The magazine of IdEx Université Côte d’Azur• No. 3 - June 2025
Spotlight on the Academies of Excellence PROFILE Anne
All the projects presented in this magazine have been supported by the French government through the France 2030 Investment Plan managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR), as part of the Initiative of Excellence Université Côte d’Azur under reference number ANR-15-IDEX-01.
This new issue invites you to discover another of Université Côte d’Azur’s major fields of excellence in education and research: mathematics. The central location for this discipline is a laboratory named after an illustrious French mathematician who was a professor at our university from its inception until 1970. Jean Alexandre Dieudonné may not have been born in Nice, but his thesis supervisor, Paul Montel, was, and one of the boulevards in Nice is named after him. LJAD lies at the heart of a dense research network of laboratories collaborating within the university, along with the Inria Center at Université Côte d’Azur and the Neuromod Institute (see Insight no. 2).
Mathematics can be found in everything, and when applied to modeling, it can be used to improve our understanding of a wide range of physical, chemical and biological phenomena, as well as economic and human ones. The IdEx Center for Modeling, Simulation and Interactions (MSI) has been working alongside LJAD since its creation to support a number of such research projects.
This issue also features the usual sections with news from the Academies of Excellence, projects in the news, profiles and pitches, along with the Outside the Box section that focuses on startups. IdEx is stepping up its support for startups by reorganizing its Innovation Program to continue providing the best assistance to project leaders.
We hope you enjoy reading this magazine and look forward to hearing your feedback sent to us at insights@univ-cotedazur.fr
Sylvain Antoniotti, Vice-President Initiative of Excellence (IdEx)
Publisher: Université Côte d’Azur — 28 av. de Valrose 06000 Nice
Legal representative: Jeanick Brisswalter, President, Université Côte d’Azur
Editorial Committee:
Diana Sebbar, IdEx
Executive Director
Saranne Comel, Operations Director, IdEx Europe and International Program
Anne VUILLEMIN
Publication Director: Sylvain Antoniotti, Vice-President, Initiative of Excellence (IdEx) Université Côte d’Azur
Aurélie Delort, Operations Director, IdEx Education Program
Sébastien Biehler, Operations Director, IdEx Innovation Program
Yasser Maghrbi, Operations Director, IdEx Research Program
Contributors: Academies of Excellence, Université Côte d’Azur Scientific Community, Vincent Dusastre, Head of the Office of International Scientific Visibility (OISV) of the Initiative of Excellence
Coordination: Céline Paccoud, Communication Manager for Major Projects, Head of Communication & Branding
Design: Jeremiah Turrini, Graphic Designer, Communication & Branding Department
Printing: University Digital Production Center
Publication date: June 2025
ISSN in progress
The Pitch Challenge, a dynamic section covering the careers and/or projects of inspiring individuals who belong or have belonged to the Université Côte d’Azur community
From
Founder
of YborBio Consulting
I have always been fascinated by the way organisms come to life. How a complex living being grows from a few cells, complete with organs, tissues, and functions. This curiosity naturally led me to pursue a PhD in biophysics, which gave me the opportunity to explore how physical forces and molecular mechanisms interact to shape the threedimensional structures of living organisms. My thesis project focused on the regulation of life forms during embryonic development—a fascinating, almost poetic research topic. I used high-resolution microscopy and real-time experiments to observe tissues as they transformed and came to life. While working on my thesis, I was passionate about my research. I found it intellectually stimulating, full of opportunities to innovate and create new observation techniques. But one question kept recurring: what should I do next? An academic career often follows a narrow, predictable path: the thesis leads to a postdoctoral fellowship, then another, and maybe one day a permanent position.
But what if I wanted to step off this path? What were the alternatives? I had very little information, and the future seemed uncertain.
As I was hesitating, I found a program that sent me in a new direction. Nucleate, a community that started in the USA, had just been introduced at Université Côte d’Azur. This global network of bio-entrepreneurs regularly organizes seminars, workshops and meetings. I joined it spontaneously, without expecting much, and discovered an ecosystem I had never imagined. I met researchers who had become entrepreneurs, investors with a passion for science, and young, ambitious teams leading biotech projects. I was caught up in their enthusiasm and decided to learn all I could about new topics such as regulatory strategies, clinical development, venture capital, and business models. One step quickly led to another. Along with researchers from around the world, I enrolled in the Nucleate Global Activator program, a HarvardMIT virtual biotech startup accelerator. I joined the
team of DUB Therapeutics, a startup developing genetic therapies for fibrotic pathologies, notably in ophthalmology. After four months of intensive workshops, teamwork, and presentations, the program ended with a pitch to a panel of international investors. Our team won first prize. It was a collective accomplishment, but beyond the competition, my conviction grew to continue in this direction. For a full year, I volunteered my services to DUB Therapeutics as a business and regulatory strategist. Université Côte d’Azur sponsored my trip to the annual Nucleate Summit in San Francisco where I met the team (based in New York). It was a life-changing experience.
Shortly afterward, I defended my doctoral thesis and was immediately offered a full-time position with DUB Therapeutics. I decided to set up my own company, YborBio Consulting, to work on the clinical development of the project and serve as the European liaison with regulatory agencies. Today, key milestones have been reached: an
INTERACT meeting was held with the US FDA, and funding goals have been achieved. I am delighted to contribute, in my own small way, to bringing to market an innovation that meets an unmet medical need.
I am sharing this story for those who, like I once did, wonder what a doctoral student could achieve outside the academic world. What I thought was a dead end turned out to be a fantastic starting point. Université Côte d’Azur, with its ecosystem of excellence and initiatives such as Nucleate France UniCA, offers a unique opportunity for exploring, innovating, and building a high-impact career. Today, I remain actively involved in the program in France, supporting the many researchers who want to transform their scientific results into concrete innovations. The next few years promise to be rich with opportunities for a new generation of entrepreneurial scientists.
Alexandre Gallerand
IdEx postdoctoral researcher at LP2M, winner of the IdEx Young Researcher Award 2025
Fascinated by Biology from an early age, I majored in Life Sciences at Université Côte d’Azur and hoped to work in research, without any particular preference for a subject in the curriculum. However, toward the end of my bachelor’s degree, I developed a strong interest in the study of the immune system and the meticulous spatio-temporal regulation of immune responses. This naturally led me to enroll in a master’s program in Genetics, Immunity and Development with the goal of eventually developing a project that combined these three specialties. During my internships, I discovered the captivating field of macrophage biology, and I decided to make it the focus of my research and future career. This led to a thesis on the diversity and functions of macrophages, supervised by Stoyan Ivanov, first at the Mediterranean Center for Molecular Medicine (C3M), then at the Molecular Physio-Medicine Laboratory (LP2M).
Macrophages are cells of the innate immune system. Their phagocytic capabilities—their ability to ingest particles, whether cellular or inert—play an essential role in the elimination of pathogens. In addition to their immune function, macrophages also regulate tissue homeostasis and are therefore critical in cardiovascular diseases and cancer, among other conditions. In my research, I examined these cells more specifically in non-infectious conditions, from both a developmental and a functional perspective. Macrophages first develop during embryogenesis, but new macrophages continue to be generated throughout life from circulating monocytes. The coexistence of these two macrophage development pathways raises many questions.
Notably: Why are macrophages generated from monocytes, when embryonic macrophages can survive without these progenitors? What mechanisms regulate the differentiation of monocytes into macrophages? Does the origin of macrophages determine their function? These broad questions have proven to be relevant, especially now that it has been shown that, in humans, most macrophages derive from monocytes and more frequently under pathophysiological conditions. While working on my thesis, I studied the origin and functions of macrophages in two tissues that had previously been poorly characterized from an immunological perspective: brown adipose tissue and the adrenal glands. I then decided to join the prestigious Department of Pathology & Immunology at Washington University in Saint-
Louis (USA), and more specifically Gwendalyn Randolph’s laboratory, where I pursued my research on monocytes and macrophages. There, I had the privilege of working with human peritoneal fluid samples from healthy patients, which we analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing. Contrary to our expectations—based on previous murine studies—we observed that most of the cells in this fluid were derived from monocytes rather than embryonic progenitors. This led me to focus my research more specifically on the mechanisms regulating the monocyte-to-macrophage pathway in the peritoneal cavity, and to identify a major differentiation trajectory conserved in humans. I observed that this differentiation trajectory was more frequent in ovarian cancer patients and in a
mouse tumor model of ovarian cancer. However, current studies on the subject do not yet allow us to determine whether this differentiation pathway is beneficial or harmful to tumor development. I then set out to determine the role of monocytederived macrophages in the peritoneal cavity, and today, back in Stoyan Ivanov’s team, I am working on this project thanks to an IdEx Young Researcher grant from Université Côte d’Azur. To address this question, we generated several genetic models and have now validated their characteristics. In the years to come, these models will be used to determine the function of monocyte-derived macrophages in the development of ovarian cancer, as well as in other pathologies studied in the laboratory, such as atherosclerosis and obesity.
