After studying art history, Edith Buser acquired her first professional experience in the art world through the organization of exhibitions, which familiarized her with the workings of cultural institutions. Building on this experience, in 2001 she joined Dauphine -PSL to manage the national and European research contracts of the LEDA LEGOS health economics laboratory, and quickly became the institution’s first “valorisation” officer. Since 2018, she has been Deputy Director of Research at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs Paris, where she has contributed to structuring the activities of the pi EnsadLab laboratory (a pioneer in France), organizing the Research Council, and developing research projects with public and private partners.
EDITH BUSER
Q– You have an impressive background, moving from management of cultural projects to managing research and innovation projects in different fields . Could you share more about your journey and your current role at PSL, particularly your involvement with EnsadLab and how this role has evolved over time?
A– I believe that my academic and professional career in the field of cultural mediation, followed by the promotion of research, bears witness to what motivates me in my work on a daily basis: to try, modestly and at my own level, to contribute to a decompartmentalisation of disciplines and organisations, and, on the contrary, to encourage a hybridisation of knowledge, encounters and cooperation between artists and scientific designers, as well as between players in the academic and non-academic world. I joined the Université Paris Dauphine-PSL in 2001, then the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs-PSL in 2018, because they are both pioneering institutions in their approaches to teaching and research, which encourage interdisciplinarity and cross-fertilisation between sectors of activity. As Deputy Director of Research at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs-PSL, I contribute to the development of PSL‘s pioneering doctoral programme, SACRe (Sciences Art Creation Research), particularly through the search for funding, since all our doctoral students (there are currently 22) are funded. This doctoral programme enables our designers and artists to learn about interdisciplinary research through numerous collaborations (co-direction of theses) with researchers from other PSL establishments in the experimental sciences, social sciences and humanities and, of course, the other members of the SACRe programme. This multi- and interdisciplinary training is also recognised internationally. Two of our SACRe PhDs have been recruited as post-docs in prestigious institutions: one, Loup Vuarnesson, in a neuroscience laboratory at the EPFL and the other, Emile de Visscher, in the ‘Matters of Activity’ cluster of excellence at the Humboldt. My second mission is to set up and monitor the various research and development activities and projects of our research laboratory, Ensadlab, the first laboratory in France within a school of art and design in terms of the scope of its activities and the major role it plays in strengthening cross-disciplinary cooperation within PSL at the interface of art, design and science. I also represent the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs on the Copil of the Université PSL Innovation Pole, on the Academic Senate and I represent PSL on the European UNICA network.
Europe is one of my other commitments. I have developed my expertise in European research projects under the Framework Programme, particularly at Dauphine. As the University’s European correspondent, I have had to monitor all the University’s European research projects and represent Dauphine on various national bodies and working groups, exchanging common positions and best practice with my European counterparts. For all these reasons, I am keen to make an active contribution to the development of the EELISA project, and I hope to apply in the future for the New Bauhaus programme with other PSL schools.
Q – Promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation is one of the core objectives of the EELISA Alliance. How does your work at the École des Arts Décoratifs contribute to fostering innovation at the intersection of art, design, and technology? What strategies have you found most effective in helping to bridge these fields?
A– Our relationship with technology is very strongly rooted at the School, and material culture is very much a part of our training and research projects. Our students also benefit from a privileged environment in which to develop their projects, with access to 19 technical workshops and 1 material library. From the undergraduate level onwards, PSL weeks, inter-institutional course weeks, enable students from different PSL schools (Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, ESPCI-PSL, Chimie Paris-PSL, Mines-PSL, Dauphine-PSL) to meet and work together on joint projects. This dialogue is extremely enriching for them and the feedback from our students is very positive. In the Master‘s programme, and particularly in the second year, some students start or continue to work on their major projects with researchers in the experimental sciences or social sciences and humanities. The Fashion and Materials (ENAMOMA) programme, co-sponsored by Dauphine, Mines and the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, is another of PSL’s flagship programmes that encourages these Art Design Sciences collaborations. Teachers from this programme also contribute to the EELISA project. There is no doubt that the entry of the Paris Malaquais School of Architecture into the university will further strengthen Université PSL’s position in this project.
These multidisciplinary training programmes are vital if students are to respond effectively to the many challenges they face.
To encourage this dynamic, it is also important to anchor these collaborations and to include these programmes in a trajectory in terms of training throughout the LMD pathway.
Q– From your experience, how can the integration of art & design research into higher education help address some of the most pressing societal challenges?
A– Our students/doctors are working in an increasingly complex world. A world where, in order to face up to the challenges of climate, demography and society, it is essential to have benefited from solid interdisciplinary research training and to have taken the time to consolidate one’s own scientific ecosystem. Art and design has a central role to play in meeting these challenges in close collaboration with other research communities. The research we carry out at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs -PSL in the field of biodesign and eco-design, group interaction, robotised objects, new active and reactive materials, even living materials, new forms of mediation linked to the use of digital spaces (Virtual Worlds, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality), social innovation and sensitive knowledge is an illustration of this.
Q – Lastly, could you share what you find to be the most compelling aspect of EELISA for university researchers?
A– EELISA is an opportunity to create, on a European scale, the attractive pathways mentioned above and to test different teaching tools. It is also a fantastic springboard for mobility. Ultimately, the challenge is to test our best training models to improve student training over the long term.