The first INGENIUM PhD students at URN

The University of Rouen Normandy (URN) is strengthening its commitment to research within INGENIUM by funding three promising PhD students whose work explores major societal issues.

On 18 June 2024, URN announced the selection of three international PhD projects as part of INGENIUM. Funded for 3 years from URN’s own resources, these doctoral theses mark an ambitious launch that will be followed by further calls for proposals in 2025, with the aim of boosting research interaction within the alliance.

The topics explored by these three doctoral students – ranging from neuroscience to climate change and microbiology – reflect the diversity and complementarity of the issues addressed within INGENIUM.

Adèle Maufrais: Exploring creativity in children (CREA-COG project)

  • Thesis topic: Development of creativity in neurotypical children, as well as in those with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD).
  • Main objectives: To study the role of executive functions, technical reasoning and sensorimotricity in the expression of creativity.
  • European collaboration: A partnership with the University of Oviedo (UNIOVI) in Spain will enable Adèle to refine her research protocol thanks to the expertise of specialists in executive functions and creativity. A six-month exchange is planned for the second half of 2025. It will be supervised by J. Baumard at the URN (CRFDP) and by T.Garcia at UNIOVI.
  • Ambitions: Adapt tests for second-year manipulations and produce a systematic literature review in collaboration with her international team.

Salomé Lecoutour: Understanding the impact of stress on host-bacteria interactions (CatLisGut project)

  • Thesis topic: Development of creativity in neurotypical children, as well as in those with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD).
  • Main objectives: To study the role of executive functions, technical reasoning and sensorimotricity in the expression of creativity.
  • European collaboration: A partnership with the University of Oviedo (UNIOVI) in Spain will enable Adèle to refine her research protocol thanks to the expertise of specialists in executive functions and creativity. A six-month exchange is planned for the second half of 2025. It will be supervised by J. Baumard at the URN (CRFDP) and by T.Garcia at UNIOVI.
  • Ambitions: Adapt tests for second-year manipulations and produce a systematic literature review in collaboration with her international team.

Mayowa Basit Abdulsalam: Protecting coastlines in the face of climate change (MaRRine project)

  • Thesis topic: Assessment of maritime and coastal risks and development of innovative technologies for resilient systems.
  • Main objectives: To develop nature-based solutions and digital twins to protect coastlines against the effects of climate change.
  • European collaboration: at URN, Mayowa Basit will be supervised by I. Turki from M2C and J. Reveillon from Coria research institutes. The project is being carried out with UNIOVI and MTU, involving six-month and one-week periods of mobility respectively. The partners at these universities are N. Smith and K. Fitzgibbon (MTU) and M. Lopez (UNIOVI).
  • Aims: To contribute to the understanding of coastal dynamics and propose practical solutions in a variety of fields, such as aquaculture and offshore renewable energies.