IHEST conferences
Theory research seminar : Arts, Sciences et Technologies
Under the supervision of Yann Toma
Tuesdays from 6 to 8 PM, on September 16th to December 16th 2025
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Amphithéâtre OURY - Centre Sorbonne
14 rue Cujas
75005 Paris
Hai Chau Cournède
December 16th, 2025
Between Ideas and Innovation Projects: A Sociocognitive Approach and a Strategic Perspective
Hai Chau Cournède's research focuses on the dynamics that transform abstract ideas into concrete innovations. Our strategic perspective aims to understand the mechanisms at play when assessing the potential of ideas, organizing resources, and guiding the process of moving from idea to innovation project. An abstract idea becomes a concrete innovation through a collective movement of implementation. This movement is only possible when the actors succeed in giving meaning to their commitment. This premise leads us to adopt a sociocognitive approach that places the process of meaning-making at the heart of the analysis. To study a concrete process of innovation emergence, our conceptual and methodological framework primarily draws on Weick's collective meaning-making, Callon and Latour's sociology of translation, and Pettigrew's process analysis. This framework combines other, less widely used approaches in innovation management: Morin's noology, Simondon's philosophy of technology, and Gaudin's ethnotechnology. The empirical investigation consists of a case study of a major innovation within Air Liquide: ten years of development of packings for the cryogenic distillation of gases. The case study reinforces the relevance of our sociocognitive approach. In particular, it highlights two fundamental and complementary dynamics in the construction of meaning: translation and recognition. This finding leads to both a reassessment and a refinement of the sociology of translation by linking it to Alberoni's theory of the nascent state through "re-co-naissance" as a collective dynamic: rather than rallying together out of self-interest (interest/translation), the actors who constitute the initial active core, as well as those who join later, "recognize" each other around an idea whose innovative potential and capacity for transformation and organizational restructuring they collectively acknowledge (re-naissance/recognition). This reconceptualization opens up new theoretical and practical perspectives for managing innovation processes.
Hai Chau Cournède has held various positions related to technology and innovation management within the Air Liquide group for the past 20 years. In this seminar, she will address the foundations of this discipline and share the concepts she most frequently uses in her practice, both for developing long-term strategic visions and for decision-making in situations of uncertainty. Her remarks will be illustrated by concrete examples in the field of low-carbon energy. A graduate of ENS Cachan (Paris-Saclay), she holds a doctorate in management science and is an auditor of IHEST, Rosalind Franklin class of 2022.
Alain Becoulet
December 9th, 2025
Current State and Advances in Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion, the process at work in the heart of stars, involves fusing light nuclei, such as those of deuterium and tritium, to produce considerable energy without CO₂ emissions or long-lived radioactive waste. It represents a major promise for a sustainable energy future. Today, global fusion research is structured around two main approaches: magnetic confinement, spearheaded by the international ITER project in Cadarache, and inertial confinement, exemplified by the recent successes of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the United States, which achieved ignition in 2022. ITER, currently under construction, aims to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of a fusion reactor that produces ten times more energy than it consumes. Recent advances include the completion of major components such as superconducting magnets, the vacuum chamber, and heating systems. The first plasma is expected at the beginning of the next decade. In parallel, private initiatives are multiplying, with more than 40 startups worldwide exploring alternative concepts, often more compact and faster to develop. Some, like Commonwealth Fusion Systems and TAE Technologies, are attracting massive investments and promising demonstrators as early as the 2030s.
Many challenges remain: mastering materials in the face of neutron flux, managing tritium, and industrial integration. But progress is rapid, driven by a synergy between public research, private innovation, and political will. Nuclear fusion is no longer a distant dream: it is entering a phase of realization, with the ambition of becoming a key component of the global energy mix by mid-century.
