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European Researchers' Night in Chambéry

Come and meet USMB researchers on September 27!

Away from the institutional framework of the university and its research laboratories, come and meet the researchers! It's a unique opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with scientists from all disciplines. On Friday September 27, between 5pm and 10pm, a dozen researchers will be taking over the Galerie Eurêka for a series of mini-conferences and experimental presentations. They will share their work and memories of scientific adventures in a captivating and convivial way on the theme of " Exploring the universe ".

The program

Inauguration of the exhibition "En avant Mars!

Throughout the evening, explore the planet Mars with new eyes in the company of Galerie Eurêka's scientific mediators. The inauguration will be followed by refreshments from 6.30pm to 6.45pm.

Mini-conferences open to all

Each lecture is presented twice during the evening, and lasts 30 minutes (no prior registration required). The lectures will be moderated by students from the Heritage and Museums Master's program atUniversité Savoie Mont Blanc.

To find out more about the content of the conferences, scroll down the program below.

eureka 2

The dark side of the Universe
At 5pm and 8pm, in room 1
By Narei Lorenzo Martinez, researcher at the LAPP laboratory

Everyone has heard of dark matter and dark energy, the supposed missing matter and energy of the universe. But what are they really? What is the evidence for their existence or non-existence? What gaps do they fill in our models? And how can telescopic observation of the Universe teach us more about their properties?
Narei Lorenzo Martinez has been a researcher at the Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP) since 2016. After participating in the discovery of the Higgs boson as part of her thesis between 2010 and 2013, she studied rare processes of interactions between four bosons with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. She was recruited to CNRS at LAPP in 2016, to continue working on this subject as well as on the development of new electronic acquisition cards for the ATLAS calorimeter. Since October 2023, she has joined the LAPP Cosmology group, which is analyzing the observations produced by the LSST telescope, in order to study dark matter and dark energy.

What's the weather like on Mars today?
At 5pm and 7pm, in room 2
By Luca Montabone, researcher and director of Paneurêka

Mars has an atmosphere and all the ingredients for an active meteorology, similar to that of Earth. However, there is one major difference: Martian weather is dominated by dust rather than water. Let's explore how dust storms can ruin a nice walk under the Martian sun.
After a degree in physics at the University of Turin and a doctorate in geophysics at the University of Genoa, he pursued his research in the UK, France, the USA and the United Arab Emirates. For over twenty years, he has focused on the study of climate and weather on Mars, in particular dust storms, eddies and their relationship with the general circulation of the atmosphere. He currently works at the Technopôle "Savoie-Technolac" in Le Bourget du Lac, where he founded his own company (Paneureka), which combines research, academics and popularization of planetary sciences.

How can we measure the movement and distance of galaxies?
At 5pm and 8pm, in room 3
By Argheesh Bhanot, teacher-researcher in the LISTIC laboratory

Measuring the distances and motions of galaxies is essential for answering fundamental questions about the origin, structure, evolution and destiny of the Universe. But the astrophysicist who undertakes this task comes up against a major technical difficulty: how to estimate distances without being able to use a tape measure?
Argheesh Bhanot is currently a teacher-researcher at the Laboratoire d'Informatique, Systèmes, Traitement de l'Information et de la Connaissance (LISTIC) and at the Annecy IUT of theUniversité Savoie Mont Blanc. He is interested in statistical signal processing and artificial intelligence for science and remote sensing. During his career, he has taken part in several projects with astrophysical applications.

Mars and its canals: science or fiction?
At 5:30pm and 8:30pm, in room 1
By Richard Taillet, teacher-researcher at the LAPTh laboratory

For several years in the 19th century, astronomical observations suggested that the surface of Mars was home to structures built by intelligent beings. This episode in the history of science takes us back to the way in which the question of life on Mars, and elsewhere, was considered.
Richard Taillet is a lecturer in physics atUniversité Savoie Mont Blanc and carries out his research in particle astrophysics at the Theoretical Physics Laboratory, where he works mainly on the Dark Matter problem. He is also involved in numerous activities to disseminate knowledge, both at university level and to the general public. Several times a year, he gives lectures on different areas of physics to a variety of audiences in France and abroad.

