Professor Guy Le Lay, Emeritus Professor at Aix-Marseille University and member of the PIIM laboratory (AMU-CNRS research unit), has just been awarded the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technology and Applications (IUVSTA Prize for Science 2025). The prize recognizes outstanding contributions to experimental and theoretical research in the field of vacuum science and applications. It has been awarded every three years since 1998, and Guy Le Lay is the third French winner, after Albert Fert in 2007 and Jean-Marie Dubois in 2016.

The work rewarded by the IUVSTA consists of outstanding achievements in the field of surface physics, more specifically in the study of the formation of metal-semiconductor interfaces controlled on the atomic scale and characterized using the most advanced tools, as well as the particularly innovative achievements of silicene, germanene and other low-dimensional artificial materials known as Xenes, whose properties open up a new horizon of discovery.

Guy Le Lay was previously awarded the Fernand Holweck Prize and Medal in 2021 by the Institute Of Physics and the Société Française de Physique, in recognition of his pioneering role in the study of new two-dimensional allotropes of silicon, germanium, tin and lead.

The award ceremony will take place at the International Vacuum Congress (IVC-23) in Sydney, Australia, from September 15 to 19, 2025. On this occasion, Guy Le Lay will have the opportunity to present his research in an honorary lecture, and to highlight the impact of his ongoing activities over the last ten years on the international scientific community.

As a prelude to this event, Guy Le Lay will present a seminar entitled “Beyond Graphene, from Silicene to Xenes and Majorana fermions: Physics and Major Applications”. It will take place at the Faculté des Sciences site St Charles at 2pm in the Lavoisier amphitheater.

Our warmest congratulations to our eminent colleague.