PIIM - UMR 7345
Physics of the Interactions of Ions and Molecules
PIIM is a joint research laboratory of the CNRS and Aix-Marseille University located in Marseille, France. It brings together physicists and physical chemists who study dilute media - such as gases, plasmas and beams of ions, atoms and/or molecules - as well as their interactions with matter. Our researchers aim to understand the physical phenomena in these media in order to analyse and characterise matter.
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A new atomic clock featured in the journal Nature has been found to be the most accurate in the world.
Invitée par Alexander Morales dans l’émission Avec Sciences sur France Culture, Caroline Champenois, directrice de recherche CNRS et responsable de l’équipe CIML du PIIM, nous partage son éclairage sur cette découverte.
Sugar from Space
A team of researchers has identified a type of sugar called erythrulose in a gas cloud located near the center of the Milky Way. This discovery supports the hypothesis that sugars essential to the emergence of life may have reached Earth from the depths of space.
Nuclear Fusion: An Energy Issue, a Global Challenge
On April 30, Dominique Escande, a physicist and emeritus research director at the CNRS within the PIIM laboratory, shared his expertise on nuclear fusion on the podcast “La Science CQFD,” hosted by Natacha Triou on France Culture. He will also be speaking at the Pint of Science festival on May 20 at the Zoumaï brewery in Marseille, to discuss this global energy challenge with the public.
France Inter followed a group of children as they discovered the profession of researcher at the university.
Célestine Klein, a doctoral student from the CIML team at PIIM laboratory, welcomed the young visitors and guided them on a tour of the technical facilities.
Throughout March, the PIIM laboratory is honoring women in science with the photography exhibition “Ingénieuses”
Technicians, engineers, electricians... but what about women? To combat prejudice and encourage women to pursue careers in engineering, CNRS Ingénierie, one of the 10 institutes of the CNRS, has profiled 12 female engineers as part of its Year of Engineering (2025-2026).