Alain Bécoulet is currently Deputy Director-General and Chief Scientist of the ITER Organization. He heads the Department of Science and Integration. From 2011 to 2020, he was Director of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA/IRFM), leading a team of 300 employees. Alain Bécoulet is co-founder of the Sino-French Center for Fusion Energy (SIFFER) and served as Deputy Director of the China International Center for Fusion Energy Cooperation. With 38 years of experience in the field of fusion, he is a member of the French Academy of Technologies. He was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit and received the International Scientific and Technical Cooperation Award from the People's Republic of China. He is an alumnus of the IHEST (Elinor Ostrom class) and a member of its Advisory Board.
Lucile Delmas
December 2nd, 2025
How do we define ocean health?
Ifremer is the French research institute entirely dedicated to ocean studies. It has facilities in mainland France and its overseas territories and manages the French Oceanographic Fleet. Given its position in the marine environment, Ifremer has supported the scientific and technical work of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (the European directive that assesses the health of the seas and oceans) for over 10 years. During these years, scientists and government agencies have faced numerous questions: how do we define "good environmental status"? How do we measure it? How do we qualify it?
In just a few years, we have gone from an assessment based on existing literature to nearly 70 calculated environmental indicators, covering all themes. But how do we know if an indicator is relevant? What do we mean by relevant? Effective? Operational? Several perspectives then come into play.
Lucile DELMAS is Deputy Director of the Oceanography and Ecosystem Dynamics Department at Ifremer. After graduating with an engineering degree in agronomy, she worked for five years in local development within the agricultural and fishing sectors. A change of direction led her to work for ten years in the social and healthcare sector, focusing on extreme poverty and disability. She joined Ifremer in 2018 to coordinate the implementation of a European directive aimed at ensuring the health of the marine environment. Lucile Delmas graduated from the IHEST (Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology) in 2024, class of Hubert Reeves.
Catherine Véglio-Boileau
et Patrick Caron
November 26th, 2025
Fictional Narrative - Scientific Discourse
A Dialogue on Our Food and Migration Futures
In her novel "Des vies sans refuge" (Sérendip’Éditions, 2024), Catherine Véglio shares with the reader the fate of migrants trapped by the machinations of a multinational corporation in a world disrupted by climate and food crises. For Patrick Caron, author of the preface, this speculative narrative, in which reality and fiction intertwine, is "an allegory of the current world projecting itself into the future, in the manner of Soylent Green," the Richard Fleischer film.
What does the use of imagination, of fictional writing, bring to the table compared to the productions of academic research? What can emerge from the encounter between science and literature? In an era of radical uncertainty, what can they say together about issues that permeate our societies, in this case, food security and the migrant experience? Could their dialogue allow for a more concrete projection of these challenges, or even an anticipation of long-term disruptions?
Patrick Caron is co-president of Agropolis International, vice-president of the University of Montpellier for international relations, international director of the "Montpellier University of Excellence" (MUSE) initiative, and director of the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK'IT). He chaired the High-Level Panel of Experts of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) from 2015 to 2019. A researcher at CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) since 1988, he also holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine, a doctorate and a habilitation to supervise research in geography, and is an alumnus of the IHEST Léonard de Vinci class of 2012-2013, as well as a delegate for IHEST Occitanie.
Catherine Véglio-Boileau is an editorial consultant and author. She was in charge of the IHEST's regional activities and responsible for the programming of the institute's national training program. She worked for nearly twenty years on European issues for the agricultural press, the daily newspaper La Tribune, and then for the think tank Confrontations Europe and the Maison de l’Europe in Paris. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and with a law degree, she began her career in regional journalism and contributed to various national business publications. "Des vies sans refuge" (Lives Without Refuge) is her second novel, following "La fête carnivore" (The Carnivorous Feast) (Lemieux Éditeur, 2017).
Clémentine Cailleteau-Crucy
November 25th, 2025
In the Water Labyrinth: Understanding, Deciding, Acting.
Water is both a vital resource and a strategic issue for our societies. Between droughts, floods, emerging pollution, and growing needs, its management resembles a veritable labyrinth, where local, national, and European stakeholders intersect.
