As part of a call for proposals launched by the Franco-German University in early 2023, the University of Rennes gained a joint chair with the Univesity of Potsdam, its partner in the EDUC Alliance, in the Earth System and Environmental Sciences domain.
Earth System & Environmental Sciences" Chair
This chair in Earth System and Environmental Sciences, obtained in response to a call for proposals launched last year by the Franco-German University, is intended to provide students with the necessary tools to better respond to the societal challenges linked to the environment and to natural resources. It will help finance various teaching and research programmes, but will also help extend the network and employability of students on the Franco-German and European labour markets. It will also boost Franco-German partnerships and links between science and society. As for the existing networks (EDUC, OSUR, Geo.X) and the numerous cooperation agreements between the University of Rennes and the University of Potsdam, these will ensure the success and continuity of the project.
The chair, effective in September 2024, will be mainly based at the University of Rennes, with the creation of a new permanent post of Senior Lecturer, and will be supported by a doctoral researcher for the duration of the Chair at the University of Potsdam. It has been awarded to Éline Le Breton, currently a professor in Tectonophysics at Freie Universität Berlin. As a specialist in plate tectonics, she is particularly interested in the reconstruction of past movements of the tectonic plates and in deformations of the Earth's crust. She will receive three years of funding to support the development of cross-cutting activities between the University of Potsdam and the University of Rennes. This is like coming home for Eline Le Breton, who defended her doctoral thesis at Université de Rennes 1 in 2012 at the Géosciences Rennes laboratory, and then became a lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin. She therefore has solid grounding in both the French and German university systems, and will benefit from long-established collaborations in the two partner universities (Berlin and Potsdam are neighbouring cities and are both members of the geosciences network Geo.X).
Among the long-term projects associated with this chair, the development of a new Franco-German integrated study programme is envisaged. From a research perspective, various multi-disciplinary projects are planned including the co-supervision of a PhD student preparing a binational thesis between Rennes and Potsdam, but also the establishment of summer schools and research stays for students from both universities.
A Call for Proposals Serving Franco-German Scientific Excellence
Thanks to this initiative of the Franco-Germany University, a total of five new chairs will be supported and will endorse five cooperation agreements buoyed by higher-level institutions in France and Germany.
This call for proposals, with the objective of promoting Franco-German scientific excellence and support for the future recruitment of young researchers on a long-term basis, will bolster the long-term dissemination of Franco-German knowledge and consolidate the teams involved. Each chair created or renewed will be allocated €50,000, paid each year for a period of three academic years.
The cooperation agreements involve the following French and German institutions:
- the University of Strasbourg and the Freiburg University of Music;
- the Université de Lorraine and the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes;
- the University of Tours and Ruhr University Bochum;
- the University of Burgundy and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- the University of Rennes and the University of Potdsam.
The original article was published Tuesday, 9 July 2024 by Violette Le Gall, updated Friday, 19 July 2024 at 11:37. [University of Rennes]