Philippe Baptiste

Philippe Baptiste is France's Minister of Higher Education, Research and Space. He was appointed in October 2025 in the government of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, after serving as Minister Delegate for Higher Education and Research since December 2024.

A computer scientist by training, he holds a PhD from the Université de technologie de Compiègne and is a graduate of the Mines Nancy engineering school. His research focused on scheduling theory, combinatorial optimisation and operations research, and he has published in around forty international journals. He taught at École Polytechnique, where he headed the computer science laboratory, and directed the CNRS Institute for Information Sciences and their Interactions.

He later served as Chief Scientist and Chief Technology Officer at Total, as chief of staff to the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, and as an adviser to Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. From 2021 until his appointment to government, he was President of the French space agency CNES.