Paul Duval completed his PhD at the University of Grenoble, and has been a CNRS Research Scientist in the Laboratory of Glaciology and Geophysics of the Environment since 1969. His areas of research include ice physics and mechanics, glaciology and materials science. His studies on densification of snow have been developed with applications in paleoclimatology, and he has recently worked on the viscous behaviour of the ice on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. He has published over 100 refereed papers in international journals.