Jung has recently obtained a PhD from Université Côte d’Azur in 2025 and was awarded a COFUND MSCA BoostUrCAreer grant for research within LAMHESS
My name is Nuttanun “Jung“ Siriaporn. I came from Thailand to complete a PhD at the Laboratory for Human Motor Skills, Expertise, Sports and Health (LAMHESS, UPR 6312) on the Plaine du Var campus, within Université Côte d’Azur’s Healthy Graduate School.
On April 28, 2025, I successfully defended my doctoral thesis on “Active transportation, health, and environment (ASTHAIR): A multidisciplinary approach to behavior change, community engagement, and systems thinking to promote active transportation.”
My PhD was supported by the BoostUrCAreer program, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and its COFUND scheme, cofinanced by the European Commission, the South Region—Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and the Initiative of Excellence of Université Côte d’Azur.
This support played a decisive role in my academic and professional journey by allowing me to pursue a PhD in France while bringing an international perspective to the laboratory. The global dimension of the program significantly contributed to fostering a more diverse and inclusive research environment, and opened up new prospects for both my colleagues and myself.
Thanks to the BoostUrCAreer grant, I received an outstanding academic education, which gave me the opportunity to take specialized courses and attend several international conferences across Europe. One of the highlights of my PhD was a six-
month stay at the Center for Environmental Policy at Imperial College, London. Not only was I living in London, but I was also collaborating with one of the best universities in the world. This experience greatly enriched the interdisciplinary scope of my research by adding the perspective of environmental policy. I was also privileged to attend international conferences in Austria, Spain, Slovenia, Germany, Belgium and Nice—thanks in part to support from the Ulysseus Alliance of European Universities. These events deepened my knowledge in public health, urban planning, and sustainable transportation while allowing me to connect with leading researchers and stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. These interactions had a direct and significant impact on my thesis.
The BoostUrCAreer program is not only excellent preparation for research, it also offers workshops on employability and entrepreneurship, paving the way for both academic and non-academic careers. This support encouraged me to explore opportunities outside academia and led to a collaboration with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Europe office during the final two years of my PhD. Looking ahead, I hope to build further connections between top-level academic research, international organizations and global development initiatives, with the goal of improving the health of both populations and the planet.
The Research Program of the Université Côte d’Azur Initiative of Excellence deploys a wide range of actions and measures to support research. This section features some of the ongoing or completed research projects that are contributing to the international outreach and attractiveness of Université Côte d’Azur.
Quantum computing is a field of science that studies the computing power of a machine based on quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and quantum entanglement. At the heart of this new computing model is the qubit, a unit of information which, unlike the bit in our conventional computers, is neither a 1 nor a 0, but a superposition of both.
The construction of a quantum computer capable of exploiting quantum mechanics to carry out calculations in the laboratory, is a major technological challenge of our time, and one of the main avenues being pursued to circumvent the physical limitations reached in the miniaturization of our classical processors.
Most current technologies naturally seek to create, maintain and transform collections of qubits represented by physical particles, where each particle carries a unit of information. However, due to the local nature of this approach, these
technologies are very sensitive to noise, which currently limits their computing power.
The topological quantum computer represents a computational paradigm radically different from previous approaches. Instead of storing information in particles, information is stored in the way particles physically interact with each other. More concretely, some quantum particles gain a phase factor when their respective positions are swapped; some more “exotic“ particles, called anyons, gain different phases depending on how they are swapped. Thus, by playing with the trajectories of the particles, we “knit“ a superimposed quantum state that carries the information for the calculation.
This emerging technology offers the potential to build a considerably more noise-resistant quantum machine, because even with unstable particles, their
trajectories relative to each other remain much more robust. In more figurative terms, the knitted pattern is preserved, even if the needles are shaking.
Although still in its infancy, manufacturers are investing heavily in this promising technology, with Microsoft at the forefront, along with Google and Quantinuum.
From a mathematical point of view, the intertwining trajectories of the particles in space form a topological knot, and the measurable physical quantities are modeled using algebraic tools from topological quantum field theory (TQFT). Our topological quantum computer thus finds itself at the intersection of two very active fields of research: knot theory in topology, and quantum topology in algebra!
More recently, scientists have tackled purely computational questions about these objects: given a knot and algebraic data, what is the algorithmic complexity of evaluating the associated TQFT? Can this calculation be carried out in practice?
(Left) Two pairs of anyons are created in the plane, their positions are exchanged over time (shown vertically) either clockwise or anticlockwise, then the pairs are fused. During the experiment, the trajectories of the anyons in space-time intertwine to form a knot, topologically equivalent to the Hopf knot (Right). The physical state of the system depends only on the topology of the knot, that is, it is invariant to deformation of the knot in space.
These questions are fundamental to the construction of a quantum computer, because not all knots and TQFTs are created equal: some configurations are not capable of simulating a quantum computer.
At Inria, we are working to systematically map the algorithmic complexity of these problems, to develop collections of efficient algorithms, and to implement high-performance software to evaluate TQFTs in practice. The challenge is to exploit both the topological structure of the knot and the algebraic structure of the TQFT to demonstrate the difficulty of the problems, or conversely to find strategies for efficient computation.
This multidisciplinary work is carried out in collaboration with an international network of mathematicians and physicists in Montpellier (quantum topology), Australia (combinatorial topology and algorithms), and the USA (mathematical physics).
Clément Maria Research Manager at the Inria Center Université Côte d’Azur
Ion channels are proteins that allow the selective passage of ions or molecules across cell membranes. Historically associated with the regulation of electrical activity in excitable cells such as neurons and muscles, ion channels are also known to play an essential role in non-excitable cells, helping to maintain ion homeostasis.
Within the Molecular Physio-Medicine Laboratory (LP2M), the Ion Channels and Biomineralization team studies the structure, function and regulation of various channels and transporters in the regulation of mineralization processes. Mineralization, which results from the deposition of hydroxyapatite crystals composed of calcium phosphate in the extracellular matrix, is an essential physiological process in skeletal tissue. On the other hand, ectopic calcification (mineralization of soft tissues) is associated with several rare genetic diseases, acquired chronic diseases and aging, and affects large numbers of people. Vascular calcifications represent a major risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and a major public health problem. To date, there is no effective treatment to prevent or reverse vascular calcification in humans, highlighting an urgent need for basic and
translational research into its pathogenesis.
The appearance of calcifications is multifactorial and is the result of complex active biological processes that depend, among other things, on a finely regulated balance between pro- and anticalcific factors. One such factor whose key role has recently been highlighted is pyrophosphate (PPi), a circulating and tissue anti-calcification factor capable of inhibiting the formation, growth and aggregation of hydroxyapatite crystals. One of our team’s lines of research explores the role of membrane proteins, channels and transporters involved in PPi homeostasis, for example the ABCC6 transporter whose mutations are responsible for the rare calcifying disease pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE, OMIM 264800).
We have developed and patented a standardized PPi assay (WO2023036949A1 2023-03-16) in various biological fluids (plasma, urine, saliva, joint fluid), which is currently being commercialized with SATT Sud-Est.
Using this assay, we have described a decrease in circulating PPi in several acquired calcifying diseases such as chronic kidney disease or liver failure (Laurain et al. 2022; 2020). We recently
published a study that defines, for the first time, a threshold value for plasma PPi to diagnose PXE with high sensitivity and specificity (Rubera et al. 2024). Restoring circulating PPi levels is potentially a therapeutic strategy. It is interesting to note that PPi is a food additive used as an emulsifier or thickener (E450i) that is commonly found in our food. With Professor Lefthériotis (practicing hospital professor, vascular physician at Nice University Hospital), an associate member of our team and leader of the first Phase II controlled randomized clinical trial (PROPHECI-NCT04868578, (Clotaire et al. 2025)), we are currently analyzing the efficacy of daily oral administration of pyrophosphate salts to prevent and/or stabilize vascular calcifications in PXE patients.
