Our work in fluid dynamics combines experimental numerical and theoretical approaches to tackle questions of fundamental research intertwined with problems taking their roots in concrete situations, whether natural or industrial. Areas we are particularly interested in include, but are not limited to convection, turbulence, transitional flows and magnetohydrodynamics. These are not only fascinating themes of research in their own right, they are highly also relevant to the metallurgy or the oil industry, with whom we work in collaboration. They also concern the dynamics of planetary atmospheres and of the Earth deep interior, which we are attempting to model experimentally.