For the past year, the Horizon Europe-funded consortium LeidenForce has been studying the Leidenfrost effect with the goal of understanding and ultimately controlling it.

To mark LeidenForce’s first anniversary, we spoke with Stéphane Dorbolo, project coordinator, based at the Université de Liège (PTyX laboratory, FNRS). A specialist in fluid physics and soft matter, he studies droplets and granular materials in collaboration with several international research teams.

In this interview, he...

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A droplet on a very hot surface can levitate on its own vapor cushion: the Leidenfrost effect, as spectacular as it is puzzling. But could we learn to control it? Could an electric field locally switch off the Leidenfrost state?

This is the focus of the doctoral project “Local cancellation of the Leidenfrost effect assisted by an electrical field”, carried out by Lorena Victoria García, the newest PhD student in the...

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A droplet placed on a scorching surface might seem doomed to vanish instantly.

Yet under certain conditions, it does the opposite: it levitates on its own vapor layer, moves with surprising mobility, and reveals a physics both elegant and complex.

This is the essence of the Leidenfrost effect, spectacular, but crucial for many industrial processes, from cooling to cryogenic storage.

Centered on this phenomenon, the LeidenForce Winter School 2026...

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As the year begins, LeidenForce enters a particularly dynamic phase.

The Winter School 2026, which will take place next week in Bad Boekelo, on the campus of the University of Twente (Netherlands), will bring together researchers, experts, and PhD students for four days dedicated to the in-depth study of the Leidenfrost phenomenon.

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On November 27, 1715, Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, a German physician and physicist, was born.

His observations and theoretical work laid the foundation for understanding the phenomenon now known as the Leidenfrost effect. This...

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At what temperature does a liquid stop wetting a heated surface and instead levitate on a film of vapour generated by its own evaporation? This transition, known as the Leidenfrost temperature, is a key phenomenon for understanding heat transfer under extreme thermal conditions.

Depending on the context, the Leidenfrost effect may either enable smooth, contactless liquid motion, or reduce cooling efficiency by preventing heat exchange.

Understanding how to initiate, delay, or control this transition has become a major challenge in thermal engineering. This is precisely the topic that Vahid Taheri,...

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A new scientific video is now online, featuring an axisymmetric direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a pure water Leidenfrost droplet, as part of ongoing research within LeidenForce.

This simulation is performed with...

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A PhD position (DC9) is still open at ESPCI Paris – PSL on the Leidenfrost effect within the MSCA LeidenForce network.
Apply before November 15, 2025

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What happens when a droplet of liquid lands on a heated liquid surface far above its boiling point?

Can it, like on a solid surface, levitate on its own vapor film without mixing with the liquid beneath it? 

While the Leidenfrost effect on solid surfaces has been extensively studied, its counterpart on liquid baths remains largely unexplored.

This is the question that the doctoral project of Arghya Mukherjee (DC#8), the newest member of LeidenForce, sets out to investigate.

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At a time when physics is in the spotlight with the 2025 Nobel Prize, we are delighted to welcome Gauri Patki (DC#4) to the LeidenForce project.

Her PhD work will focus on the Leidenfrost jet, studying the impact of a continuous liquid flow on a plate heated well above the boiling point of the liquid, triggering the Leidenfrost transition, where the liquid levitates on its own vapor cushion.

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When a droplet rests on a very hot surface, it can hover on a thin cushion of its own vapor — the hallmark of the Leidenfrost effect. This vapor layer, which keeps the droplet aloft, plays a central role in the phenomenon. Its shape, thickness and stability determine whether the droplet remains still, oscillates or starts to move spontaneously. Yet, the dynamics of this film remain only partly understood.

This is the scientific challenge taken up by Pablo Gil González (DC#1), who...

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What happens when a droplet of liquid is squeezed into a channel so narrow it can barely move — and yet it levitates on a cushion of its own vapor?

This is the kind of question driving the research of Mélanie Bulois (DC#10), who has just joined the LeidenForce project on October 1st.

Her work will take the famous Leidenfrost effect — droplets hovering above a hot surface — into the intricate world of multiphase microfluidics, where confinement makes the physics even more intriguing.

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