Science at UM [S01-ep21]: From the MT 180 competition to the ARCAD center
This week on A l’UM la science, PhD students Rhofrane Mrabti and Clément Trotobas talk to us about the Ma thèse en 180 secondes competition, which they won. In the second part of the program, Paule Térès (CIRAD), a researcher at the Agap laboratory, introduces us to Arcad, France's first "bank" for the conservation of cultivated plants.
"Like a long-distance runner, doctoral students must go the distance, but unlike marathon runners, no one has marked out a finish line for them." Thus began Héloïse Lhérété's article entitled La solitude du thésard de fond(The loneliness of the long-distance doctoral student). Endurance, perseverance, and patience are just some of the qualities needed to be one of the 70,000 students currently enrolled in doctoral programs in France and to last the three years required to complete them.
Three years to work on, research, dig into, and dissect your subject. Three years, or 1,095 days, or 26,280 hours, which a strange competition asks you to summarize in... three minutes. A marathon suddenly turned into a sprint—that's the challenge we're talking about today as we look back at the MT180 competition for My Thesis in 180 Seconds.
180 short seconds and not a second more to capture the attention of a completely new audience and attempt to summarize work that could take a lifetime. 180 seconds, like the 180 beats per minute of the candidates' hearts as they take to the stage. 180 seconds, above all, to share a passion and gain recognition that they all deserve a thousand times over.
Our guests are doctoral students at the University of Montpellier and they took part in the regional final of this competition, which was held in Montpellier. This time, they will have more than three minutes to tell us about their experience. Rhofrane Mrabti won the audience award for the 2022 edition, while Clément Trotobas took second place in the jury's award.
In the second part of the program, we introduce you to the Agropolis Resource Center for Crop Conservation, Adaptation, and Diversity, or Arcad for short. Arcad is France's leading "bank" for the conservation of cultivated plants, with nearly 50,000 samples. Vines, corn, sorghum, rice, millet, cotton, fonio, peanuts, cocoa, coffee... thousands of seeds are accessible thanks to a storage and retrieval robot that is unique in Europe and, above all, thanks to Paule Térès, the manager of the GAMET Biological Resource Center for "Seeds Adapted to Mediterranean and Tropical Conditions," who manages this unique collection.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Production: Universityof Montpellier/Divergence FM
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: AlinePériault/Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Anna Demeulandre
Listen to the program “A LUM LA SCIENCE” on Divergence FM 93.9
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