In 1970, Combescure joined the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and decided to devote herself to research in theoretical physics. She defended her thesis at the University of Paris-Sud in 1974 on the problem of 3-body quantum scattering under the supervision of Jean Ginibre. She was then assigned to the theoretical and high-energy physics laboratory at Orsay. In 1979 she obtained her doctorate on many-body spectral and scattering problems in quantum mechanics and field theory. She is a member of the scientific council of the University of Paris-Sud, in particular in the third cycle pedagogy commission (theses and authorizations to direct research).