The aim of our research is to better understand the pathophysiology of vascular calcifications and develop new pre-therapeutic approaches to calcifying pathologies, using novel cell models, innovative electrophysiology techniques to study ion channel function, translational approaches in human cohorts and new reliable bioassays. Our team is a member of two newly-created international initiatives, the European consortium International Network on Ectopic Calcification (INTEC) and the International Scientific Society of ectopic calcification (ISSEC), that bring together scientists and physicians with diverse expertise, specialized tools and experimental models. As well as training young researchers, we are involved in initiatives to promote science to non-scientists (regional initiatives such as the Alpes-Maritimes Scientific Conference). For the scientific community, we organized the first international symposium on cardiovascular calcification (ISCCa, Nice, October 10-11, 2024) and co-organized a session on “Ion channels in non-excitable cells“ at the annual meeting of the Ion Channel Association (32nd Ion Channel Meeting, September 17-20, 2023, Sète, (Brette et al. 2024)).
From left to right: Quentin Lelievre, Saïd Bendahhou, Fatima Nachit, Christophe Duranton, Dion Saurat, Laëtitia Clotaire, Mete Kayatekin, Isabelle Rubera, Georges Leftheriotis.
Isabelle Rubera CNRS Researcher at the Molecular Physio-Medicine Laboratory (LP2M)
Brette, Fabien, Anna Rita Cantelmo, Valérie Coronas, Marie Demion, Ines El Bini, Alban Girault, Cécile Hilaire, et al. 2024. “The 32nd Ion Channels Meeting, 17th-20th September 2023, Sète, France“. Bioelectricity 6 (2): 136-42. https://doi.org/10.1089/bioe.2024.0010.
Clotaire, Laetitia, Isabelle Rubera, Christophe Duranton, Jocelyn Gal, Emmanuel Chamorey, Hélène Humeau, Samir Yamani, et al. 2025. “The PROPHECI Trial: A Phase II, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial for the Treatment of Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum with Oral Pyrophosphate“. Trials 26 (1): 30. https://doi.org/10.1186/ s13063-024-08666-w.
Laurain, Audrey, Isabelle Rubera, Christophe Duranton, Frank Rutsch, Yvonne Nitschke, Elodie Ray, Sandor Vido, Antoine Sicard, Georges Lefthériotis, and Guillaume Favre. 2020. “Alkaline Phosphatases Account for Low Plasma Levels of Inorganic Pyrophosphate in Chronic Kidney Disease“. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 8 (December):586831. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.586831. Laurain, Audrey, Isabelle Rubera, Micheline Razzouk-Cadet, Stéphanie Bonnafous, Miguel Albuquerque, Valérie Paradis, Stéphanie Patouraux, et al. 2022. “Arterial Calcifications in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis Are Linked to Hepatic Deficiency of Pyrophosphate Production Restored by Liver Transplantation“. Biomedicines 10 (7): 1496. https://doi.org/10.3390/ biomedicines10071496.
Rubera, Isabelle, Laetitia Clotaire, Audrey Laurain, Alexandre Destere, Ludovic Martin, Christophe Duranton, and Georges Leftheriotis. 2024. “A Plasma Pyrophosphate Cutoff Value for Diagnosing Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum“. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 25 (12): 6502. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25126502.
The circulation of water in plants takes place under tension, making their vascular system particularly vulnerable to the appearance and propagation of bubbles: this is the phenomenon of gas embolism. When an embolism forms, it locally blocks sap transport, with potentially serious consequences for the plant. This phenomenon, greatly aggravated in periods of drought, is a major cause of excess tree mortality, and is exacerbated by global warming.
The propagation dynamics of emboli in the sap network remain poorly understood today, partly due to the complexity of internal plant structures, the opacity of tissues, and the rapidity of the phenomena involved. To overcome these limitations, we at INPHYNI are developing biomimetic models of vascular networks using polymer microfluidic devices. These artificial systems enable fine control of the physical conditions (pressure, permeability, geometry) and architecture of the networks in which emboli propagate.
We use high-speed cameras to record the evolution of air-water interfaces within these networks in real time. These experimental data, which are difficult to
obtain in plant tissues, pave the way for the definition of new metrics, such as the distribution of embolism velocities, which could one day complement conventional approaches to measuring hydraulic vulnerability.
In addition to these experiments, we are working to create physical models based on discrete or continuous representations of the networks. This research, carried out at INPHYNI by the MIMIC team, is conducted in close collaboration with biologists from INRAE Clermont-Ferrand, specialists in plant hydraulics.
Left: gas embolisms in a fern leaf (Adiantum). The color represents the time at which the embolism spread, from the earliest (blue) to the latest (6h later for the red). The scale bar represents 5 mm.
Right: propagation of a gas embolism in an artificial network. Light-colored areas represent embolized regions. The width of the largest channels is 500 micrometers.
Francis Alÿs, The Loop, inSITE97: https://insiteart.org/people/francis-allÿs
32,000 STUDENTS
univ-cotedazur.fr
In an age of spatial and temporal compression and of the unprecedented circulation of ideas, images, capital, goods and services, it seems paradoxical that so much importance is placed on controlling cross-border movements. While globalization and a borderless world are often praised, identity politics and nationalism have been on the rise, and openness is increasingly being redefined as a societal risk and threat. In today’s increasingly interconnected world, borders remain critically important.
Although emblematic of state sovereignty, border and migration control have increasingly been addressed at the international level in discussions and interactions with multiple stakeholders (state officials, international organizations, private company employees) across a variety of settings (networks, platforms, consultative processes, etc.). Key recent developments include strategies of remote control, outsourcing of border control to other countries and subcontracting to non-state entities, with supranational organizations playing a growing role. Like climate change, migration is a global phenomenon addressed both locally and internationally, that generates social interactions, knowledge-building and the dissemination of practices. Migration, as both discourse and practice,
is now governed beyond the borders of states and institutions.
This research project aims to investigate an oftenoverlooked dimension: how, why and with what effects do social processes in transnational spaces shape migration control. The project focuses on regional consultative processes, networks and platforms, integrated border management strategies, and formal and informal cooperation between the European Union, Morocco and West Africa.
Federica Infantino
Junior Professor Chair (URMIS)
Institute for Sustainable Development
Université Côte d’Azur;
Head of the Master’s program in Migration Studies
Even if we are unaware of it, mathematics is an integral part of modern society. More than just an academic discipline, mathematics is essential not only to engineering, architecture, computing and communications technology, but also to medicine, finance and risk assessment, to name just a few. Research in the field of mathematics, whether fundamental or applied, is therefore wide-ranging. At Université Côte d’Azur, the Jean Alexandre Dieudonné Laboratory (LJAD) reflects this scientific diversity. In this feature, you will find an overview of the work carried out by researchers at this temple of mathematics in Nice.
All aspects of mathematics are represented at the Laboratoire Jean Alexandre Dieudonné (LJAD): Geometry, algebra, topology, probability and statistics, equations and numerical analysis, fluid mechanics, algorithms and numerical modeling, dynamical systems, and more. And for some of them, all you need is chalk and a blackboard to start researching. This is the case with geometry, for example, the specialty of Jérémy Toulisse, lecturer in the Geometry, Dynamics and Topology team at LJAD. The faculty member is particularly interested in a mathematical problem that has been widely studied since the eighteenth century: minimal surfaces. “There is a classic experiment that shows what a minimal surface is: soap films. If you dip a wire bent into a geometric shape in soapy water, when you pull it out, a film of soap appears, forming a surface between the edges formed by the wire. This film has a special geometry: it is a minimal surface. It is the surface with the smallest possible area among all the possible surfaces with the same edge,“ explains Jérémy Toulisse. In particular, the mathematician is studying the symmetries of these
minimal surfaces and their relationship to those of the edges. “The set of symmetries forms what is known as a ’symmetry group,’ a concept derived from algebra. But it is possible to study the algebraic properties of this group by reasoning about the geometric properties of minimal surfaces, and vice versa,“ adds the mathematician. However, Jérémy Toulisse doesn’t study simple three-dimensional objects, he works in so-called “pseudo-Riemannian“ spaces.“These exotic geometries come from physics. For example, the space-time described by Albert Einstein in the context of general relativity is a pseudo-Riemannian space,“ explains the faculty member, who is working on the classification of minimal surfaces in these spaces. As a result of this research, the mathematician was named a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF). Therefore, his teaching duties will be reduced for five years so he can devote himself to researching these unusual geometric objects.
