Jean-François Thovert is Director of Research for CNRS at the Pprime Institute in Poitiers, France, where he is heading a research group about heterogeneous combustion and porous media. He graduated from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in 1982 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1987 at the University of Paris. He authored one book and a hundred articles in this field.