François Rigaut

Dr. François Rigaut is a renowned Adaptive Optics Principal Scientist and MAVIS Project Lead at the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) within the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre (AITC). He holds a PhD from the University of Paris 7 (1992) and has pioneered advancements in Adaptive Optics (AO) for over three decades.

• Affiliations: ANU RSAA, AITC, Former roles at Gemini Observatory/ESO/CFHT.
• Research Focus: AO systems, space debris tracking, health science applications, and next-gen astronomical instrumentation.

Education

• PhD Astrophysics, University of Paris 7 (1992)
• Master's in Physics, University of Paris 7

Research Interests

Leading projects like MAVIS (VLT's AO spectrograph) and AO systems for space debris tracking. Innovates in areas such as:

• Ground-layer AO and tomographic systems
• Laser guide star technology
• AO applications beyond astronomy (e.g., health sciences)

Projects

• MAVIS: VLT's adaptive optics-fed integral field spectrograph.
• Space debris AO systems for tracking/de-orbiting.
• ULTIMATE-Subaru GLAO system development.

Labs/Teams

He leads AO activities at AITC, collaborating with international teams on major observatory projects (Gemini, ESO, Subaru).