Sébastien Philippe is an Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with faculty affiliations in the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science. He is a 2025 MacArthur Fellow and leads evident, a research lab dedicated to understanding and reducing the risks posed by nuclear weapons and emerging technologies to international peace and security.
Philippe’s work combines scientific analysis with policy research to inform policymakers and the public about nuclear risks and to advance diplomatic and domestic policy solutions. His research focuses on modeling the consequences of nuclear war, monitoring and verification of nuclear activities in support of nonproliferation and arms control, and the environmental and public health legacies of nuclear testing. In July 2025, he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General to the Independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War, on which he serves as Scientific Secretary.
In addition to his MacArthur Fellowship, Philippe received the 2025 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award from the American Physical Society for outstanding contributions at the interface of physics and society. He has led or co-directed research collaborations that bring together science, security, environmental justice, and investigative journalism, including The Moruroa Files, which received a 2022 Sigma Award recognizing outstanding international data journalism; The Missiles on Our Land, in collaboration with Scientific American; and Congo’s Hidden Uranium Exports, in collaboration with the Financial Times and Lighthouse Reports. His book Toxique, co-authored with journalist Tomas Statius, was a finalist for the 2021 Albert Londres Prize, France’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His work has been featured in major media outlets, including The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC, Scientific American, and The New Yorker.
Philippe is also a visiting researcher with Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security, where he spent six years as a research scholar before joining UW–Madison in August 2025. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University (2018) and was a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow with the Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (2018–2019). Before his doctoral studies, he served as a nuclear weapon system safety engineer for France’s strategic submarine forces at the French Ministry of Defense.