Portraits of theUM

Pascale Idoux is a professor and researcher in public law, and she talks about her field the way others talk about birds: by taking you on a journey. During an hour spent within the walls of an office at the School of Law and Political Science, she takes us on a journey from the European Public Law Organization to the training program at the Institut de l’entreprise, touching on nuclear law, the Institut universitaire de France, and, of course, the University of Montpellier.

American geneticist Randall Wisser has just joined INRAE to develop the seeds of the future. His approach: drawing on the genetic resources of seeds from around the world and then using computer modeling to simulate their adaptation to new environments. Coming from the University of Delaware, his arrival in Montpellier is the result of an EXPLORE exchange, MUSE’s international mobility program.

The French Society for Ecology and Evolution has awarded its 2020 Grand Prize to Philippe Jarne, a CNRS researcher at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology. The prize recognizes his research in evolutionary and population biology, invasion biology, and ecology. A profile of a gastropod specialist.

Fabienne Remize, a biologist specializing in wine microorganisms, is taking on a new challenge by assuming leadership of a major research unit, the UMR Sciences for Oenology (SPO: University of Montpellier, INRAE, Institut Agro – Montpellier SupAgro), as part of the I-SITE MUSE talent attraction program. 

Johanna Calderon, a researcher in neuropsychology and psychiatry at Harvard University, will take up a distinguished professorship at the University of Montpellier in January 2021, focusing on the neurodevelopmental aspects of congenital heart disease. This marks a first in France.

On October 22, the University of Montpellier—and the School of Law and Political Science in particular—paid tribute to Professor Georges Frêche, who passed away ten years ago. Here’s a look back at the life of an extraordinary academic and political figure who didn’t wait for posterity to build his own legend.