Academia Europaea Member, Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier, to Receive Doctor Honoris Causa from Wrocław University of Science and Technology
Academia Europaea Member and 2020 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier MAE, will receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from Wrocław University of Science and Technology during the inauguration of the 2026/2027 academic year. The ceremony will feature an inaugural lecture reflecting on her scientific journey.
A Groundbreaking Career in Life Sciences
Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier is a French microbiologist, geneticist, and biochemist who received her education in Paris. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held academic research positions across top scientific institutions in Paris, New York, Memphis, Vienna, Umeå, Braunschweig, and Berlin.
Her research has focused primarily on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of infectious diseases, with a specific focus on Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria, staphylococci, and streptococci. Professor Charpentier is world-renowned for her groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 adaptive immune system in Streptococcus pyogenes and other bacterial species. This research laid the foundation for the development of a versatile and precise genome editing technology. The CRISPR-Cas technology has revolutionized research across the life sciences, creating unprecedented opportunities in biotechnology and biomedical gene therapies.
For her seminal discoveries, Professor Charpentier was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She is an elected member of prestigious national and international scientific academies, including Academia Europaea (MAE). Beyond fundamental research, she is a co-inventor of core CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property and co-founder of biotechnology companies CRISPR Therapeutics and ERS Genomics.
Conferral of Honorary Doctorate and Inaugural Lecture
The conferral of the Doctor Honoris Causa title on Professor Charpentier will take place during the official inauguration of the 2026/2027 academic year at Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Wrocław Tech).
Date & Time: Thursday, 1 October 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Assembly Hall of the Main Building (Building A-1), Wrocław Tech
Live Stream: Available on the official Wrocław Tech YouTube channel
Following the conferral, Professor Charpentier will deliver the academic year’s inaugural lecture, titled: “From curiosity to CRISPR: lessons from a scientific journey”
This event marks a celebration of scientific rigor, international academic collaboration, and the extraordinary societal impact of basic research.
More information about the inauguration and event details is available on the official Wrocław Tech event page.
