Election of Sophie JULLIAN as the new President of CPE Lyon
Sophie JULLIAN was unanimously elected as the new President of the Board of CPE Lyon on April 9, 2025. She succeeds Bertrand NEUSCHWANDER, who has held the position since July 2020.
Born in Paris, Sophie JULLIAN graduated from CPE Lyon in 1983. She went on to do her PhD in Chemistry at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Sorbonne University).
She began her career as a researcher at IFP énergies nouvelles (major research actor in the fields of energy, transport and the environment), then held a number of positions within the organization, culminating in her appointment as Scientific Director in 2010.
In 2007, she was appointed Vice-President of the Axelera competitiveness cluster, where she oversaw the creation of Axel’One, a shared platform for innovation especially in the domains of Materials and Process Engineering. At the same time, she became President of the Scientific Advisory Board of ENS Lyon.
From 2013, she has joined the teams of the Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region (Highest representative of the state in the Region) as a Research and Technology Delegate. She coordinated the State-Region Plan Contract (CPER) dedicated to Higher Education, Research and Innovation (a fund of 360 million euros).
From 2017 to 2024, she was the President of the Société d’Accélération du Transfert Technologique PULSALYS, an incubator that facilitates and develops the transfer of innovations, scientific discoveries derived from the public academic research institutions of the Lyon-Saint Etienne site to the socio-economic markets.
She is now President of Bigbooster (a program that helps entrepreneurs accelerate their international strategy and better address their market) and President of the ADEME’s Scientific Council (The French Agency for Ecological Transition).
