Born in October 1944, Michel van der Rest trained as a biochemist, and was head of the Life Sciences Department at ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure) Lyon from 1992 to 1995.  He was  Director of the Institut de Biologie structurale (Institute for Structural Biology) Jean-Pierre Ebel in Grenoble from 1994 to 2001, while at the same time heading the Molecular and Structural Biology Department at CEA-Grenoble from 1997 to 2003.   He then became Scientific Director of the Life Sciences Department at the CNRS on October 12, 2005.

In 2007, Michel van der Rest has been chosen as Director General of synchrotron SOLEIL and elected in 2009 Chair of ERF (European association of national Research Facilities open to international access).