Michel Laurent, the new Chairman of IRD
14 June 2010
Michel Laurent, who has been Director General of the Institute since June 2006, was appointed chairman of the IRD for a four-year term by the Council of Ministers on June 9th, 2010, on the proposal of the minister of Higher Education and Research.
Professor Michel Laurent is Honorary Chairman of Méditerranée University and former Vice-Chairman of the Conference of University Chairpersons. He served as chairman of Méditerranée University from 1999 to 2004. He assumed numerous positions, he was either elected or appointed by his regulatory authorities. Dedicated to excellence in public research, he favours interdisciplinary approaches and applications for research findings.
In June 2006, he was appointed Director General of the IRD and his mandate was renewed in May 2009. During his first mandate, he contributed to the project about the moving of the IRD headquarters to Marseille (August 2008) and he developed a site policy in order to set up a quality partnership between the universities and IRD in northern as well as in southern countries. Recently he signed a framework partnership agreement with the Conference of University Chairpersons which will result in the development of common tenders.
Michel Laurent is focusing his efforts on the development of the French academic cooperation with Southern countries. He puts forward a cooperation gathering training and research challenges. The Southern and Northern universities are intended to play a major role due to the training needs of the Southern communities on the one hand and to the great research themes as part of the global change (health, climatic change, water resources, biodiversity, migrations, etc.) on the other hand.
Michel LAURENT - Curriculum vitae
Michel Laurent, specialist in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, was at the head of the UMR 6559 “Movement and Perception” (Méditerranée University - CNRS) which was created in 1995. He held the position of guest professor at the University of Geneva (1991-1992) and he was awarded a degree honoris causa by the University of Montreal.
His twenty-year researches have dealt with the relations between human brain and behaviour and especially with the neural and sensory-motor coordinations as well as with the dynamic approach to the relations perception/action which led him to study the modelisation of these complex systems. His researches have resulted in more than 120 publications (top-level journals, books and book chapters), about a hundred communications in symposia and twenty accreditations to supervise research.
In Marseille, he held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Sport Sciences within the Aix-Marseille II University from 1991 to 1995. He worked to give to the young discipline STAPS national and European recognition by creating doctoral training programs (1990-1995). At the same time, he was Chairman of the National Dean’s Conference for this discipline and of the National Universities’ Committee from 1992 to 1999. During this period, he also held positions of consultancy at the national level for the brand-new Direction of Research and Doctoral Studies and for the National Evaluation Committee from 1991 to 1993.
He is very dedicated to research applications. He was Chairman of the Belle-de-Mai Multimedia Incubator (2001-2006) and of the Interuniversity Incubator Impulse (2005-2006). He worked for a concerted pooling between the incubators of the PACA region, which today gives rise to the network of PACA incubators.
During his mandate as Chairman (1999-2003), he created a private subsidiary, Protisvalor Méditerranée, in order to enhance the findings of public research. He argued for bringing together the universities and at the end of his mandate in 2003, he developed some form of interuniversity collaboration between the three universities of Aix-Marseille.
He also held numerous academic positions at the national level as Chairman of the disciplinary conference (CNU, etc.). He was reelected as First Vice-President of the CPU in 2002 by taking action for the LMD reform. He chaired the Master’s follow up Committee.
