Speakers & Moderators

An agronomic engineer by training, François Féron established and co-directed a consulting firm focused on environmental and landscape issues. He later worked at a chamber of agriculture before becoming a journalist at Libération, where he headed the European Affairs department. In 1990, he resumed his studies in biology and earned a PhD in neuroscience in 1995. After spending seven years in Australia, he was appointed professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Aix-Marseille University, where he conducted research in a CNRS laboratory on stem cells and autism. He presides over the International Research Institute on Cognitive Trance.
In parallel, he co-founded the startup OORAY, which aims to regenerate soils by producing biostimulants derived from the freshwater fern Azolla and its symbiotic cyanobacterium Anabaena. He is the co-author of an encyclopedia on Europe (La Découverte), a popular science book (Du fer dans les épinards et autres idées reçues, Le Seuil), and a three-hour documentary on the history of European integration (Arte).