Matthieu Roché

Although Matthieu seemed to be destined for quantum mechanics, he decided to substitute the aesthetics of visual experiences for the abstraction of invisible objects.

It was during a course on hydrodynamic instabilities that he decided to follow the path of fluid mechanics. It is when his colleague Arnaud Saint-Jalmes paid him a visit at Princeton University, USA, that he discovered the surface flow experiment that keeps him busy today. Ready to leave the laboratory after several unsuccessful attempts, the two researchers decided to empty the sample into the sink. Surprisingly enough, they observed volutes, precious witnesses of the phenomenon they were initially looking for. At the frontier between fluid mechanics and physico-chemistry at interfaces, Matthieu joined the CNRS in Paris in 2014, developed the experiment and pushed it to its limits.

Matthieu enjoys using everyday objects to illustrate the complexity of the phenomena he is studying. He attaches great importance to the aesthetics of soft matter: "Not only is it beautiful, but many of the phenomena that surround us in everyday life are still misunderstood to this day," he says.