The presidential team at Savoie Mont Blanc University

Mareva Sabatier is a university professor of economics specializing in labor economics, human resources, and public policy evaluation. Her research focuses particularly on professional careers, work organization and management, and occupational health. After obtaining her doctorate in 2000 from the University of Auvergne and completing a post-doctorate at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, she was recruited in 2002 by the University of Savoie, which became the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in 2015. Following her success in the first higher education competitive examination in economics in 2012, she chose to continue her work at USMB, where she held several positions in teaching and research, notably as director of the Economics and Finance Department at IAE Savoie Mont Blanc (2005-2008 and 2012-2016) and director of the IREGE laboratory (2016-2020). Mareva Sabatier is also an elected member of the 5th section of the National Council of Universities.

Trained in Lille and Grenoble, Jean-François Dreuille, 52, holds a doctorate in private law and criminal sciences from Pierre Mendes-France University (Grenoble II) (2002). Recruited as a lecturer at the University of Savoie in 2003, he was appointed university professor in 2023. He is a member of the Antoine Favre Law Research Center and a specialist in criminal law. His research focuses mainly on contemporary and ambivalent changes in criminal law (HDR 2017), substantive criminal law (criminal law of the "enemy," state of emergency, social movements, etc.) and criminal procedure (significant increase in fundamental rights under the influence of European law in particular). His scientific work also leads him to explore the criminal consequences of the judicialization of the mountains.
His commitment to the USMB has resulted in an active role in the creation and management of notarial training programs, as well as the management of the Institute of Judicial Studies and the Law Department. Between 2012 and 2020, he held management positions at the Faculty of Law, first as vice-dean and then as dean, before joining the university's presidential team in 2021 as vice-president in charge of training and university life.

After completing a thesis in psychophysiology at the University of Lille, Pascal Hot joined the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in 2007 as a lecturer in neuroscience. In 2014, he was promoted to University Professor in neuropsychology. A recognized specialist in affective neuroscience, he conducts innovative research on the links between physiological signals and emotional regulation, which earned him the title of senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2019.
Throughout his career, he has held a variety of positions: head of the psychology program, then director of the psychology department, and member of the CNU (National University Council), psychology section. In 2019, he became the Chambéry director of the Psychology and NeuroCognition Laboratory. Deeply involved in university life, he served on various university councils for 12 years. On January 9, 2025, Pascal Hot was elected vice president in charge of research.

After graduating from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble in 1987, Stéphane Bauzac first worked for France Télécom and then Orange, notably on several major national and international projects. In addition to technical skills in the field of telecommunications networks, he acquired practical experience in project management, which he hopes to have passed on to his students! Alongside his engineering career, he began working as a temporary lecturer at the University of Savoie in 1995, eventually participating in the creation of the DESS Telecoms and Networks program in 1999.
Highly motivated by these teaching activities, he joined the University of Savoie in 2001 as a senior lecturer. Attached to the IMEP-LAHC laboratory (which became CROMA in 2023), he quickly became involved in supervising courses, taking responsibility for the DESS Telecommunications and Networks program in 2002, then for the master's program that succeeded it. From 2013, he headed the Electronics, Telecommunications, and Networks department at the SCeM faculty. This position enabled him to significantly develop work-study programs in the courses under his responsibility. At the same time, he was elected to the council of his UFR (two terms from 2009 to 2015), then to the CFVU and CAC from 2009 to 2015. In terms of research, he is currently interested in the development of private 5G networks.

Alexandre Benoit obtained a PhD from INP Grenoble in 2007 for his work at the GIPSA laboratory on combining visual perception models and image processing. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Nantes in the IRCCyN laboratory associated with Orange Labs, where he worked on measuring the quality of new-generation screens, he joined the University of Savoie Mont Blanc in 2008 as a lecturer at the LISTIC laboratory, becoming a professor in 2021. His work generally focuses on the analysis of data sequences in a variety of fields, including multimedia, astrophysics, and industry. He develops machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches specific to data, sensors, and objectives, with the aim of developing models that are more explainable, frugal, and integrative of the physics of the domain. He is currently exploring the specific branch of decentralized machine learning to address the environmental and societal challenges that machine learning must meet in terms of frugality, privacy, and ethics. His research has led to academic and industrial partnerships involving both international companies and startups. He has also been involved in various roles, such as head of professional training in computer science, and is part of the IDEFICS project with the LAPP laboratory, which promotes collaboration with the socio-economic world on digital issues.

