Mathieu Hursin

Mathieu Hursin serves as a Senior Scientist at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), holding multiple key positions including affiliation with the School of Basic Sciences (SB), the Institute of Physics (IPHYS), and the Laboratory of Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour (LRS). He additionally functions as a Senior Scientist with SPH - Teaching, a Teaching Staff Member for the School Council SB, and a PhD program committee member for the Doctoral Program Energy.

Holding a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley with research on high-fidelity modeling of control rod ejection in pressurized water reactors, Dr. Hursin completed a postdoc at the University of Michigan before spending eight years at the Paul Scherrer Institut. He joined EPFL in 2014, became deputy director of LRS in 2019, earned his Master of Teaching and Research in 2022, and transitioned to a scientific collaborator position at EPFL in March 2023.

His research spans nuclear reactor physics, neutronics, and nuclear data science, with significant focus on uncertainty quantification methodologies for reactor safety analysis. Dr. Hursin leads an OECD/NEA subgroup and a Euratom project dedicated to improving the European nuclear data library (JEFF) and developing multi-physics experimental data for validating high-fidelity simulation tools. His publications reveal consistent expertise in reactor simulation code verification, nuclear data assessment, and experimental campaigns using zero-power reactors like CROCUS.

As an educator, Dr. Hursin teaches 'Physics of nuclear reactors' covering fundamental neutronics interactions and chain reaction control, and 'Radiation and reactor experiments' providing hands-on experience with the EPFL reactor CROCUS. He actively supervises nine current PhD students and has mentored four past EPFL PhD graduates.

Dr. Hursin's leadership extends to the Laboratory of Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour (LRS), which operates the CROCUS zero-power research reactor. His involvement in major initiatives like the CORTEX project for reactor diagnostics through neutron noise analysis demonstrates his commitment to advancing nuclear research methodologies and international collaboration.