Ph.D. students, engineers, faculty members, researchers… meet the people driving research at USMB and learn about their discoveries!
Portraits of Female Researchers
Spotlight on female researchers at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB) as part of the “Women in Science” initiative, through an exhibition featuring some twenty female researchers, faculty members, and design engineers.
Check out the portraits from the USMB’s 2026 exhibition, “Women in Science”!
Awards
University Institute of France
The Institut universitaire de France was established in 1991 to encourage academic excellence, promote gender diversity in the research sector, and strive for a balanced distribution of university research across the country. It brings together a group of researchers elected for five-year terms, following a review of their applications and research proposals by an internationally renowned jury.
Baptiste Morel has been appointed a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) for the Fundamental Chair, effective October 1, 2026, for a term of five years.
CNRS Medals
Each year, the CNRS awards medals to researchers and staff members whose work contributes to the institution’s reputation, the advancement of research, and its global influence. Seven types of medals are awarded. To name just two, the Bronze Medal recognizes a researcher’s first major work, and the Innovation Medal honors exceptional research.
- Sébastien Tavenas, a researcher at LAMA, was awarded the prestigious CNRS Bronze Medal in 2025
- Florence Magnin, a researcher at the EDYTEM laboratory, was awarded the prestigious CNRS Bronze Medal in 2024
- Fatih Bellachia, an engineer at LAPP, received the prestigious CNRS Crystal Medal in 2022
- Francesca Calore, a researcher at USMB, received the prestigious CNRS Bronze Medal in 2021
- LAPP staff members honored with the 2019 CNRS Crystal Medal (team award)
- Frédérique Marion, a researcher, and Nadine Neyroud Gigleux, an engineer at LAPP, were awarded the CNRS Silver Crystal Medal in 2017
Honorary Doctorate
Since its inception in 1918, the honorary doctorate has been one of the most prestigious honors awarded by universities to recognize foreign nationals for their outstanding contributions to science, literature, or the arts, or to France or the university.
Since its founding in 1979, the USMB has honored sixteen distinguished individuals, including two Nobel laureates, in various fields: art, literature, the humanities, law, the basic sciences, and economics.
UllaTØRNÆS
Former minister, former Member of the European Parliament, Danish Member of Parliament
[Watch the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from USMB on Ulla Tørnæs, November 26, 2019]
Claudia Lima MARQUES
Professor of Private Law at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre (Brazil)
[Relive the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from USMB on Claudia Lima MARQUES, July 11, 2019]
Gianmaria AJANI
Rector of the University of Turin
[Relive the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from USMB on Gianmaria AJANI, February 15, 2019]
Yves FLÜCKIGER
Rector of the University of Geneva
[Watch the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from the USMB on Yves FLÜCKIGER, February 15, 2019]
Fabiola GIANOTTI
Director-General of CERN
[Watch the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from USMB on Fabiola GIANOTTI, November 27, 2018]
Marcel JEAN
Artistic Director of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Executive Director of the Cinémathèque québécoise, Quebec City, Canada
[Relive the ceremony conferring an honorary doctorate from USMB on Marcel JEAN, June 16, 2018]
Jean ZIEGLER
Member of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Switzerland
Ghislain BOURQUE
President of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
Robert ENGLE
2003 Nobel Prize in Economics, University of California, San Diego, United States
Carlo RUBBIA
1984 Nobel Prize in Physics, CERN, Italy
Norberto BOBBIO
Professor of Philosophy, University of Turin, Italy
Rubini SOERIA-ATMADJA
Professor of Geology, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Keba MBAYE
Lawyer, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Senegal, Dakar
Erwin PARTHÉ
Professor of Chemistry, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Spyros CALOGEROPOULOS STRATIS
Professor of Law, former Rector of the Athens Schools of Political, Economic, and Commercial Sciences, Greece
Lionello SOZZI
Professor of Literature, University of Turin, Italy