Andreas Höring, a full professor in the same LJAD team was accepted into the IdEx Collegium of Advanced Studies program in 2024. The Germanborn faculty member can now concentrate for four years on his favorite subject: complex algebraic geometry. “This field aims to understand the solution sets of polynomial equations,“ explains the mathematician. These equations can have several variables, such as x, y and z, in varying degrees, for example x2, y3 and z4. “From the second degree onwards, we open Pandora’s box from a geometric point of view,“ raves Andreas Höring. While firstdegree equations can be represented by simple objects like straight lines or planes, those of quadratic (second-degree) equations form more complex geometric shapes.“The geometry of nuclear power plant chimneys, for example, can be described by a set of solutions to a quadratic equation with three variables,“ adds the mathematician who studies
equations of even higher degree.“The solution sets of these equations, which are called algebraic varieties, are represented by complex, multi-dimensional geometric objects that I try to describe with lowerdimensional objects such as lines or hypersurfaces. For his Collegium of advanced studies project, the mathematician is studying Calabi-Yau manifolds that have applications in theoretical physics, such as string theory, which attempts to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics. In addition to his own research, Andreas Höring is involved in a number of collaborative research programs, including the POK0 project. Funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) and its German counterpart, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), this initiative brings together nine project leaders from seven French and German universities. Their aim is to study the geometry of certain special algebraic varieties known as K-trivial sets, which include Calabi-Yau varieties. The mathematician is also a member of the GAG project, funded by the ANR since the end of last year. “This is a collaboration between
researchers from several French universities and institutes with different mathematical backgrounds to create synergy and advance research on complex algebraic geometry. The idea is particularly to encourage interaction with other mathematical fields such as topology.“ Through these various projects, Andreas Höring has one aspiration: “From a philosophical point of view, mathematics represents the language of science. My job is to invent new words in the hope that they will be used.“
Jean Dieudonné was a renowned French mathematician specializing in topology, algebra and functional analysis, and a founding member of the famous Bourbaki group. This secret society was formed in the 1930s by French-speaking mathematicians, and had a major influence on the understanding and teaching of mathematics in the twentieth century. With Laurent Schwartz, another mathematician from the Bourbaki group, Jean Dieudonné also co-supervised the thesis of Alexandre Grothendieck, the phenomenal mathematician of the twentieth century, in the 1950s. In the mid-1960s, Jean Dieudonné joined the newly established University of Nice to found the mathematics department, before becoming the first dean of the science faculty. It was therefore only natural that, in 1972, the University of Nice, which became Université Côte d’Azur in 2020, named the laboratory that is home to the mathematical community after this illustrious mathematician.
Mathematics is the universal language that science uses to understand our world, and in particular to describe natural phenomena and dynamic processes. In this respect, partial differential equations, or PDEs, are very powerful tools. “PDEs are used everywhere: in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and even the humanities and social sciences. These tools can be used to mathematically describe phenomena where there are quantifiable spatial and/or temporal variations. This is the case, for example, for the weather, ocean wave dynamics or the behavior of birds moving in a flock,“ explains Thomas Rey, full professor and head of the “Partial differential equations and numerical analysis“ team at LJAD. If such equations can describe a phenomenon or process, then solving them makes it possible to predict how it will evolve. However, PDEs can quickly become complicated to solve. This is what lies the heart of Thomas Rey’s work: “My work lies at the interface between theory and numerical analysis. On the one hand, I write equations and establish their qualitative behavior to determine some of their properties, and on the other hand, I develop mathematical methods to numerically calculate approximate solutions to these complex equations.“
The mathematician is particularly interested in a family of so-called kinetic PDEs. The best-known is the Boltzmann equation, which describes how the distribution of particles in a system evolves as a function of collisions between the particles. These kinetic equations have many applications: they can be used to determine the macroscopic properties of gases and other materials, to model the behavior of plasmas (ionized gases in which all matter is dissociated into ions and free electrons) or even the movement of charge carriers in semiconductors. Thomas Rey is studying in particular the dynamics of rarefied gases, i.e., those under very low pressure such as in the upper atmosphere, in collaboration with aerospace manufacturers.
Like Thomas Rey’s collaboration with Cenaero, several LJAD researchers are forging links with industrial partners. This is particularly true of Elena Di Bernardino, who holds a chair at the 3IA Côte d’Azur Institute. “Companies come up with interesting questions because they face real problems. They also have relevant data that improve my predictions,“ says the statistician who develops forecasting models for socio-environmental risks. She is working with Aubagne-based startup Hydroclimat, which offers tools for assessing and anticipating climate-related risks, particularly floods. Another researcher, Patricia Reynaud-Bouret, is collaborating with Swiss startup FinalSpark. This company is working to create bioprocessors based on neurons grown in the laboratory from human stem cells. The goal is to develop more energy-efficient artificial intelligence systems. For the researcher, who is trying to unlock the secrets of the brain and learning, this is a fabulous tool for understanding how the cells of the nervous system work. “The neural networks that make up these bioprocessors are smaller and therefore easier to manipulate than the brains of the experimental models we usually work on. What’s more, it’s possible to record their activity continuously for weeks on end,“ says Patricia Reynaud-Bouret enthusiastically. These partnerships, which give companies access to academic expertise, also contribute to the advancement of research.
A bioprocessor grown in the laboratory by startup FinalSpark. It’s made up of around 10,000 cells: neurons and the glial cells that support them. Its electrical activity can be recorded and it can be electrically stimulated to “learn“. Eventually, this type of bioprocessor could replace energy-hungry silicon processors.
“With the Belgian aeronautics company Cenaero, we have developed numerical methods for calculating the temperature of the leading edge of probes re-entering the atmosphere,“ says the teacher-researcher. Fostering links between academic research and industrial partners is also one of the aims of the doctoral network Datahyking, of which Thomas Rey is a member: “Datahyking brings together thirteen PhD students working with seven project leaders in four European countries, in collaboration with eleven industrial partners. Its aim is to train the next generation of experts in this type of PDE so that they can collaborate in the future, whether in academia or industry.“ Through this Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions program funded by the European Commission, Thomas Rey is cosupervising three doctoral theses on kinetic PDEs, two of them in partnership with Cenaero.
PDEs are also the specialty of Simona Rota Nodari, full professor in the PDE and Numerical Analysis team at LJAD. Since her doctorate, she has focused particularly on the Schrödinger equation, which is fundamental to non-relativistic quantum mechanics. “This PDE makes it possible to describe the dynamics of quantum particles like electrons and protons, which cannot be correctly explained by Newtonian mechanics.“ The solutions indicate the probability of finding a particle at a given point in space, but these equations can be very complex to solve, especially as the number of interacting particles increases. Numerous simplified mathematical models have therefore been developed to describe these interactions in a coherent way,“ explains the mathematician. None of these models is perfect, however. Simona Rota Nodari studies these equations and analyzes existing models to create new models that mathematically describe these physical phenomena.
The value of this work was recognized by the IUF, which last year awarded her a junior member’s chair so that the Italian-born mathematician could devote more time to her research. “The aim of this project is to study a family of quasi-linear PDEs from quantum
physics in order to develop general methods for analyzing this type of equation,“ adds Simona Rota Nodari. Ultimately, these methods could not only improve our theoretical understanding of complex quantum systems, but could also be applied to other non-linear PDEs, such as those describing the propagation of light in optical fibers. This work could be of interest to the Nice Institute of Physics, InPhyNi, and Simona is keen to establish connections between mathematicians and physicists. She recently received ANR funding for a single-team research project (PRME) called Madynos. “The idea is to set up a multidisciplinary team within LJAD around a common mathematical physics theme.“
This team of seven researchers—experts in PDEs and numerical analysis, such as Thomas Rey, as well as in probability or theoretical physics—will first study the dynamics of a system of several particles interacting in a complex environment. Here again, the idea is to develop new models and mathematical analysis tools to describe these physical phenomena.
In addition to the infinitely small, mathematics can also describe the infinitely large. Florence Marcotte, a researcher in the Castor team at the Inria Center at Université Côte d’Azur and a member of LJAD’s Numerical Modeling and Fluid Dynamics team, is interested in the magnetic phenomena that occur on the scale of planets and stars. “The Earth, for example, is protected from the solar wind by a
magnetic field generated by the dynamo effect,“ Florence Marcotte reminds us. Like bicycle dynamos, where the rotation of the wheel creates an electric current, “the Earth’s magnetic field is generated by the turbulent movements of liquid iron convecting in the Earth’s outer core, resulting in the conversion of mechanical energy into electromagnetic energy.“ Similar processes occur in stars, but the nature of the turbulence that causes the magnetic fields is not always well understood. However “the existence of such a field can greatly influence the star’s evolution,“ adds Florence Marcotte, who studies these phenomena using magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), a discipline of fluid mechanics that focuses on the coupled dynamics of magnetic fields and electrically conductive fluids.
