Education
2021 – 2025: Doctorate in Astrophysics, University of Vienna.
“Shifting narrative: from multiple stellar populations in globular clusters to sustainability”.
Supervisors: Glenn van de Ven and Alice Zocchi
Reviewers: Adrienne Cool and Tereza Jerabkova
PhD successfully defended on 10/03/2025 with highest grade.
2019 – 2021: Master in Earth and Space physics and Engineering, Denmark Technical University.
Double degree diploma with engineering school.
2017 – 2021: Engineering degree, major in Applied Mathematics, Ecole Centrale de Nantes.
Courses include algebra, probabilities, statistics, management and business environment, communication, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, product design and development.
Research experience
Apr 2025 – June 2026: Postdoctoral researcher, University of Vienna.
Investigating the environmental impact of the proposed Wide-Field Spectroscopic Telescope through a life cycle assessment using the software SimaPro.
Feb 2022 – Feb 2025: Leader of the PLEES interdisciplinary project, University of Vienna.
Our primary objective is to reflect on ways to efficiently communicate on climate change. We are developing a novel index that considers the global social, psychological, and economic impacts of climate change: the PLEES Poverty, Life Expectancy, Employment, and Satisfaction) index.
Feb – Aug 2021: Master Thesis, LESIA, Paris observatory.
“The magnetic field of the hot star V352Peg”
Supervisors: Coralie Neiner and Giorgos Leloudas.
Mar – Jul 2019: Research & Development intern, Renault Group, Paris.
Development of a reduced order model of car crash simulation.
Teaching experience
Oct 2023 –June 2025: Lecturer, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy, University of Vienna.
Creation and teaching of the interdisciplinary course “Sustainability in academia” offered to bachelor and master students.
Oct 2022 – June 2023: Teaching assistant, Department of Astrophysics, University of Vienna.
First-year bachelor course: “Introduction to Astronomy”
Fellowships & Awards
May 2026: Best Talk Award – CERN, Geneva
Attributed by the Swiss Physical Society at the SC4RC conference.
Sept 2024: Fellowship – Vienna International School of Earth and Space Sciences (VISESS) completion grant.
Three months fellowship to complete a PhD thesis.
Sep 2022: Vienna climate hackathon – First prize.
Member of the team “Vision_Vienna”, developing a digital solution for societal challenges.
Oct 2021: Fellowship – VISESS.
Three year fellowship to conduce a PhD research project.
Invitations
June 2026: Event “L’astronomie au service du vivant – Grand Entretien avec Dr. Laurane Fréour”, Le Cercle, Vienna
Invitation by the association Le Cercle to talk about “astronomy for the living”, rethinking the role of science and astronomy in the context of the climate crisis.
May 2026: Panel discussion on Green Computing, CERN, Geneva
Invited panellist to discuss how research computing can be more sustainable in the scope of the SC4RC conference.
April 2026: Masaryk University Theoretical Physics & Astrophysics Seminar, Brno
Invited seminar talk: “Reconciling astronomy and sustainability: the environmental impact of astronomical research”
March 2026: Lectures on Globular Clusters & Sustainability, International Space Institute, Strasbourg
Invited lectures for master’s students:
Part 1: Astrophysics (2h) — Galaxy evolution through globular clusters.
Part 2: Sustainable Instrumentation (2h) — Introduction to life cycle assessment, environmental impact of space and ground-based infrastructure.
January 2026: Königstuhl Colloquium, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg.
Invited colloquium talk: “Astronomy and Sustainability: addressing the environmental impacts of research for a sustainable future”
Apr 2025: Topics in Star Cluster Dynamics and Evolution meeting, Online.
Invited talk: “Nucleosynthesis in black hole accretion disks: a channel to form enriched stars in globular clusters?”
May 2024: Center for teaching & learning, University of Vienna.
Invited workshop: “Innovative Approaches to Teaching Sustainability Across Disciplines”
Invited video interview: “Teaching sustainability“
Mar 2024: Lecturers Without Borders webinar,Online.
Invited talk: “The PLEES index – Effectively communicate on climate change”
Contributions
June 2026: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Contributed talks: “Sustainability as a design parameter in the early development
of the Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope” & “Embedding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the WST Collaboration”
May 2026: Sustainability Conference for Responsible Research Computing, CERN, Switzerland.