This conference offers an interactive journey to the heart of this challenge: understanding water cycles, mapping risks, deciphering stakeholder dynamics, exploring innovations, and practicing trade-offs between sometimes conflicting uses.
One objective: to demonstrate that every drop counts, and that the mobilization of everyone - elected officials, technicians, and citizens - is essential to building water governance that meets the challenges of the 21st century.
Clémentine Cailleteau-Crucy holds a doctorate in life and health sciences, is a teacher in a vocational high school, mayor of Mardié (Loiret), delegate for drinking water, resource preservation and fire protection for Orléans Métropole, elected to the Loire Bretagne Water Agency, departmental delegate.
Jean-Christophe Olivo-Manin
November 18th, 2025
Cells and Numbers
Image analysis is a multidisciplinary scientific field that draws on mathematics, signal processing, and physics. Its goal is to extract quantitative data from the visual information contained in images using robust quantification and modeling methods. In conjunction with high-resolution imaging, it has become essential for studying the complexity of biological processes in detail and deepening our understanding of the mechanisms of living organisms. Microbiology, cell biology, molecular medicine, proteomics, and functional genomics all rely heavily on quantitative imaging to understand physiological and pathological cellular mechanisms.
My laboratory has developed innovative algorithms in computer vision, mathematical imaging, and computational biophysics, enabling major advances in the study of cell dynamics, mechanobiology, and digital pathology. These tools have transformed how cell motility and biomechanical properties are analyzed, opening new avenues for biomedical research in real-time tracking of viruses and parasites, analysis of movement and shape in three-dimensional microscopy, and analysis of animal behavior. The integration of artificial intelligence further enhances their performance, providing the scientific community with robust tools for analyzing and interpreting complex biological phenomena. To facilitate the dissemination of these advanced methods and their accessibility to biomedical researchers, we have developed the Icy software platform (icy.bioimageanalysis.org), which is free and open-source, and integrates, among other things, several deep learning and spatial statistics analysis modules.
Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin is the head of the Biological Image Analysis Unit and the director of the Carnot Pasteur Institute for Microbes and Health. He was the Director of the Department of Cell Biology and Infection, the Director of Technology and the Center for Innovation and Technological Research at the Pasteur Institute, and a founding member of the Pasteur Institute of Korea, where he served as its first Director of Technology. Previously, he was a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, Heidelberg). He earned his doctorate and Habilitation (HDR) from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Optics, University of Paris-Orsay, and is a graduate of the Institute for Advanced Biomedical Training (IFSBM). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, SPIE, OPTICA, and AAIA, and an alumnus of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology (IHEST), Michel Serres class. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the IEEE Engineering in Biology and Medicine Society and the Thérèse Lebrasseur Prize from the Fondation de France. His scientific interests are primarily mathematical and learning approaches for biological image analysis, computer vision, and the biophysics of cell dynamics.
Anne Jacquelin
November 4th, 2025
Research Partnerships with Civil Society: A Lever for Sustainable Transformation?
This presentation will allow participants and students to better understand the frameworks and dynamics of collaboration between science and society. By briefly reviewing its history, nature, and the types of contracts and funding, they will be able to understand the drivers and obstacles to these relationships. Through their joint projects, the presentation will also distinguish the specific conditions of existence of research institutions from those of the diverse actors commonly grouped under the term "civil society." In doing so, we will understand the commonalities and points of friction related to their individual trajectories. The speaker will offer some perspectives for the evolution of these relationships from a sustainable development standpoint.
Anne Jacquelin holds a doctorate in the sociology of work and organizations and is the Director of Research and Development at R&Dy. She supports projects using participatory methods derived from action research, which aim to co-create a project with its stakeholders. She also leads evaluation missions and collaborative foresight studies. For 15 years, she has consulted for the industrial and service sectors on health, management, and organizational issues. Her research focuses on stakeholder involvement in science-society partnerships within a specific sector or industry. She currently conducts research with the Laboratory for the Evaluation of Public Policies and Innovations (Leppi) and HC-Ecrac, specifically on issues related to childhood, social capital, child welfare, and disability. She is also co-chair of the Alliss network, a network for strengthening dialogue between science and society. She teaches management, innovation, and human resources in schools, universities, and professional settings.
