Michel Mitov graduated from the University of Nice–Sophia Antipolis (France), where he received his PhD in condensed matter physics. He is Director of Research at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and leader of the Liquid Crystal Group at Centre d’Elaboration de Matériaux et d’Etudes Structurales (CEMES) in Toulouse. His current areas of interest are the design and optical response of complex cholesteric liquid crystal structures (pitch gradient, double helicity, spatially-variable helicoidal axis), and bio-inspired versions from insect carapaces. He is the inventor of patents related to smart reflective windows to control solar light and heat. He has published a science popularisation essay on soft matter (“Sensitive Matter”, Harvard University Press, 2012).