Marc Barthelemy is a former student of the Ecole Normale Superieure of Paris. In 1992, He graduated at the University of Paris VI with a thesis in theoretical physics titled "Random walks in random media". After his thesis, he focused on disordered systems and their properties, and since 1992, he have held a permanent position at the CEA. Presently, Marc Barthelemy is a research director at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IPhT) in Saclay and a member of the Center of Social Analysis and Mathematics (CAMS) at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).

His research interests moved towards applications of statistical physics to complex systems, complex networks, theoretical epidemiology, and more recently on spatial networks. Focusing on both data analysis and modeling with the tools of statistical physics, Barthelemy is currently also working on various aspects of the emerging science of cities.