Portraits of the UM

Paul-Émile Paradan, a mathematics researcher at Montpellier University's Alexander Grothendieck Institute, has been awarded the "Alexandre-Joannidès" prize by the French Academy of Sciences. It rewards years of solitary research at the interface of Atiyah-Singer index theory, representation theory and symplectic geometry.  

Thanks to the MAK'IT program (Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions), Silvia Giordani is weaving collaborations with several UM laboratories around her nanomaterials research. The Dublin City University professor is taking advantage of this to extend the biomedical applications of her carbon nano-onions to fields other than medicine, particulary energy.

Catherine Alix-Panabières is an international specialist in circulating tumor cells (CTC) and liquid biopsy. A professor of oncology at the University of Montpellier and director of the Laboratoire Cells Circulantes Rares Humaines et Biopsie Liquide (LCCRH), she is the originator of the term, and has opened up a wealth of research into cancer biomarkers present in the blood, with therapeutic prospects in the offing.

On August 1, 2024, astronomer Agnès Lèbre took over as director of the Observatoire de recherche montpelliérain de l'environnement (OREME). It's a natural move for the first UM researcher to include an observation service in her mission since 1996.

With a front-row seat to the digital revolutions, Edmond Baranes has been working on the economics of telecoms services for three decades. The Professor of Economics at the University of Montpellier was elected Dean of the Faculty of Economics in 2024.

A researcher at Montpellier's Mechanics and Civil Engineering Laboratory (LMGC), Katerina Ioannidou was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2024 for her work in statistical physics on porous concrete. Her research is helping to design materials capable of storing energy and sequestering carbon.