Geneviève Chiapusio is a university professor of plant ecology and a specialist in the effects of environmental changes (climate, pollution) on the physiology and dynamics of plants associated with their microorganisms. Her original research into chemical defense and communication molecules and their applications is particularly focused on national and international involvement in this field. Her teaching covers fundamental and applied aspects of plant ecology, involving natural space managers and businesses. She is also involved in popularizing science.
After completing her PhD (2000) at the University of Savoie and the University of Vigo (Spain), followed by postdoctoral research in Sweden (SLU, Umea), she was recruited in 2002 to the Environmental Biology Laboratory, which became the ChronoEnvironment Laboratory at the University of Franche-Comté (UFC) in 2010. She obtained her Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) in 2013. She managed bachelor's and professional master's degree internships for four years and was director of the master's program (2004-2008) and a master's program in environmental engineering (2013), then became director of the Life and Environmental Sciences Department (2006-2013).
In September 2019, she joined the CARRTEL laboratory (Alpine Center for Research on Trophic Networks and Limnic Ecosystems) at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc. She is involved in the UFR SceM (Sciences et Montagne) as deputy director (2021-2024).

Patrice Mele holds a PhD from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon, obtained in 1995, on "Scale factors in the analysis of the mechanical behavior of particulate composites." He has been a professor of materials chemistry at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc since 2006. After completing his PhD at LMOPS (UMR CNRS University of Savoie), he continued his training and research activities at INSA Lyon, including at Rhône-Poulenc Films as a chemical engineer in 1995. Appointed senior lecturer at the University of Reims-Champagne-Ardennes in 1996, he contributed in particular to the creation of a postgraduate diploma (DESS) in the transformation and recycling of polymer materials. In 1998, he joined the LMOPS laboratory (UdS), where he completed his habilitation to supervise research on “Relationships between the architecture and mechanical behavior of heterogeneous polymer matrix systems.” As a member of the LEPMI laboratory (UMR CNRS 5279), he oversees various research contracts (ANR, FUI, Interreg) with French university partners (LMS-X) on the modeling of the mechanical properties of composites using self-consistent models combined with the concept of percolation, or foreign partners (HES SO, Switzerland) on the morphological consequences induced by the geometric reduction of polymer injection-molded parts. He is currently working on materials for energy, in particular on optimizing the performance and durability of PEMFC fuel cells using a mechanical approach, and on understanding the mechanisms involved in the replication of microstructures on polymer surfaces to give them new functional properties, with various colleagues from the laboratory. Since his appointment at the University of Savoie, he has held various positions, including project leader for the creation of the DUT (University Technical Diploma) in "Packaging and Packaging Engineering" in 2006, then head of this department from 2007 to 2010. He served as Director of the IUT (University Institute of Technology) in Chambéry from 2010 to 2020, in addition to being coordinator of the USMB site from 2016 to 2020. More recently, he has been a member of the board of French Tech in the Alps Chambéry, an association promoting the development of digital technology in local businesses and the region.

Nicolas Méger graduated with a degree in computer engineering in 2001 from the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon (INSA Lyon), having completed the EURINSA European undergraduate program and an Erasmus exchange in Spain. In 2001, he joined a project under the European Information Society Technologies program to develop research in artificial intelligence focused on knowledge extraction from data. He obtained a DEA (Master's degree) in this field in 2002 and a PhD in 2004 at INSA Lyon.

In 2005, he was recruited by the University of Savoie Mont Blanc as a lecturer in computer science to help set up the computer science department at the Annecy University Institute of Technology (IUT) and contribute to the work of the Laboratory of Computer Science, Systems, Information and Knowledge Processing (LISTIC).

