Samuel CHAFFRON is a computational biologist and microbiologist (Université de Bordeaux) holding a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. Since 2017, he is a CNRS researcher with well-established international expertise in the understanding of the structure, function, and diversity of natural microbial communities. By integrating meta-omics information through systems biology approaches in various habitats, including the world’s oceans and the human intestinal tract, his research has helped to understand ecological systems at the molecular scale and revealed the diversity and complexity of microbial ecosystems. His research lies in modeling microbial communities and their structures at different levels of organization (from genes to communities and ecosystems). He develops systems ecology and functional (meta-)genomics approaches to reveal universal patterns shaping natural microbial communities. He also builds computational models to gain a predictive understanding of community function and dynamics through metabolic modeling, and acquire a mechanistic understanding of species interactions (e.g., marine symbioses, microbiome-gut-brain axis) and ecosystem functioning.