In particular, MHD has enabled the researcher and her collaborators at the Université Paris Sciences et Lettres to numerically confirm a hypothesis put forward 25 years ago to explain why the radiative cores of stars at the end of their lives rotate less rapidly than predicted by theory. “An intense magnetic field can exert a braking force on the stellar plasma, which conducts electricity, and can therefore slow down the star’s core, but only if such a field exists! In a radiative stellar interior, the source of turbulence required to maintain magnetism by the dynamo effect is not obvious,“ explains Florence Marcotte. However, using a simplified model of a star’s radiative zone, these researchers showed that a dynamo was indeed possible, but that it required favorable initial conditions to be triggered. In this scenario, “it is the non-linear coupling between the magnetic field and turbulence, in the PDEs that describe them, that is crucial for triggering a dynamo effect. A relatively weak but favorable magnetic field is enough in this case to destabilize the plasma flow, and the turbulence it generates in turn amplifies the magnetic field, which ultimately impacts the rotation of the star’s core.“
In addition to master’s degrees dedicated to teaching and the pursuit of an academic career, Spectrum, one of Université Côte d’Azur’s eight Graduate Schools, offers a master’s degree in Mathematical Engineering. As its name suggests, it is designed to train engineers to meet the needs of companies in diverse fields such as IT, healthcare, aeronautics, the environment and finance. “This degree offers several tracks to suit students’ career plans, for example in probability and statistics for training in data analysis, in scientific computing for digital engineering, or in modeling of living organisms. This fast-growing Master’s program offers excellent employability,“ says Thomas Rey, who is in charge of the degree specializations. In addition to its close links with the business world, this master’s program, which is open to work-study students, also maintains close ties with other education centers such as Université Côte d’Azur’s Polytech Nice Sophia engineering school, the EDHEC Business School and Université des Lagunes in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. These are just some of the specific features that make this master’s program so attractive to students.
Since this ground-breaking work, the researcher has been awarded €1 million in funding over five EUR SPECTRUM:
years by the European Research Council (ERC) to find out more about transitions in the magnetic fields of stars. For this research, Florence Marcotte intends to use the mathematical theory of optimal control. “The idea is to find the initial conditions that maximize the long-term magnetic energy before checking by numerical simulation whether or not these conditions lead the system to a dynamo equilibrium solution with a self-sustaining magnetic field.“ This ERC project, called Circe, is carried out in collaboration with astrophysicists from the Côte d’Azur Observatory, and will also look at transitions to MHD turbulence in protoplanetary disks, the clusters of gas and dust that give rise to planets.
“This beautiful idea was born in Nice 50 years ago and led to the creation in 1978 of an association that shares the usual tools of mathematics research training (courses, scholarships, research schools) with developing countries. Mathematical genius is equidistributed across the planet, but opportunities for access to training and knowledge are not,“ stresses Christophe Ritzenthaler, Executive Director of CIMPA, the International Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics, hosted by Université Côte d’Azur. Every year, CIMPA—supported by UNESCO and financed by France, Germany, Spain, Norway and Switzerland—organizes around twenty research schools in Africa, Latin America and Asia. For two weeks, volunteer mathematicians from all over the world—teachers and researchers—give courses to students and young researchers from the region. “The welcome we get is incredible, there’s a real buzz around these events that represent a unique opportunity for some local participants,“ enthuses the mathematician, who regularly takes part in these CIMPA schools. The association also funds courses for masters students and fellowships for doctoral students to spend several weeks taking part in a thematic program at a partner institute such as the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris. In addition to sharing knowledge, “this desire to reach out to developing countries enhances the visibility of Université Côte d’Azur,“ concludes Christophe Ritzenthaler.
https://www.cimpa.info/
Beyond PDEs and fluid mechanics, other mathematical disciplines are used by scientists to understand the complexity of our world. Probability theory and statistics, by helping to characterize random phenomena, have become ubiquitous not only in science, but also in economics, sociology, finance and management. These disciplines also represent an essential component of risk management and decision-making through data analysis. Elena Di Bernardino, full professor in the Probability and Statistics team and Chair of the LJAD Scientific Committee, uses statistical methods to build risk prediction models.“ I work in particular on environmental and climate-related risks such as heat waves, floods, strong winds, forest fires, etc. The goal is to use mathematical models to determine the hazards associated with these risks and their impact on regions,“ explains the Franco-Italian faculty member. But by their very nature, these extreme events are rare and therefore very complex to model due to a lack of data.
Elena Di Bernardino uses extreme value theory, a branch of statistics that focuses on very rare, or even unobserved, events, which she combines with geometric tools to build risk prediction maps. For her chair funded by the 3IA Côte d’Azur institute, one of four interdisciplinary artificial intelligence institutes (3IA) created in France in 2019 and one of nine IA Clusters accredited in 2024, the statistician and her colleagues studied heat waves in metropolitan France, for example. “Geometric statistics have enabled us to describe the spatial extent of these extreme phenomena and better understand their geographical persistence,“ she adds. The results obtained are crucial for improving risk prediction
and mapping. In the same vein, Elena Di Bernardino is currently working on the research program Risques (IRiMa), one of the Priority Research Programs and Equipment (PEPR) funded by the France 2030 plan. This project aims to integrate natural and technological risks to make our societies more resilient. The statistician co-directs the component that focuses on Intelligence mapping, along with Isabelle Manighetti, a seismotectonicist from the Geoazur laboratory. “The goal is to develop artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically map natural or socio-environmental hazards and risks using satellite data.” In parallel, Elena Di Bernardino also co-coordinates the Data, Models and Decision in Risk Science chair of the ANR Cochairs project within PEPR IRiMa, which funds doctoral theses on the development of new mathematical models for environmental risk analysis.
Statistics can also be used to understand how our brains work. Patricia Reynaud-Bouret, head of the Probability and Statistics team at LJAD and director of research at the CNRS, is a specialist in point processes, a statistical model that describes the random appearance of events over time. “This model, which was first developed to assess the occurrence of aftershocks following an earthquake, can be used to model and interpret action potentials, the electrical signals emitted by neurons to communicate,” explains the statistician. “From the action potential emission data of neurons, it is possible to reconstruct the connectivity of the various neural networks in graphical form.” This work, which earned the researcher the CNRS silver medal in 2021, opens the door to interpreting these data. For example, in a recently published study on rats,
(a)June1st,1992
(b)June1st,1993
(c)June1st,1994
(d)June1st,1995
Figure5.2:Realizationsofnestedexcursionsets EX (up )for p 2 {0.85, 0.86,..., 0.98},foreachof thefourindicateddatesintheSAFRANreanalysis.
Patricia Reynaud-Bouret and colleagues used deep electrodes to record the activity of individual neurons in the striatum, a brain area notably involved in decision-making and habit formation. “From these data, we were able to deduce the path the animals took through a labyrinth,“ the researcher says.
In addition to her work with animals, Patricia Reynaud-Bouret is also interested in the phenomenon of learning in humans. “With psychologists, we are trying to understand our behavior when faced with learning tasks.“ It was with this aim in mind that the statistician set up the Modeling and Estimation of Learning project, which was funded by the 3IA Côte d’Azur Institute. Through a computer game involving
object classification, in which the idea is to determine whether a rocket is capable of reaching the Moon, the researchers were able to analyze the number and type of errors made by the volunteers, as well as their reaction times, in order to determine their reasoning strategies. “We were able to distinguish two types of strategy: the first is based on similarity, when the object has been manipulated before, while the second is based on rules associated with the object, such as its color.“ Ultimately, Patricia Reynaud-Bouret hopes to bridge these two lines of research to find a mathematical model that can describe how neural networks are able to learn. To stimulate this type of interdisciplinary research, the statistician helped found the Neuromod Institute
in 2020, which aims to promote modeling as an approach for integrating brain mechanisms and cognitive functions. Today, this institute, which was created as part of the IdEx strategic program, brings together over 250 researchers and clinicians from sixteen Université Côte d’Azur laboratories working in the fields of digital science and neuroscience, as well as human science, mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Whether it is fundamental research using chalk on a blackboard, or applied research based on numerical simulations using supercomputers, the richness and diversity of the research carried out at LJAD by some 125 researchers and over 80 doctoral and postdoctoral students make this laboratory one of the best international research centers in mathematics, and a great asset for the visibility of Université Côte d’Azur.