He thus created the professional bachelor's degree in IT project management, which he directed from 2007 to 2016, while also serving as head of international relations for the department from 2005 to 2008 and head of continuing education from 2008 to 2011. During this period, he also taught in Spain as part of the Erasmus exchange program. From 2017 to 2023, he set up the IUT Bachelor's Degree Program, an experiment that foreshadowed the current Bachelor's Degree in Technology (BUT). In 2022, with the implementation of the latter, he took responsibility for the program focused on data and artificial intelligence.

Since his arrival, his research has focused on the definition, extraction, and selection of spatiotemporal patterns, with the main applications being unsupervised analysis of satellite image time series and predictive maintenance. He obtained his accreditation to supervise research in 2013 at the University of Savoie Mont Blanc and from 2019 to 2024 he co-leads one of LISTIC's two research themes, namely Learning, Fusion and Remote Sensing (AFuTé). He was appointed university professor of computer science within these same structures in 2019.

In September 2024, he will take over from Laurence Vignollet as Vice President in charge of international relations.

A university professor in energy and process engineering, Nolwenn Le Pierrès is a specialist in sorption systems. Her main areas of research are thermal energy storage and heat conversion for thermal recovery or cooling production using these sorption processes. The fields of application are solar heat recovery and comfort in buildings. Her approach is both experimental, involving the development of innovative prototypes, and based on numerical modeling to improve the performance of these systems. She earned her Ph.D. in 2005 at the PROMES laboratory in Perpignan, then was hired in 2006 by the USMB, where she obtained her habilitation to supervise research in 2014. At the national level, she was an elected member of the National Scientific Research Committee in section 10 (2016-2021) and an elected member of the National Council of Universities in section 62 (2011-2015 and since 2024). Within USMB, she has notably been in charge of the Francophonie Mission for the VP International Relations (2017-2020) and deputy director of scientific activities at the LOCIE laboratory (2021-2024).

Claire Salmon holds a PhD in Economics from CERDI at the University of Auvergne. She was appointed senior lecturer at USMB in 1999 after a year of postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal. Her research at IREGE focuses on the intersection of labor economics, development, and demography. Between 2013 and 2023, Claire Salmon served as director of IAE Savoie Mont Blanc for two consecutive terms. She was also vice president of the national IAE France network, responsible for relations with the socio-economic world (2016-18) and then for training (2021-23). She was elected VP for Interdisciplinarity and Training-Research Links at USMB in 2023 and then in 2025. She is helping to implement the ExcellenceS SHINE (Strategy for Higher Impact oN Ecosystem and society) project and to roll out the actions of the Institut des Transitions.

Trained in Trieste and Besançon, Cristina Vignali holds a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Franche-Comté (2009). Recruited as a lecturer at the University of Savoie in 2014, she was appointed professor in 2020. She is a member of LLSETI. Her research focuses on the perception of the contemporary world by 20th-century writers, playwrights, and filmmakers in Italy and on the study of literary texts through translation. Her commitment to the University of Savoie has resulted in the co-creation of the Double Degree in Law and Applied Foreign Languages (LEA) in Annecy and the binational Master's program in Applied Foreign Languages and International Economic and Trade Studies (LEA DIET). Between 2015 and 2020, she served as director of the LEA Department before joining the presidential team in 2021 as vice president in charge of campus life, culture, CSTI, and leading the fight against discrimination.

A third-year sociology student, Nicolas Mourgues has been active in university life for several years. At the age of 15, he was elected to his neighborhood council, the high school student council, and his high school's board of directors, thus beginninghis commitment to improving student life. In 2023, he was elected student vice president and was re-elected to the same position in 2025 for a new two-year term. "Studying alongside my peers on a daily basis, being their spokesperson within the presidential team, and a key player in defending their interests. The VPE is not the vice president of students, but rather thestudent vice president. This distinction is essential, as he has a duty to represent students in all their diversity of backgrounds, campuses, personal and academic situations, and to work with all university stakeholders to build a structuring project."