Anne Jacquelin (2019), “Thinking about the organization of work for participatory action research. Elements for a transdisciplinary approach,” in Bernard (ed.) Interdisciplinarity at Work: From Interdisciplinary Work to the Transformation of Work. Presses de l’Université Nanterre.
Sébastien Jaffrot
October 21st, 2025
Transition from Fossil Fuels to Mineral Resources: An Inventory of Mineral Resources
What are mineral resources? What are the uses of mineral resources (focus on art)? Where do mineral resources come from? What are the constraints? What is the response at the European level? How will the subsoil of France, and even globally, evolve? Sébastien Jaffrot will present a national inventory of mineral resources. A judicious combination of art and science will accompany this presentation.
After training in Geo-resources, Water and Environment, and studies in Civil Engineering, Sébastien Jaffrot has been heavily involved in the world of minerals. A graduate of IHEST, he is currently the Managing Director of BRGM Explore, a subsidiary of BRGM. From 2018 to 2024, he was Deputy Director of the Natural Hazards and Prevention Department at BRGM, following experience in companies, industry, and consulting firms.
François Lecellier
October 14th, 2025
Artificial Intelligence: How It Works, Its Limitations, and Its Opportunities.
Artificial Intelligence has existed for over half a century, but it has experienced a major surge with the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI.
The latter can now easily generate text, images, audio, and video that appear to have been created by humans. However, the way generative AI works is not magic; the underlying algorithms are well-known, and it is the combination of computing power and the vast volume of available data that has enabled this new approach. The use of generative AIand AI in general—is becoming increasingly prevalent in society, whether in the workplace (through specialized AI applications or off-the-shelf tools) or at home, with the rise of AI assistants and AI features on smartphones and social media. This proliferation of tools and applications is a source of concern for some and an opportunity for others. Yet AI systems are far from perfect, and their limitations are too often misunderstood. In this lecture, I will explain how generative AI works, as well as the opportunities and limitations it presents, while also addressing underlying issues regarding energy consumption, misinformation, and intellectual property.
François Lecellier is a fellow of the IHEST’s "Hubert Reeves" cohort and an Associate Professor of Signal and Image Processing at the University of Poitiers. His research focuses on the use of Artificial Intelligence in specific contexts, ranging from image-based applications (such as medical imaging and emotional analysis) to data analysis in general (including learning analytics). He is also a member of the "Science with and for Society" steering committee at the University of Poitiers. He heads two international working groups within the Coimbra Group (a network of 40 European universities): the Education Innovation group and the Artificial Intelligence group. He is also responsible for the enhanced student support program at the University of Poitiers.
Anna Szyjkowska-Piotrowska
October 7th, 2025
Avant-Garde Methods: The Polish Example
Can we find a particular idiom of the avant-garde in one country or another? If so, it would be in relation to what I would call a gesture. A gesture that marks meaning, a gesture that performs, that sets things in motion, that moves things forward. Starting with anti-modernist modernists like Witkacy or Schulz, and moving through what could be called a classic of the Polish avant-garde (Kobro, Strzemiński, the a.r. group, and many others), we will also discover, in obscure spaces of art history, the gestures of women artists (Abakanowicz, Tapta) who wove another history of the avant-garde within the genre of textile art.
