Three francophone scientists will deliver free public lectures on Mars exploration, protein biology, and human health innovation at Caltech’s Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics on April 16, part of a global French intellectual festival that this year explores Enlightenment ideals in the year of America’s 250th birthday.
The event, called La Nuit des Idées — Night of Ideas — places Pasadena among 18 American cities hosting the annual festival, which is organized worldwide by France’s Institut français and presented in the United States by Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education. The 2026 U.S. cycle carries the theme “Enlightenment Now: Independence at 250,” drawing on perspectives from both sides of the Atlantic to examine the philosophical roots of democracy, according to the Night of Ideas organizers. Pasadena is listed as a distinct city on the national roster, separate from Los Angeles.
Alliance Française de Pasadena is organizing the Pasadena edition in partnership with Caltech, with additional support from the French Consulate in Los Angeles, TV5MONDE, the Albertine Foundation, and the Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation, according to the Alliance Française.
The three speakers — Eloise Masquelier, Lucas Lange, and Esther Lahoud-Heilbronner — are francophone researchers whose work spans disciplines at the intersection of science and society. Masquelier is a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech who studied materials science at EPFL in Switzerland. Their lectures, delivered in English, will cover Mars exploration, the biology of proteins, and innovations in human health, according to the Alliance Française de Pasadena.
The partnership between Alliance Française de Pasadena and Caltech is not new. The Alliance was founded on May 5, 1924, by Paul Elie Perigord, a French immigrant who became a professor of European history at Caltech. Grace Hubble, wife of the astronomer Edwin Hubble, served as one of the organization’s earliest presidents, according to the Alliance’s institutional history. The organization celebrated its 100th anniversary in April 2024.
“Pasadena has all these museums and live theater, and so much,” Dan Slater, president of the Alliance Française de Pasadena board of directors, said at the centennial celebration. “And it started with a French immigrant, who came to Pasadena to study at Caltech, and later became a professor of European history there, Paul Ellie Perigord.”
Night of Ideas was launched in 2016 during an evening gathering in Paris of French and international voices discussing major global issues, according to the Institut français. The event has since been held in more than 100 countries and 300 cities worldwide, according to Villa Albertine. The 2026 global theme, “Opening the Way,” is an invitation to address youth and emerging voices, the conditions for social and political progress, and the role of education in enabling new generations, according to the Institut français.
The Cahill Center, where the Pasadena event will be held, is a 100,000-square-foot facility designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne and the firm Morphosis. It opened in 2009 and houses Caltech’s astronomy and astrophysics faculty and graduate students.
The event takes place Thursday, April 16, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1216 E. California Blvd., Pasadena. Admission is free. RSVP is required by April 15 at www.afdepasadena.org. For more information, call (833) 386-3911.
The lectures will cover three fields — planetary science, molecular biology, and medicine — where the Enlightenment commitment to empirical inquiry is not philosophy but daily practice.
LA NUIT DES IDÉES: CALTECH & ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE PASADENA Date & Time: Thursday, April 16, 2026, 7:00 p.m. | Venue Address: Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Caltech, 1216 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106 | Phone Number: (833) 386-3911 | Website: https://www.afdepasadena.org/event-detail/?eventId=695#/
