worked on their experimental imaging.” Four years of research in Germany allowed her to master spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, a key technique for observing these magnetic textures.

In 2021, she passed the competitive CNRS entrance exam. She continues her research at the L2C, where she specializes in NV (Nitrogen-Vacancy) microscopy, an ultra-sensitive method for studying magnetic fields at the nanometric scale.

Congratulations to Aurore on winning this medal!