Q. What initially sparked your interest in mathematics and scientific computing, and how did your career journey evolve from there? 

I have always liked mathematics but I never really considered to work in this field until I was 14. I had a wonderful mathematics teacher that year, and I developed a very strong taste for this discipline thanks to him. I really discovered then the strong intellectual pleasure of  the “Eurêka” feeling you get when you break a complicated problem you ‘ve been working on for a long time.  I also loved the rigor and the level of abstraction you need to do maths in the reasoning you have to make when you want to prove something.  

Later, when I realized that mathematics and numerical simulation were tools to predict the future, in the sense that they made possible to forecast the evolution of systems of interest and act on them to guide this evolution, this was a true revelation. I also found very exciting that this discipline could be used in a very wide variety of applications: materials science, biology, economics, social sciences…  

Doing research in mathematics and scientific computing then became an obvious choice to me since I knew this type of career would definitely offer me the opportunity to tackle stimulating intellectual challenges and work on issues that are important and useful in our society.   

Q. You are both a professor and a researcher at CERMICS. How do you balance these roles, and how do you integrate your cutting-edge research into your teaching to inspire the next generation of scientists? 

In my view, there is no point in doing research if there is no transmission. It is useless to understand new things if you do not explain them to other people, in particular students, who will then use this knowledge to understand other new things. Teaching is thus essential and complementary to my research work. In terms of working time, I would say that 30% of my time is devoted to teaching and 70% to research roughly. For instance, in the PDE and analysis course of first-year students of Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, I illustrate the usefulness of mathematics (and research in this field) through the example of model order reduction, which is a very active research topic worldwide.  I show them that computational times and energetic costs of simulations of industrial systems can potentially be made 10, 100, 1000 times lower by using these types of approaches, which use advanced mathematical concepts, in comparison to traditional numerical methods. They thus see the great benefit of maths for a huge range of practical applications and are eager to know more about them. 

Q. Winning the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize is an incredible achievement. How has this recognition impacted your career and what advice would you give to young scientists looking to follow in your footsteps? 

It is a huge honour for me to receive this prize. I am extremely thankful to the scientific community for the wonderful recognition and to my colleagues and students who worked with me.  

I am not sure yet how the prize will impact my career (I only received it last year ;)), but I definitely receive more solicitations from media or schools to make interventions to evoke the place of women in science and mathematics in particular. Being one of ELISAA’s voices is for instance a wonderful honour!  

If there is one advice I would give to young scientists, it would be not to doubt on their capacities. Do the research you really want to do, believe in yourself, and do not let doubt back you off. Choose good mentors too, this was essential in my own career.  

Q. As a strong advocate for women in science, you’ve emphasized that women have an equal place in STEM fields. How do you think initiatives like EELISA can support and promote gender equality within the scientific community? 

I really hope so. When I discuss with young women in high schools, a large number of them do not dare to do advanced STEM studies because they fear not to be strong enough. They doubt a lot on their own capabilities and give up because they fear to fail. This is a message for young women: please, do not fear! If you like science, maths or scientific computing in particular, do not worry, you have the capabilities to do it! And these are fields where it is perfectly compatible to have a perfect balance between a  rewarding career and a fulfilled private life!