Founder members
The founder members are the Jean Zeitoun's sisters and his close friends, and those whom he weaved strong bonds with all along his professional activity.
We all met to revive his memory and his passions. Gifted with an infinite curiosity, Jean was also an exceptional pedagogue, able to express very complex topics in simple words.
The creation of this fund is a tribute to Jean as a token of gratitude for all that he brought to our knowledge, for his constant support, his unwavering loyalty, his dedication, and his presence among us at all times. Given to the fact that Jean is still so present among us, we have decided to use the present tense instead of the past to trace his exceptional career.
From the members of the Jean Zeitoun Endowment Fund board of directors and from all who joined and will join our action.
Why did we create the Endowment Fund?
As a non-profit organization, the fund’s mission is to help and support research projects in essential fields such as astrophysics, cosmology, quantum physics but also astronomical observation and astrobiology, for the moment still an exploratory scientific domain. The fund also aims to contribute and help the new industrial applications which would derive from these researches.
These programmes are generally being implemented over a long period and thus they require long term financing: the idea is to support doctorate and post-doctorate students by allocating research grants which run over several years or to help projects directly. The fund will act as an incentive for such researches.
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Finally, young amateur audiences, fascinated by the observation of the universe, may also pursue studying these domains and even choose them for their career. Granting awards linked to their interest for these subjects will be an incentive for them.
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The fund is committed to intervene at both extremes of endeavour: from encouraging the initiation of the careers of young audiences in the field of sciences of the universe to supporting the most advanced research in these sectors by institutions and established teams.
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