Anna Szyjkowska-Piotrowska is a philosopher, author, and conceptual artist with an interdisciplinary approach (Master's degree in Philosophy and Applied Linguistics, PhD in Philosophy of Art, defended at the University of Warsaw, Poland; Habilitation to Supervise Research in Philosophy, defended at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland). She is an Associate Professor of Art Theory at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and at Frédéric Chopin University in Warsaw. Since 2022, she has also been a Research Associate at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, at the ACTE Institute, within the Aesthetics and Critical Theories of Culture research axis, and a member of MODERNITAS/Interdisciplinary Research Center on the Avant-Gardes. She is the author of Po-twarz. Przekraczanie widzialności w sztuce i filozofii, słowo/obraz terytoria, 2015, Dyrygując falom. Myślenie w awangardach wizualno-muzycznych, słowo/obraz terytoria 2019 and other works and articles on art and philosophy, including The Elusive Face: Aesthetic Enchantment and Ethical Gaze, with Gwenola Druel and Leszek Brogowski, PUR 2024.
Isabel Nottaris
September 30th, 2025
Listening to Multiple Worlds
The lecture "Listening to Multiple Worlds" invites us to explore the nature of mediation in the Anthropocene - an era defined by environmental upheavals and social crises that challenge how we understand and narrate the world. Drawing on her experience in the museum and science communication sectors, Isabel Nottaris offers an intellectual and sensory journey into the words, ideas, and practices that shape our relationship with knowledge.
Throughout the talk, the speaker highlights the impoverishment of dialogue in an age where discourse - fragmented and polarized - struggles to foster connection, even as ecological challenges demand collective, shared narratives. She explores the polysemy of concepts such as "nature" and "Anthropocene"; their multiple meanings reflect diverse worldviews and reveal the complexity of defining exactly what we seek to protect.
This reflection prompts us to question the major frameworks inherited from modernity: the separations between nature and culture, human and non-human, and scientific and local knowledge no longer hold up against the interconnectedness and complexity of contemporary crises. The analysis thus encourages us to consider how knowledge institutions - particularly museums - must now make visible the hidden links between ecological, technological, and social phenomena, transforming into open, transdisciplinary, and critical spaces.
In conclusion, the lecture opens up avenues for a more relational and pluralistic way of thinking, where sciences, humanities, and local cultures engage in dialogue to devise new ways of understanding, sharing knowledge, and taking action in a rapidly transforming world.
Isabel Nottaris is a museologist and directs Ocim (Office for Museum Cooperation and Information), an organization that supports the "Science-Society Dialogue" policy of the MESR (Ministry of Higher Education and Research). Educated at the EHESS and holding a master’s degree in geopolitics (Paris VIII), she has worked in Paris, Beirut, Brussels, and Cayenne, and served as Deputy Director of the Toulouse Natural History Museum for seven years. Convinced of the emancipatory role of museums, she champions the importance of their contribution to civic life.
Olivier Parent
September 23rd, 2025
A Prospective Analysis of Science Fiction
Although science fiction appears strikingly modern, it is actually rooted in the long history of the arts, tracing its origins back to the realm of imaginative storytelling. It entered its contemporary phase in the early 19th century, yet it did not acquire its current name - "science fiction" - until a century later. Often associated with fantasy, the supernatural, or extraterrestrials, science fiction is, first and foremost, a work of art created by an individual - whether an author, filmmaker, or illustrator. Driven by a creative impulse, these artists use their work to express both the hopes and the anxieties evoked by the world around them. As with any art form, not all science fiction works are of equal merit; however, some shine with a unique brilliance, offering far more than mere entertainment by shedding new light on our everyday reality for the reader or viewer.
In France, it took some fifty years after the Second World War for science fiction to be fully accepted as a legitimate form of expression in its own right.
This recognition paved the way for using science fiction as a powerful thought experiment to analyze major contemporary issues such as artificial intelligence (AI), transhumanism, space exploration, and environmental challenges. Beyond these broad topics, it also enables "what-if" scenarios regarding more specific themes - such as urban planning, the cosmetics industry, the evolution of social media, or corporate strategic challenges. Even more interestingly, science fiction proves to be a valuable tool for foresight - the strategic practice of exploring the potential futures of a human organization. By shifting participants into a sci-fi-based design thinking exercise, groups can co-create, exchange ideas, and discuss topics in contexts they would rarely encounter or have the opportunity to explore in their daily lives. This approach fosters a bold, creative exploration of possible futures. Olivier Parent invites you on precisely this journey: a path leading from the history of science fiction to the discovery of a futures-studies practice firmly rooted in the genre.
