Ian Sims

Ian Sims is a Professor at the University of Rennes 1 and a researcher at the Rennes Institute of Physics (IPR). His work spans teaching (chemical physics at undergraduate and graduate levels) and research in gas-phase chemical kinetics, reaction dynamics, laboratory astrophysics, and astrochemistry. He specializes in low-temperature experiments using the CRESU technique and co-developed the CPUF method.

• Affiliation: Department of Molecular Physics, Rennes Institute of Physics (IPR), University of Rennes 1
• Research: Extreme temperature kinetics, astrochemistry, interstellar reaction modeling

His research focuses on gas-phase reactions under extreme conditions, particularly in interstellar environments. He has published extensively in Nature Chemistry and Science, including studies on collisional excitation, tunneling, and HO3 radical thermodynamics. His work integrates experimental and theoretical approaches to bridge astrophysics and chemistry.

• IUF Senior Fundamental Chair (2023)
• ERC Advanced Grant (2016, CRESUCHIRP project)
• ANR Blanc HYDRIDES (2013-2016)
• France-Berkeley Fund grant (2012-13)

Ian has supervised numerous PhD students, including Omar Abdelkhader Khedaoui (2022), Théo Guillaume (2021), and Divita Gupta (2021), whose theses advance astrochemical measurement techniques and reaction kinetics. His team’s innovations, such as the CRESU and CPUF methods, enable precise studies of low-temperature molecular interactions critical to understanding star formation and planetary atmospheres.