Portraits of the UM

As Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and Director of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Lutz Gade has built up world-renowned expertise in his field over the years. Over and above his academic achievements, it is also in recognition of his investment in cooperation between the University of Heidelberg and the University of Montpellier that he was awarded the honorary title of Doctor honoris causa by the UM in February 2025.

After studying the impact of human activities on marine biodiversity, David Mouillot is now looking at the possible impact of coastal marine resources in reducing human poverty. The professor at the University of Montpellier and researcher in the Marbec laboratory has just been awarded an ERC Advanced grant to conduct transdisciplinary research on this new subject.

Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, Armand Soldera has been awarded the honorary title of Doctor honoris causa by the University of Montpellier. A well-deserved honor for this Professor of Chemistry, who is as committed as he is to forging lasting links with the UM and its constituent parts, including Polytech Montpellier.

Professor at UM's Institut des biomolécules Max Mousseron, chemist Jean-Yves Winum designs and synthesizes enzymatic inhibitors of carbonic anhydrases, an interesting target for anti-cancer treatments and against various pathogens. His career has been rewarded with the Prix Michel Delalande from the Académie nationale de pharmacie.

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.