Rouages: “Staying closely connected to research”
Delphine Petit and Magali Puech both work in the Department of Research and Doctoral Studies (DRED). Delphine heads the Research Infrastructure and Resources Coordination Unit, while Magali heads the Indicators and Monitoring Unit. This month, as part of the“Rouages”video series, they tell us about their work.
You’ll need to go to the Triolet campus to find the DRED. Inside Building 7, fourteen people across four departments and one office contribute to this essential mission: implementing the University’s policy on doctoral education and research. Delphine Petit and Magali Puech are both department heads within this division, which works closely with Jacques Mercier, the Vice President for Research.
A department dedicated to research policy
“Delphine and I work in research and doctoral training,” explains Magali Puech, head of the Research Management and Metrics Department. Still in Building 7, we stop by Delphine Petit’s office; she heads the“Research Structures and Resources Coordination” department, which has a staff of four.
“It’s a bit of a mouthful, so among ourselves, we prefer to call it SRECH. In short, my department oversees research facilities—in other words, laboratories, platforms, and so on—and the resources allocated to them,” explains Delphine Petit. “Most of the proposals we review are then put to a vote.” ” This vote refers to the Research Committee, a body of the Academic Council where the University’s research policy is debated and voted on.“It’s up to our two departments—Magali’s and mine—to implement this policy: I handle the structural, financial, and contractual aspects related to research organizations and schools, while Magali focuses on indicators, outreach, open science, and so on…”
Magali Puech, developing indicators to enhance the visibility of the UM
And indeed, for Magali Puech, whose work involves, among other things, responding to surveys and producing indicators, her daily routine mostly revolves around“absolutely massive Excel spreadsheets that require a great deal of precision.” Affiliation indicators, in particular, take up a significant portion of her time.“I make sure that researchers clearly mention their affiliation with the University of Montpellier in their publications, and there are more than four thousand of them each year. This is a key factor in the University’s international reputation.”
This is central and essential if we hope to climb international rankings such as the Shanghai Ranking, which are based, among other factors, on the number of publications authored by UM researchers. “Researchers have often continued the practice of citing their laboratory or university hospital, which represents a loss for us,” she adds . “Things are gradually changing, and today we’re seeing 85 to 87% of correct attributions,” which is double the rate from 10 years ago.
Another indicator closely monitored by the department is the submission rate to the University’s HAL portal:“The HAL portal is an open archive where researchers can deposit their publications to make them accessible to the international scientific community,” explains Magali Puech, who currently co-administers the portal with Laure Lefrançois, a “research support” project manager at the Joint Documentation Service. This practice is gaining momentum under the banner of open science or open access, to which a vice-presidency led by Anne Laurent has been dedicated for the past three years.“The University is developing a genuine policy in favor of open science, and this represents a major initiative within my department.”
Delphine Petit, coordinating research facilities
“My department oversees and monitors the 73 research facilities and 16 technology platforms at the University of Montpellier. “This involves various tasks, starting with updating all information related to these units in the Strech application,” explains Delphine Petit. Designed and developed by the DRED and the DSIN, Strech is a tool accessible via the digital campus platform that allows users to view unit profiles in real time, particularly regarding their governing bodies and management.”
As the name suggests, Delphine Petit’s team is also responsible for allocating financial resources to research units in accordance with the decisions made by the research committee. “This includes funding for research units and doctoral schools, as well as doctoral contracts. It may also involve special funding approved by the committee.”
Another key responsibility of this department is preparing for evaluations of research institutions conducted by the High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (HCERES), an independent administrative authority.“My department led this initiative in 2019 and 2020 for all research units and doctoral schools. “This involves producing a large volume of documents, conducting preliminary surveys to identify all restructuring efforts, and coordinating with other overseeing bodies,” explains Delphine Petit. “Following these evaluations, we handle the entire process of establishing these structures within the institution and formalizing their agreements.”
Two scientific profiles
While Magali Puech and Delphine Petit’s respective positions are indeed in administration, their unique backgrounds also explain the distinct nature of their profiles: both come from a research background. “I originally have a Ph.D. in biological and medical engineering, ” Magali Puech begins. “Early in my career, I worked in a lab in Lille, and after taking parental leave and moving, I transitioned into administration.” Delphine Petit, meanwhile, is a chemical engineer : “I, too, worked in a lab, and by choice I shifted to a research-related administrative role—first at the DIPA and then at the DRED.”
They are certain that these experiences continue to provide them with many advantages in carrying out their duties today:“In our daily work, familiarity with the research environment is a significant foundation, but to truly understand it—that is, to grasp the challenges and constraints—you need to have had some hands-on experience; this comes through in the way we interact with our counterparts,” they conclude.