Alessandro Morbidelli

Alessandro Morbidelli is Professor of Planetary Formation: from Earth to Exoplanets at the Collège de France since 2023. He is a planetologist at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur and an associate member of both the Académie des sciences and the Académie royale de Belgique. Previously, he headed the National Planetology Program (PNP) at CNRS (2010-2018) and chairs the Solar System thematic group at CNES since 2019. Since 2021, he has served as editor-in-chief of the international journal Icarus dedicated to planetology.

His research focuses on the formation and evolution of planetary systems, with particular attention to the history of our solar system. Using numerical simulations, Morbidelli has demonstrated that the current structure of the solar system resulted from a phase of dynamic instability of its giant planets during the first 100 million years. His work spans several key areas including the Nice Model, asteroid belt dynamics, meteorite analysis, and exoplanet system formation.

Recent publications and lectures indicate his research has increasingly focused on connecting cosmochemical evidence with dynamical models of planetary formation. His 2020 ERC-funded project developed a coherent model of Earth formation aligned with astronomical and cosmochemical constraints. Current work examines meteorites as witnesses to early planetary formation processes and the dynamical origins of various solar system populations.

Scientific Awards:

• Urey Prize from the Planetary Science Division of the American Astronomical Association (2000)
• Grand Prix Mergier-Bourdeix from the Académie des Sciences (2009)
• CNRS Silver Medal (2019)

Morbidelli is actively engaged in academic outreach, delivering lecture series at institutions including the Collège de France and Charles University in Prague. His current work bridges theoretical dynamical models with observational and meteoritic evidence to reconstruct solar system history and understand the diversity of planetary systems.