A futurist with a background spanning both the arts and sciences, Olivier Parent founded FuturHebdo.fr in 2006 - a magazine dedicated to the societal aspects of our immediate futures. The site features articles of "futures journalism" addressing the futures that lie ahead, alongside essays and analyses. In 2015, Olivier established ComptoirProspectiviste.fr, a consultancy specializing in strategic foresight, the sociology of organizational futures, and emerging practices; the firm serves institutions, businesses, and associations alike. That same year, he became a fellow of the IHEST (Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology) and began a collaboration with the Huffington Post providing foresight-based analyses of science fiction films - work he now also produces for CNES and inCyber News. These columns are collected on the website Sciencefictiologie.fr. He is committed to championing popular culture as a source of inspiration for tomorrow - viewing science fiction as a fertile ground for exploration.
Yann Toma
September 16th, 2025
Inaugural Session:
Images of Thought and Their Projection into Real Space
This inaugural session will serve to outline the purpose of the "Arts, Sciences, and Technologies" seminar series. Yann Toma will discuss in detail the relationship between the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and IHEST; he will then illustrate this fruitful research partnership by linking his own artistic experience to the rationale behind this lecture series. For several years, Yann Toma has been systematically recording events, presentations, and lectures at major centers of knowledge - such as the United Nations and IHEST (Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology) - as well as at the Sorbonne and locations across the globe. For him, this is a way to document impressions, stances, and an alternative dimension of his perception of the surrounding reality. It is also a means of escaping the determinism that shapes everyone’s lives today. His "Holistic Diagrams" are flow-captures and flow-records that function as both retrospective and predictive instruments. Through his drawings, Yann Toma facilitates the trajectories of thought and channels invisible flows, reorganizing them into a sophisticated blend where the energy expended takes on meaning. There are three types of Holistic Diagrams: 1/ Live drawings/captures made in vivo during a lecture or event. 2/ Delayed-capture drawings (e.g., of Beuys or Deleuze), which allow the speaker's energy to be captured years later. 3/ Drawings/captures associated with a specific theme (e.g., the planet Mars, quantum energy). Drawing on artworks and art theories rooted in an interplay between reality and the imaginary, Yann Toma will present the seminar’s methodology in relation to the creative-research framework practiced at the Doctoral School of the Sorbonne School of the Arts (APESA). He will then outline the creative-research protocol that students enrolled in the seminar are required to follow.
Yann Toma is an artist and university professor of the arts. He was a fellow at the IHEST (Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology) in 2017 (Irène Joliot-Curie cohort) and serves as an artist-observer at the UN (New York). His work intersects energy, networks, and ethics. His projects experiment with the redistribution of energy between the artist and the public, relying on a specific level of "Artistic Energy" (AE) to produce works that are truly shared - such as Dynamo-Fukushima (Grand Palais, Sept. 2011), Human Energy (Eiffel Tower, Dec. 2015), Human Greenergy (Forbidden City, Beijing, Oct. 2016), United Nations (New York, 2017), Capitalocene (Leroy Neiman Gallery, New York, 2019), Divinations (Opening Gallery, New York), and Planet Energy (Saatchi Gallery, 2023)—and are oriented toward transformation. He is a professor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, a full member of the ACTE Institute, director of the Master in Arts and Vision (MAVI) program, and co-director of the Master’s in Art & Innovation Management (EAS-UFR06). He coordinates numerous research projects linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Additionally, he is an IHEST fellow, a board member of the Fondation des États-Unis, director of Sorbonne Artgallery, and president of Sorbonne Développement Durable (SDD), a collaborative network-based organization. He also serves as a Global Visiting Artist at New York University. www.yanntoma.com