Dr. Marie Perrin

Marie was born in the sunny city of Houston, USA and raised in the nonetheless sunny city of Toulouse in the south of France.   Marie is a chemist and entrepreneur passionate about sustainable innovation. After studying chemistry at Université Paris-Saclay and ENS Paris-Saclay, she earned a Master’s degree from École Polytechnique before pursuing a PhD at ETH Zurich, where she graduated in 2024 with research focused on bio-inspired rare earth chemistry. Her scientific and entrepreneurial achievements have been recognized with multiple distinctions, including the European Young Chemists Award, the ETH Spark Award, and the EPO Young Inventor Prize 2025. Marie now leads REEcover, a startup project developing an innovative chemical process for the sustainable recycling of rare earth elements, and is currently an ETH Pioneer Fellow. Deeply committed to the societal impact of science, she has been actively involved in mentoring, outreach and science policy through the Young Swiss Chemical Society and the European Young Chemists’ Network, and today she shares her passion for science and the environment on social media as @theraredoctor. When she is not in the lab smashing lamps to recycle, she loves playing music, reading and always enjoy a good conversation around a glass of wine !