Simon Pierrefixe Science journalist
M. Villet, P. Reynaud-Bouret, J. Poitreau, J. Baldi, S. Jaffard, A. James, A. Muzy, E. Kartsaki, G. Scarella, F. Sargolini, I. Bethus. Coding Dynamics of the Striatal Networks During Learning, eNeuro 30 September 2024, 11 (10) ENEURO.0436-23.2024; DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0436-23.2024.
In April, “ BoostUrCAreer ”, a Marie SkłodowskaCurie European COFUND Action, came to an end. Jointly funded by the European Union, the Initiative of Excellence (IdEx) of Université Côte d’Azur, and the South Region, with a total budget of €2,847,600, this innovative program set out to explore new ways of preparing the next generation of researchers for interdisciplinary work, while equipping them with strong transferable skills, applicable to both academic and non-academic careers. Developed at Université Côte d’Azur, the program gave 15 doctoral students the opportunity to carry out their research across two university laboratories, in close collaboration with both an international academic partner and a non-academic partner. Each doctoral student was guided by a supervisory team consisting of two laboratory supervisors, an academic tutor, and a mentor from the non-academic sector. This team offered
students personalized support, helping students organize their thesis work and plan for their future career. The program also financed a sixmonth stay in a foreign laboratory, that allowed participants to broaden their education and their international career prospects. Beyond the success of the BoostUrCAreer project itself, this marked the first time that the Université Côte d’Azur community secured European funding on such a scale. It also laid the groundwork for a more coherent strategy for UniCA participation in European funding calls and served as a springboard for further European initiatives. The Joint European Office, led by IdEx of Université Côte d’Azur was the driving force behind this achievement.
This interview features one of the PhD supervisors in the BoostUrCAreer program, Professor Anne Vuillemin. Her perspective complements the article about Nuttanun “Jung” Siriaporn, also included in this issue of Insights.
Could you tell us about your career so far and your role as a PhD supervisor within the BoostUrCAreer program?
I am a professor of Physical and Sports Activities (STAPS) at Université Côte d’Azur, specializing in public health. For the past 20 years, I have been supervising doctoral students through collaborative research projects. As part of the BoostUrCAreer program, I supervised a doctoral student working on the ASTHAIR (Active Transport, Health and the Environment) project, which aimed to develop a multidisciplinary approach to study the changes needed in behavior, community engagement and systemic thinking to promote active transportation. My role was to provide rigorous scientific supervision, while helping Jung adapt to an international, interdisciplinary research environment.
What motivated you to get involved in the BoostUrCAreer initiative, and how does it reflect your vision of doctoral supervision?
What attracted me in the BoostUrCAreer program was the opportunity to provide young researchers with a strong academic foundation while enhancing their employability through an experience in internationally-oriented applied research. This aligns with my vision of doctoral supervision, which is no longer limited to training scientific experts, but includes preparing professionals to adapt to different contexts, work effectively in a team, and apply their skills beyond academia.
The academic program Create Your Future Pathway was clearly designed to deepen academic knowledge and strengthen the employability of doctoral students, while equipping young researchers to face the major challenges of tomorrow in research and innovation. The program notably enabled Jung to:
• Develop her own career plan from the outset.
• Benefit from individualized coursework that combined scientific training, employability skills, and career development.
• Complete a six-month international stay in a partner laboratory in London.
• Participate in scientific and outreach events, including those organized by our Ulysseus European Alliance.
This innovative program—combining tailored coursework, international mobility and support for the dissemination of research—was made possible by a doctoral grant, which provided financial support in addition to the salary in line with the guidelines of the MSCA COFUND program.
From your point of view, what makes the BoostUrCAreer program unique or particularly effective for young researchers?
The program offers a structured environment, with additional training in soft skills, increased mobility opportunities, and meaningful engagement with the socio-economic world. These three pillars— scientific excellence, international openness, and employability—make a considerable difference.
Doctoral students who complete the program are more confident, more autonomous, and better prepared for the wide range of careers available to them.
As a European program, it also benefits from substantial financial support for research-related expenses and for the monitoring of activities and spending, which has been invaluable. Lastly, because MSCA doctoral students are part of a prestigious and recognized European initiative, they enjoy greater visibility and are often invited to participate in scientific and public outreach events.
Could you share a success story or a highlight of your experience supervising your doctoral student under this program?
Yes, a highlight was Jung’s selection for the WHO/ Europe Early Career Professional’s Development Program in 2023.1 This program gave her the opportunity to strengthen her skills and competencies in public health, collaborate with other young professionals from across Europe, and receive technical support for her projects. Through training sessions, regular interaction with experts, and active participation in the HEPA Europe community,2 she expanded her professional network and deepened her understanding of WHO/Europe initiatives. The program also included an immersion experience at the WHO Regional Office in Copenhagen and the opportunity to present her research at the HEPA conference in Dublin.
The WHO even invited Jung to write a policy brief based on her doctoral work, demonstrating the organization’s genuine interest in knowledge transfer. She was also able to present her results at an international conference, thanks to the program’s support. These experiences have been extremely
motivating for her and are a perfect illustration of how BoostUrCAreer nurtures and develops the potential of its fellows.
What do you think are the long-term effects of these programs on the academic and professional careers of the doctoral students you supervise?
I am convinced that this type of program provides a more well-rounded education and makes doctoral students more competitive, regardless of the career path they choose to pursue.
For me, the aim of doctoral supervision is not only to help researchers gain scientific expertise, but also to cultivate essential transferable skills such as project management, communication, and critical thinking. My goal is to prepare them to work independently and interact effectively in a wide range of professional environments—academic, industrial, or institutional.
In the long term, this means better adaptability in the workplace, increased openness to international research, and a stronger capacity to navigate complex environments.
These qualities not only enhance their CV, but also contribute significantly to their personal and professional development.
One of the major challenges today is to move beyond a purely academic vision of the doctorate and recognize the value of the transferable skills doctoral students need to acquire—skills in project management, communication, analytical reasoning, resilience, adaptability, and more.
1. WHO: World Health Organization (WHO).
2. European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity
Thanks to the momentum provided by IdEx, the Academies of Excellence are spurring creativity and rejuvenating research at Université Côte d’Azur.
This section highlights new concepts and innovative research projects arising from the inter-and transdisciplinary interactions within the Academies of Excellence.
High-level linguistic analysis for a better understanding of natural language
Today, we have become familiar with chatbots, and yet, behind their apparent simplicity lie complex pre-trained language models. These models have become widely used in recent years and have played a key role in advancing the processing and automatic understanding of natural language. However, they are not always capable of capturing the full depth of knowledge required for detailed contextual understanding.
To fill this gap, a pragmatic analysis of utterances has been developed and automated. This analysis makes deductions based on broader context—not only the immediate meaning of a message, but also potential inferences when the literal meaning does not align with the situation (who is speaking, to whom, with what intention, in what setting, etc.).
Automating this kind of analysis is a true challenge, as it draws on complex multimodal knowledge— circumstantial, epistemic, linguistic and social—that is difficult to define and apply. The task involves modeling meaning-making processes comparable to those used by humans.
Anaïs Ollagnier of the i3S laboratory has been working on this topic as part of the CIIAM project (Contextual Information Inference for Argument Mining) with support from the Academy of Excellence Networks, Information and Digital Society. Her research focuses on machine learning and natural language processing, with a particular emphasis on cyberbullying detection and prevention, advanced linguistic analysis, and dialogue modeling.
Drawing on cutting-edge techniques in text generation and prompting—such as formulating instructions or examples in natural language to guide models like ChatGPT—her project aims to overcome the limitations of current methods, notably by addressing cultural variation and implicit messaging. When reading a sentence like “Great, another three-hour meeting!“ a language model might naively interpret it as sincere enthusiasm, while a human immediately understands the irony.
To address this issue, the range of stimuli needs to be expanded to teach language models how to reason by combining both the knowledge required to construct meaning and the processes involved in doing so. A concrete example would be incorporating grammatically encoded cues, social signals, and elements related to beliefs, desires, and intentions, as described in speech act theories.
