Agnès Mignot: “Giving research back the time it needs”
Recently appointed Executive Vice President for Research Streamlining and Oversight of National Programs, Agnès Mignot is no stranger to the University. A researcher at the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in Montpellier, she has worked for many years to improve relations between research and administration, but is also committed to the Nagoya Protocol and to greater recognition of women in research.
Name?
, Agnès Mignot.
Role?
I am a professor at the University of Montpellier and currently serve as Executive Vice President in charge of major national projects and the administrative simplification process.
Is this new?
A few months ago, the Minister of Higher Education and Research that universities embark on a simplification process to free up more time for research—that is, for Professors, female and male faculty members, and support staff. Among other things, I am in charge of overseeing these initiatives.
Any other responsibilities under this mandate?
Higher education and research are organized around large-scale projects funded at the national level. The University, through its Professors researchers, is heavily involved in these exploratory research programs known as PEPRs, so I am also responsible for overseeing these various projects.
Is this your first term atUM
No, this isn’t exactly my first term atUM. I was previously the Vice President for Administration and Research Relations. President Augé asked me to focus on this issue of facilitating relations between the administration and the research community… Given everything that unit directors, administrative managers, and—on a day-to-day basis—researchers, Professors research support staff have to deal with.
The Nagoya Protocol?
That’s right; I’m a project manager at the University of Montpellier focusing on the Nagoya Protocol and its implementation from an administrative, legislative, and research perspective. The Nagoya Protocol was signed as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to protect biodiversity and seeks to prevent biopiracy on an international scale. This is something that requires a great deal of support for researchers, Professors faculty members.
Are you a researcher yourself?
I’m a faculty researcher, and I really value both roles. My current laboratory is the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences. It’s a unit that studies all the mechanisms of evolution, adaptation, and speciation in species. On the long-term scale, we have paleontologists; on the short-term scale, people who study adaptation mechanisms in very small organisms. And then there are people who focus on questions related to animals or plants, which aligns more closely with my work since I study evolution in flowering plants.
Women in science?
There aren’t that many of us, after all. Gender ratio indicators—that is, the proportion of men and women—in various institutions are often aggregated, and while overall we’re not too far off from 50/50, when you look at the details… We’re far from 50/50 in leadership roles or when you break it down by discipline. As a result, in areas where gender parity is essential—such as recruitment selection committees, central governing boards of universities, or any higher education and research institutions—women ultimately bear a heavy burden because they are fewer in number and must, in effect, do more than their male counterparts.
Your magic formula?
What has been extremely beneficial—both for me personally and in the projects I’ve undertaken—is working as a team, which means trusting one another. It starts with getting to know each other’s work—the work of everyone you’ll be collaborating with—so you can effectively help their work evolve and identify potential areas for improvement. And these insights often come from people’s day-to-day experiences. So, whether in teaching, research, or administration, teamwork is really, really what I emphasize.