Manuel Hermenegildo, Distinguished Professor at the IMDEA Software Institute, has been appointed Chairman of the Scientific Board of INRIA, the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique). He succeeds Professor Kurt Mehlhorn, director at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, who held the position from 2015.

INRIA is a French national public research institution focusing on computer science and applied mathematics. It comprises 8 research centers (in Bordeaux, Grenoble-Inovallée, Lille, Nancy, Paris-Rocquencourt, Rennes, Saclay, and Sophia Antipolis) and employs 3800 people, including 1300 researchers, 1000 Ph.D. students, and 500 postdocs.

The INRIA Scientific Board provides guidance on the major aspects of INRIA’s scientific policy, including the development of the research centers and teams, and the appointment and renewal of directors, in agreement with the Board of Directors.