This need for contextualization is especially critical in natural language processing tasks sensitive to subjectivity such as sentiment analysis or hate speech detection. For example, depending on the context, aggressive content can be perceived as implicit, subtle, or apparently neutral.
The challenge, then, is to use this abstract information to build an explicit contextual framework for each utterance, and thus enable language models to achieve a more refined and nuanced understanding of interactions. A true breakthrough would be the ability to understand language beyond its surface form, capturing its contextual richness and human subtleties.
Anaïs Ollagnier, Assistant Professor i3S Laboratory
What is the study of population dynamics?
Researchers who study population dynamics examine trends over time in the characteristics of individuals within a given population. This population may consist of living beings (such as fish, birds, insects, humans, or viruses) or inorganic objects (such as ash, dust, or droplets). A wide range of characteristics are studied by different scientific communities, including population size, the age of individuals, their weight and composition.
What are the applications of the study of population dynamics?
This research can be applied to a variety of fields:
a) The invasion of non-native species in the context of crop protection and pest control (e.g., plants, insects, or birds).
b) The propagation of ecological populations in marine environments (e.g., fish, algae, or micro-organisms).
c) The dynamics of human populations (e.g., crowd movement, traffic flow).
d) The spread of biological organisms in
medical or epidemiological contexts (e.g., bacteria, viruses, or tumor cells).
e) Changes in aerosol size distribution in atmospheric sciences (e.g., cloud droplet formation).
f) The dynamics of protoplanetary disks (e.g., the growth of planetary embryos through dust accretion, or collisions between large planetoids or planets).
g) The growth of undesirable particles in industrial systems (e.g., soot particles in combustion engines).
What is this thematic semester seeking to achieve?
i. Foster a dynamic and sustainable synergy among members of the Université Côte d’Azur community.
ii. Contribute to the international outreach and visibility of Université Côte d’Azur.
What activities are planned?
Thanks to funding from the Academy of Excellence Complex Systems, three internationally oriented
events are scheduled between March and October 2025.
1) A spring conference, held from Monday, March 10 to Friday, March 14, 2025, at the Inria Center at Université Côte d’Azur in Sophia Antipolis, focused on “Population dynamics: from data to models.”
2) A summer school was held from Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 27 at the AEC Les Cèdres center in Grasse on the theme “Population dynamics: from fundamental to applied sciences.”
3) An autumn conference is scheduled for Monday, October 13 to Friday, October 17 2025, at the J.A. Dieudonné Laboratory in Nice, on the theme “Population dynamics: design, control and optimization.”
Who are the people involved?
The project is led by Christophe Henry, a researcher at Inria. His work focuses on modeling the dynamics of suspended solid particles in turbulent flows (such as sand in air, sediment in rivers, or limestone in pipes).
Around 15 research laboratories from nine Université Côte d’Azur institutes are participating in the project.
More details are available on the project webpage: https:// project.inria.fr/populate2025/
Christophe Henry, Researcher at Inria Université Côte d’Azur
“ON THE ROAD TO COP“:
As we all know, the cryosphere is particularly affected by global warming. According to the WWF, 13% of Arctic ice is lost every year. The World Meteorological Organization reports that the west coast of Antarctica has been one of the warmest areas on the planet over the last 50 years, with temperatures rising by an average of 3°C.1,2 But temperate glaciers have not been spared either. In the Alps, for example, an average of 36 meters of water equivalent has been lost from the five glaciers monitored in France (including the Mer de Glace).3 These examples highlight the importance of monitoring the cryosphere to better understand global warming.
Université Côte d’Azur, through its Academy of Excellence Space, Environment, Risk and Resilience closed the “En route to COP 2024“ program by welcoming Heïdi Sevestre4, a glaciologist from Haute Savoie. Heïdi is a member of The Explorers
Club.5 She works for AMAP, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, one of the Arctic Council’s working groups.6
In a fascinating yet alarming talk, the glaciologist presented the scope of her research into glaciers and their vulnerability to climate change. Backed by solid data, she described the current worrying situation and shared multi-decade projections. She emphasized the urgent need for action in response to this change and its consequences at all levels of society—local, regional, and beyond.
The hundred participants at the morning session had the opportunity to exchange views with her after the presentation, and again during the roundtable discussion that followed on the theme of “Climate Issues and Scientific Diplomacy.“ The event was also attended by members of the Université Côte d’Azur delegation to COP29: Saranne Comel (IdEx Operations Director – International and Europe), Jean-Christophe Martin (Director of the Institute for Peace and Development and holder
of the UNESCO Chair in Peace and Development through Law), Erwin Franquet (Vice-President for Societal and Environmental Transitions), and two Université Côte d’Azur students, Nawel Belkessa, a doctoral student in environmental radiochemistry at the Nice Institute of Chemistry, and Abir Khribich, a doctoral student in economics at GREDEG. The discussions sparked fascinating exchanges between Heïdi Sevestre, and researchers and students on the role of the COP, its capacity for action, and the role of scientists in this global forum.
Christophe Den Auwer Head of the Academy of Excellence Space, Environment, Risk and Resilience
1 WWF website; https://www.wwf.fr/dossiers/les-causes-etconsequences-de-la-fonte-des-glaces, April 2025.
2 T.A. Moon, M. L. Druckenmiller, R. L. Thoman, Eds, Arctic Report Card 2024, NOAA 2024.
3 Ministry of the Ecological Transition, Fr; https://www.ecologie. gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/impacts-du-changement-climatiquemontagne-glaciers, April 2025
4 https://www.heidisevestre.com
5 https://www.explorers.org
6 AMAP, Arctic Council; https://www.amap.no
Louis-Félix Nothias completed his doctoral research under the joint supervision of the University of Corsica and the CNRS Institute for the Chemistry of Natural Substances in Gif-sur-Yvette. As part of his research, he discovered new antiviral molecules isolated from extracts of Corsican Euphorbia, paving the way for the exploration of potential health applications for these metabolites. He then spent six years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego, in the laboratory of Professor Pieter Dorrestein, a pioneer in mass spectrometrybased metabolomics. There, he gained in-depth expertise in metabolomics, chemo-bio-informatics, and multi-omics integration, while collaborating with researchers across a wide range of disciplines. His research led to the development of advanced computational tools for analyzing metabolites, the small molecules essential to the biological processes of living organisms. Following this, he spent two years as a research associate at the University
of Geneva, where he studied a collection of over 14,000 plant extracts using metabolomics. In 2023, the career of Louis-Félix took a new turn when he was awarded a CNRS Junior Professor Chair at Université Côte d’Azur, a position associated with the Côte d’Azur Interdisciplinary Institute for Artificial Intelligence (3IA). Based at the Nice Institute of Chemistry, his research now focuses on experimental and computational metabolomics, with the goal of improving the detection of metabolites produced by the microbiome. The microbiome plays a crucial role in regulating biological functions such as immunity and metabolism, and can influence the onset of disease in plants, animals, and humans. A deeper understanding of these interactions could have major implications in diverse fields such as health, agriculture, and ecological restoration. Nevertheless, the study of microbiomes presents significant challenges. Traditional methods for isolating and studying microbes are time-consuming
and resource-intensive, and often capture only a small fraction of microbial diversity. Another major challenge is the highly complex process of identifying the metabolites produced by these microorganisms.
The Metabiomics project,1 supported by the Academy of Excellence Complexity and Diversity of Living Systems, has developed an innovative multi-technology approach to overcoming these obstacles. Researchers in the project are combining single-cell isolation with advanced metabolomics to create microbial libraries and improve the detection of metabolites of microbial origin. In collaboration with Professor Anne-Kristin Kaster of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Louis-Félix is developing methodologies that integrate robotics for the automated isolation of microorganisms at the single-cell scale with state-of-the-art mass spectrometry. This integration aims to increase both the sensitivity and specificity of microbial metabolite characterization in complex biological samples.
The integration of genetic data obtained from microorganism sequencing is used to improve the accuracy of metabolite identification achieved by mass spectrometry.
Thanks to the exceptional interdisciplinary environment of Université Côte d’Azur, LouisFélix aims to transform our capacity to explore microbiomes through the innovative multitechnological approach developed by the Metabiomics project. Ultimately, these advances will provide researchers with powerful new tools to study the metabolic potential of microbiomes and evaluate their impact on health and the environment.