Contributed talk: “Integrating sustainability in the design of the Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope’s data processing and storage” – Best Talk Award by the Swiss Physical Society
Nov 2025: Inter- and trans-disciplinary conference on climate change, Online.
Contributed talk: Greening astrophysical research infrastructures; the example of the WST
Oct 2024: Stellar population conference, INAF Florence, Italy.
Contributed talk: “The ellipticity of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters”
Apr 2024: ÖH sustainability week, University of Vienna, Austria.
Contributed workshop: “Sustainability in academia”
Mar 2024: Austrian early career conference, Salzburg, Austria.
Contributed talk: “Nucleosynthesis in black hole accretion disks: a channel to form enriched stars
in GCs?”
Nov 2022: Astronomers for planet Earth (A4E) symposium, Online.
Contributed talk: “The PLEES index & the role of astronomers in interdisciplinary research”
Nov 2022: Inter- and trans-disciplinary conference on climate change, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.
Contributed talk: “The PLEES index, climate change changes needs”
Jun 2022: Société Française d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique (SF2A), Besançon, France.
Contributed talks:
“Nucleosynthesis in black hole accretion disks: a channel to form enriched stars in GCs?”
“The impact of climate change on human needs”
Apr 2021: OBA Stars: Variability and Magnetic Fields, Online.
Contributed talk: “The magnetic field of the hot star V352Peg”
Outreach and Community activities
September 2025: Vienna in Space, University of Vienna, Austria
Outreach talk: What does our planet look like from space?
Since Apr 2025: Equity Diversity and Inclusion working group, WST consortium.
Participation in the redaction of the consortium code of conduct.
Sept 2024: Climate day, BG-BRG Klosterneuburg, Austria.
An astronomer’s perspective on climate change – Talk for high school students
May 2024: Long night of research, University of Vienna.
How can Astronomy teach us to value Earth? Co-organisor of the station proposed by the Sternwarte sustainability group aiming at raising awareness among the public on the preciousness of Earth through various activities including artistic creation and a quiz.
Apr 2023: Big picture event: The PLEES index & effectively communicating on climate change, University of Vienna.
Led the organization of a public inter-disciplinary event on climate change as part of the “Big
Picture Talk” series by the Vienna International School of Earth and Space Sciences.
Participated as a panelist in a discussion on effective communication strategies for climate change,
alongside an activist, an environmental psychologist, and a climate scientist.
Since Dec 2022: Steering group member of A4E.
Co-organizing monthly webinars for the international movement A4E, working to address the climate crisis from an astronomy perspective.
Since Dec 2022: Founding member of the Sternwarte sustainability group, Department of Astrophysics, University of Vienna.
Workplace improvement projects (e.g., installing covered bike racks, creating a communal garden area, installing garbage separation bins to encourage recycling).
Co-authored an open letter to the university rector, signed by 40 colleagues, advocating for a greener university.
Since Nov 2022: Climate fresk facilitator.
The climate fresk is a collaborative workshop based on the IPCC reports allowing to understand the physics of climate change, in order to take action. I completed the training to become facilitator of the climate fresk and organize private and public workshops on a regular basis.
Languages
- French: Native
- English: C2
- Spanish: C1
- Italian: A2
- German: A1
Main publications
Fréour, L; Burtin, E.; Bacon, R. et al.; Sustainability as a design parameter in the early development of the Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope, SPIE proceedings (2026).
Fréour, L; Puglisi, A; Fortuna, M.C. et al.; Embedding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the WST Collaboration, SPIE proceedings (2026).
Fréour, L; Leitinger, E.; Pancino, E.; Zocchi, A.; van de Ven, G; Robust ellipticity measurements of 29 Galactic globular clusters, A&A 708, A286 (2026).
Fréour, L; Sustainability in Academia- Series of lectures at the Department of Astrophysics of the University of Vienna, Journal Enseigner les Enjeux Socio-Écologiques dans le Supérieur (2025).
Fréour, L; Zocchi, A.; van de Ven, G.; Pancino, E.; Investigating black hole accretion disks as potential polluter sources for the formation of enriched stars in globular clusters
A&A, 684, A181 (2024).
Fréour, L; Neiner, C.; Landstreet, J. D.; Folsom, C. P.; Wade, G. A.; The magnetic field of the chemically peculiar star V352 Peg.
MNRAS 520, 3201–3217 (2023).
You can check a more exhaustive list of my contributions in NASA/ADS.