Employees and researchers at the Swiss Scientific Research Center in Côte d'Ivoire (CSRS) now know the name of their next Director General: Prof. ZOUEU Jérémie Thouakesseh.

Selected following an international call for applications launched from August 15 to November 28, 2025, the future Director General of the CSRS was chosen after a rigorous and competitive process, marked by the quality and diversity of the profiles in the running. Of the 11 eligible applications, four candidates were shortlisted following an evaluation of their applications.

These candidates, with high-level scientific and managerial profiles, met at the CSRS on January 26, 2026, for the final stages of the process. They each presented their management plans to an audience of researchers, employees, and members of the CSRS Board of Directors, before answering questions from the audience. The afternoon was devoted to in-depth individual interviews with the final jury.

At the end of this demanding procedure, Prof. ZOUEU Jérémie Thouakesseh stood out for the soundness and consistency of his project, the clarity of his strategic vision, and his scientific and managerial skills, convincing the jury of his ability to lead the CSRS into a new phase of its development.

At the end of this demanding process, Prof. ZOUEU Jérémie Thouakesseh stood out for the soundness and consistency of his project, the clarity of his strategic vision, and his scientific and managerial skills, convincing the jury of his ability to support the CSRS in a new phase of its development.

Currently Vice-President of the University of San Pedro in charge of education and a lecturer-researcher at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny National Polytechnic Institute, Prof. ZOUEU is a specialist in the physics of light (photonics), a discipline he has applied in various fields, notably human health and agriculture, through a transdisciplinary approach fully consistent with the scientific orientations of the CSRS.

As part of the institutional procedures following his selection, the future Director General was received in audience by Prof. Adama Diawara, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Côte d'Ivoire, on Friday, January 30, 2026. This official presentation was led by Prof. KONE Tidiani, Chairman of the CSRS Board of Directors, in the presence of Prof. KONE Inza, the current Director General.

The presentation program continued on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at the Swiss Embassy, where the Chairman of the CSRS Board of Directors reviewed the main stages of the selection process and introduced the future Director General to His Excellency Dominique Favre, Swiss Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, in the presence of the current Director General.

Prof. ZOUEU Jérémie Thouakesseh will officially take office on July 1, 2026, at the CSRS headquarters in Adiopodoumé, during a year of great symbolic significance marking the 75th anniversary of the CSRS, an emblematic institution of Ivorian-Swiss scientific cooperation and partnership-based research for development.