Carole Baron Project Manager of the Academy of Excellence Complexity and Diversity of Living Systems
https://holobiomicslab.eu
Carlone Campus - Component of Université Côte d’Azur
The digital transformation is having a profound effect on the practices of researchers in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) where it is challenging disciplinary boundaries and even erasing them. Shared digital tools can serve as a methodological catalyst between disciplines, reviving interdisciplinarity, whether within the humanities and social sciences or between HSS and the “hard“ sciences. These new practices introduced by digital tools can, for example, build bridges between disciplines and research objects with very different processes for producing and analyzing data. But to ensure that these practices are efficient and coherent, researchers need to acquire new skills and use shared or similar tools, common databases, and replicable methodologies.
The project History of Knowledge and Ideas and Digital Practices (HISINUM), has been supported since 2023 by the Academy of Excellence Human Societies, Ideas and Environments. Three research teams, four laboratories and both institutional (BNF) and international partners (researchers from universities in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland) have joined this multidisciplinary consortium. They have launched an open and long-term initiative with the aim of sharing linked, interoperable and generalizable tools, and ultimately renewing research and data management practices in the humanities and social sciences.
The first team specializing in the history of economic thought and coordinated by Muriel Dal Pont Legrand (GREDEG), is focused on preserving and enhancing the heritage of European economic science. This
group is developing the use of bibliometric tools to improve the identification and sharing of archival holdings. The second team working in social and political philosophy, and coordinated by Mélanie Plouviez (CRHI), is creating new, open-science tools to browse and explore databases of “forgotten“ ideas about inheritance in the nineteenth century. The third team, coordinated by Arnaud Zucker (CEPAM) and Catherine Faron (I3S), is part of the History of Science program on ancient and medieval zoology. They are analyzing textual, visual, and material archives to develop new methods and generic intelligent services for analyzing and annotating data. These research programs are pooling their skills, tools and methodologies to develop synergies to improve their expertise, and consolidate and share their knowledge. To ensure a sustainable dynamic within the university community, the consortium has organized open seminars to present their hypotheses and results, and offer training courses.
Muriel Dal Pont Legrand
Full Professor of Economics, Vice-President for Europe, GREDEG
Mélanie Plouviez
Associate professor (HDR) in Social and Political Philosophy, CRHI
Arnaud Zucker
Professor of Greek language and literature, Head of Academy 5, CEPAM
Catherine Faron
Full Professor of Computer Science, I3S
The Innovation Program of the Université Côte d’Azur Initiative of Excellence aims to support the development of innovation and to finance public-private partnerships. In this section, learn more about projects that are helping to commercialize major or radical innovations based on Côte d’Azur research, supported by IdEx.
Roca Therapeutics is a biotech startup founded in Nice in 2021, that grew out of the work of four researchers at the Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging in Nice (IRCAN) and the Nice Institute of Chemistry (ICN).
For more than 10 years, research led by Drs Maeva Dufies, Rachid Benhida, Gilles Pagès, and Cyril Ronco has focused on understanding the mechanisms of treatment resistance in cancer and ocular pathologies, in particular uveal melanoma. These efforts led to the development of two pharmacological inhibitors, RCT001 and RCT002, which paved the way for the creation of Roca Therapeutics.
Uveal melanoma is a rare, aggressive disease with limited treatment options. Currently, ocular tumors are mainly treated by a particular type of radiotherapy called proton therapy. Although this approach has undeniable therapeutic effects, 3050% of patients develop metastatic disease, with tumor cells spreading into the liver, often leading to death within two years. In addition, patients often develop a side effect of proton therapy known as radiation maculopathy, characterized by the formation of blood vessels in the eye. This can lead to reduced vision, and even blindness and surgical removal of the eye in 30% of cases.
Roca Therapeutics aims to position its RCT001 program as an innovative therapeutic solution for metastatic uveal melanoma. The startup’s new flagship compound, RCT002, targets the treatment of angiogenic and inflammatory complications associated with proton therapy of uveal melanoma. This approach is based on the development of inhibitors capable of neutralizing the mechanisms
responsible for radiation maculopathy. To optimize its administration, the team has developed a specific formulation for topical ocular application in the form of an eye drop. This drug would revolutionize the management of patients currently treated with traumatic and only partially effective intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF.
Roca Therapeutics is currently carrying out regulatory toxicity studies and preparing a request for scientific advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) so that it can initiate clinical trials. Launching this treatment for radiation maculopathy is one of the company’s key objectives for 2026-2027. This technology could also prove to be a therapeutic solution for neoangiogenic ocular pathologies such as diabetic macular edema.
In its initial stages, Roca Therapeutics benefited from the support of Université Côte d’Azur through the Innovation Program of the Initiative of Excellence, as a recipient of the DeepTech Startup and Innovation Partnership grants. In addition, the work carried out by the Roca Therapeutics team has been recognized by the Côte d’Azur innovation ecosystem, notably the
Cancéropôle PACA, SATT Sud-Est, PACA Incubator, the Eurobiomed Competitiveness Cluster, Région Sud and the Nice Metropole. Roca Therapeutics was a winner of the i-Lab competition, organized by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, in partnership with Bpifrance. This recognition has enabled Roca Therapeutics to carry out part of its R&D program, and has strengthened the confidence of its investors.
It has also attracted substantial financing from international investors such as 3B Future. Roca Therapeutics is further accelerating its development, by working on a Series A funding round of between 6 and 10 million euros, which will enable the company to carry out clinical trials.
This exciting startup, built around an interdisciplinary, complementary and vibrant team, aims to revolutionize eye therapy with an innovative, noninvasive treatment. It offers real hope for uveal melanoma patients.
Maeva Dufies and Sébastien Biehler Visit the ROCA THERAPEUTICS website: http://www.roca-therapeutics.org/
In 2022, a total of 230,000 tons of products were sprayed in Europe to protect crops from pests. This staggering figure reflects how massively dependent European agriculture remains on chemical solutions. And yet, nature is able to defend itself. Alternatives that are sustainable, targeted, and respectful of ecosystems are available.
This is precisely the vision of Innofenso, a French startup founded in Nice in 2024 and based at the Sophia Agrobiotech Insititute, at the heart of the Côte d’Azur’s scientific ecosystem. The startup was created after ten years of collaborative research combining cutting-edge biotechnology and applied agroecology. Winner of a DeepTech Start-Up grant, Innofenso draws on the expertise of the Sophia Agrobiotech Institute (ISA) and the GREDEG laboratory at Université Côte d’Azur to achieve a unique blend of life sciences and commercial innovation.
The technology developed by Innofenso is groundbreaking and was patented. It is based on the natural genetic diversity of insects and the intelligent combination of several species of indigenous auxiliaries, carefully selected for
their complementarity. The result is a tailor-made biocontrol solution for each crop, each soil, and each pest. The goal of the company is to develop a “harmless“ biocontrol solution, innofensif in French, which gave the company its name.
With the global biocontrol market growing by 16% a year to reach 13.7 billion euros by 2027, demand for natural solutions is exploding. Innofenso is responding to this demand with an already mature technology that has a major advantage: it does not require a marketing authorization under current European regulations, which makes it an alternative that can be immediately implemented.
After a thorough market study, the startup decided to focus its initial deployment on the sectors most affected by the withdrawal of active chemical substances. Already this year, Innofenso solutions will be used in real-life field conditions in seven agricultural sectors, including perfume plants, fruit and vegetables, and meadows, spread across six French departments in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Bretagne regions.
The two co-founders behind this ambitious project have complementary backgrounds: Christophe Vasseur is a seasoned biotechnology entrepreneur, and Nicolas Ris is a research engineer at INRAE with twenty years’ experience in biocontrol. With a current team of five people, they were able to gather a wide network around them that includes Bpifrance, HECTAR, the Provence Côte d’Azur
and HEC Paris incubators, and the Innov’Alliance competitiveness cluster. The startup has already won seven innovation awards, including the prestigious i-Lab national competition in 2023, and the Prix de l’Entreprise Innovante awarded by the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis in 2024.
Today, Innofenso is preparing its first round of financing to accelerate its commercial development
and extend its solutions to new agricultural markets, both in France and abroad. The company’s vision is clear: to use biodiversity as a technological and economic lever to achieve a resilient agriculture.
Those who support Innofenso believe in a novel and sustainable way of feeding the world.
July 10, 2025
Elsevier Visibility and Research Impact Workshops
July 15, 2025
Inauguration of the Jacques Sinard WHO Center
September 2025
Young Researchers’ Day
October 2025
IdEx Tour (Research, Innovation and International/Europe)
November 2025
COP Live feed
A closer look at the Initiative of Excellence of Université Côte d’Azur