Organized by the PhotoEmission Spectroscopy Research Federation (FR SPE), the JNSPE 2025 conference, held in Lyon from May 14 to 16, recognized Marine Fournier, a final-year PhD student, with the Best Oral Presentation Award for her results on Uracil solvation obtained on the PLEIADES beamline.
Co-supervised during her PhD by Jérôme Palaudoux (LCPMR) and Christophe Nicolas (SOLEIL), Marine Fournier presented her research titled: “Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Uracil Solvated in a Liquid Microjet: What Is the Effect of Solvation?”
This study of uracil solvation as a function of pH notably demonstrates that by combining theoretical calculations and simulations with experimental data obtained using a liquid jet in vacuum on the PLEIADES beamline, it is possible to clearly identify the deprotonation site of uracil when the pH is above 10.
This work is part of a broader research effort aimed at better understanding interactions between the solvent (in this case, water) and biologically relevant molecular systems, including DNA.
Award ceremony at JNSPE 2025. From left to right: Marine Fournier (Best Oral Presentation Award), Hervé Martinez (Chair of the Scientific Board of FR SPE), and Rosinel Alfonzo (Best Poster Award).