Portraits of the UM

An advocate of green, responsible chemistry, Professor Philippe Dubois is an internationally renowned researcher in chemistry and materials science, notably for his cutting-edge research into bioplastics. These innovative processes have led to numerous patented applications in industry, highlighting the essential role of chemistry in the ecological transition. As President and Rector of the University of Mons (UMons), located in French-speaking Belgium, he attaches as much importance to the international reputation of his institution as to the well-being of its students, teachers and researchers. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier on January 31, 2024.

In Montpellier for ten months as part of the Mak'It program, anthropologist Tania Li from the University of Toronto is combining her work on social and environmental justice in Indonesia with that of her French colleagues from the SENS laboratory in West Africa, Mexico and Myanmar.

Cécile Echalier's research objective is to produce new biomaterials with eagerly-awaited applications in healthcare and regenerative medicine. The chemist from the Max Mousseron Institute of Biomolecules has just been appointed Associate Professor at the University of Montpellier, the same university where she spent her student days.

It is a singular personality who received the title of honorary doctor from the University of Montpellier at the end of December 2023. A leading Serbian teacher, deeply committed to the involvement of research in her field of expertise, Milena Dragićević Šešić has contributed to the development of cultural policy studies worldwide, notably through the Unesco Chair she has held since 2004.

In residence in Montpellier in autumn 2023 thanks to the UM's MAK'IT (Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions) program, ecologist Jean-Paul Metzger, professor at the University of São Paulo, has extended his research linking ecology and quality of life with French counterparts.

With his NEMESIS project, mathematician Daniele Di Pietro has just been awarded 7.8 million euros in ERC Synergy funding. His goal: to overcome the current technological barriers to numerical simulations of complex physical problems. The director of the Alexandre Grothendieck Institute in Montpellier, France, describes his career path in a discipline for which he was not originally destined.

Paul Antonio, a paleomagnetism researcher at the Géosciences Montpellier laboratory, has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) grant for his proposal of a new experimental method to refine the dating of the Earth's inner core.

Oriol Amat is Professor of Economics at Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University, of which he was also Rector. He is considered an expert in financial accounting, management control and corporate fraud. On September 20, the University of Montpellier had the pleasure of awarding him an honorary doctorate.

Erika Burioli works on cancer cells capable of spreading in the environment and infecting foreign organisms. The researcher at the Interactions Hôtes-Pathogènes-Environnements (IHPE) laboratory has been awarded a european research council (ERC) grant in September 2023 to continue her work on bivalves.

With her young team specializing in inflammatory immune mechanisms at the Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier (IGMM), Nadine Laguette is multiplying her successes. In ten years, she has made several key discoveries and won no fewer than three prestigious European ERC grants. At the end of 2022, she was awarded the Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca de l'Institut de France cancerology prize.  

A world-renowned researcher in the field of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), Michel Bouvier has contributed to numerous fundamental and therapeutic discoveries on these proteins, which are the target of over 30% of drugs on the market. Many Montpellier researchers have trained with this professor from the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Montpellier.

Ludovic Berthier is Director of Research in Statistical Physics at the Charles Coulomb Laboratory and Research Associate at Cambridge University. Last March, this author of over 200 publications was awarded the CNRS Silver Medal for 25 years of research into disordered physical systems.

A great name in paleontology, Colombian Carlos Jaramillo is a specialist in the evolution of Amazonian-Andean ecosystems over the last 120 million years. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute researcher explained the origin of the abundant biodiversity of this intertropical region.

Director of the Laboratory of Physiology and Experimental Medicine (University of Montpellier / CNRS / Inserm), Alain Lacampagne has just been awarded the CNRS Silver Medal for his work on the role of calcium homeostasis in pathologies such as heart failure and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The medal rewards a career focused on a holistic understanding of medicine and promising therapeutic avenues.