Tatiana Budtova

Tatiana Budtova, born on 23 June 1963, is a researcher, specialising in the chemical physics of polymers, and working in the Centre for Materials Forming (CEMEF - UMR 7635) of MINES ParisTech. She is best known for her work with polymers and pioneering work with aerogels. In 2020, she was awarded the CNRS.
== Biography ==
Tatiana Budtova graduated in 1987 from the Physical Faculty of Leningrad State University. In 1992, she obtained her PhD in the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of :ru:Френкель,_Сергей_Яковлевич|Professor S. Y. Frenkel.
Dr Budtova began collaborating with CEMEF in 1993 and subsequently obtained her habilitation at University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis / Mines ParisTech|Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, in 1999. In 2004, she joined CEMEF on a permanent basis, subsequently becoming director of the research group for bio-based polymers and composites. Between 2016-2020 Dr Budtova was appointed a Finland Distinguished Professor (FiDiPro) in Aalto University, Finland.
Dr Budtova's research focuses on the development of bio-based aerogels, polymer composites reinforced with natural fibres, polysaccharide, and polymer solutions and gels. Since 2015, she has served as one of the editors of Carbohydrate Polymers. 
== Bio-Aerogels ==
The first bio-aerogels were made in the early 2000s. Dr Budtova's flagship work to date has been based around the development of aerogels which can be manufactured without chemical synthesis, based on “ready-made” polymers found in nature. This idea was born in collaboration with PERSEE/Mines ParisTech. The core idea was to create truly bio aerogels, utilising the shared expertise of the two groups.
The first research project on bio-aerogels ("AeroCell"), which launched this area of research, was funded by the European Commission and co-ordinated by Lenzing AG|Lenzing, an Austrian company with expertise in cellulose fibres. In 2004, CEMEF and PERSEE submitted a Soleau envelope. At that time, this new material was referred to as “aerocellulose”. As a result of this collaboration and the knowledge generated, all bio-based aerogels are now called “bio-aerogels”.
Between 2012-2014, Dr Cyrielle Rudaz, working under the supervision of Dr Budtova, discovered that pectin aerogels are thermal super-insulating materials (with thermal conductivity lower than that of air). Furthermore, in 2016-17 two Masters students (Lucile Druel & Richard Bardl) working under the supervision of Dr Budtova, were awarded the prix "Innovation" by Maiz'Europ for their discovery that starch aerogels are also thermal super-insulating materials. 
== Awards and Honours ==
* 2010: Featured as part of "Mille Chercheurs Parlent D'Avenir" exhibition and subsequent book.
* 2014: Prix ADEME des Techniques Innovantes pour l'Environnement (together with Dr Cyrielle Rudaz and Dr Arnaud Demilecamps)
* 2015: Chevalier des Ordre des Palmes académiques|Palmes académiques
* 2020: :fr:Médaille_d'argent_du_CNRS|Médaille d'Argent du CNRS<ref>{{Cite web|title=Médailles d'argent 2020 CNRS|url=https://www.cnrs.fr/fr/personne/medailles-dargent-2020|access-date=2021-01-02|we
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