In 1975, she obtained the Agrégation and a PhD in Physics from Paris Diderot University, writing her thesis on the dynamics and structure of galaxies.

In particular, the molecular gas which gives birth to new stars in nearby galaxies, such as Andromeda, and which can be found in high redshift systems.

[4] Françoise Combes has contributed to various models of dark matter, and is also interested in alternative solutions, such as modified gravity.

She collaborated with Daniel Pfenniger in developing a model to account under the form of cold molecular gas for a large fraction of the dark baryons, which have not yet been identified.

[5] Françoise Combes is the author of over a thousand articles,[29] a number of books, and has participated in collective works.