Thierry Van der Pyl graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan and is docteur d'état in Informatics from University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI.
He was researcher at CNRS and joined the European Commission in 1984 where he held different management positions in the research programs on Information and Communication Technologies.
Currently he is Director "Excellence in Science" in DG CONNECT (Communications Networks, Content & Technology).