Dark matter or the ghost of the universe
At 5.30pm and 8pm, in room 2
By Margaux Jomain, PhD student in the LAPTh laboratory

For several decades now, the scientific community has suspected the existence of invisible, omnipresent matter in our Universe. Although elusive, it sows many clues to its presence. But why is this phantom, so discreet, such an important issue in today's physics, and how are physicists investigating its mysteries?
Margaux Jomain is a PhD student at the Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique Théorique (LAPTh), in particle physics and cosmology. Her research focuses on the phenomenology of dark matter.

Can we simulate the universe?
At 5:30pm and 8:30pm, in room 3
By Vincent Reverdy, researcher at the LAPP laboratory

In recent decades, it has become possible to simulate the academics of large cosmic structures using supercomputers. But what are these digital experiments really simulating? And what do these simulations say about the origin and evolution of the Universe? Let's travel together to the frontiers of computer science and physics.
Vincent Reverdy is an interdisciplinary researcher in computer science and cosmology at the Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP). After a thesis in numerical cosmology at Paris Observatory in 2014, an interdisciplinary post-doctorate in the USA, and a post-doctorate in the Mathematics Department of the École Normale Supérieure, Vincent joined the CNRS in 2022. Today, as a member of the LSST team at LAPP, he continues his research at the frontier between numerical cosmology and fundamental computer science, while contributing to the Vera Rubin Observatory.

Is there a Planet B for the future of humanity?
At 7pm and 9pm, in room 1
By Fabien MalbetIPAG laboratory researcher

Since 1995, more than 5,000 planets have been detected around other stars. Astronomers can now say that there is at least one planet around every star in our galaxies, some of them capable of harboring water. This raises the question of the probability of extraterrestrial life, but also the possibility of hosting terrestrial life forms. Should we believe in a Planet B for the future of humanity?
Fabien Malbet is a CNRS researcher in Astronomy and Astrophysics at IPAG, Université Grenoble Alpes.

Comets and asteroid dust around the stars
At 7pm and 9pm, in room 3
By Julien Milli, teacher-researcher in the IPAG laboratory

Extra-solar planets are hard to photograph. They are very faint compared to the star around which they revolve, and are very close to it. But studying the dust from comets or asteroids around these stars is more accessible, as they scatter light better. And this dust can tell us a lot about the academics planets, betraying the presence of extra-solar planets, or revealing the ingredients of planets! From the telescope to the laboratory, we'll see how we study this dust.
Julien Milli is an assistant astronomer at the Grenoble Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics (IPAG: UGA/CNRS). He works on circumstellar disks, astrophysical instrumentation for direct imaging of exoplanetary systems, and the environmental transition in astronomy.

A walk on Mars chapter I: Curiosity in Gale Crater
At 7:30pm and 9pm, in room 2
By Eric Lewin, teacher-researcher at the ISTerre laboratory

For the past 14 years, the Curiosity spacecraft has been on the move. It has climbed 700 m up a mountain not far from the Martian equator. How does it work? What has it discovered? And what remains to be discovered?
Eric Lewin is a teacher-researcher at the ISTerre laboratory. He is a mathematician, geologist, volcanologist and planetologist, working on NASA's MSL and M2020 missions.

A walk on Mars chapter II: Perseverance in the Jezero crater
At 7:30pm and 9:30pm, in Room 1
By Pierre Beck, teacher-researcher at the IPAG laboratory

For the past 3 years, the Perseverance astromobile has been observing, scraping and sometimes collecting samples from the surface of Mars in its basket. When will they return to Earth? How are they chosen? And why bother bringing them back?

 

Pierre Beck is a teacher-researcher at the IPAG laboratory. A geologist, meteorologist and planetary scientist, he also works on NASA's MSL and M2020 missions.

Gamma-ray astronomy, a new way to contemplate the stars
At 7.30pm and 9.30pm - Room 3
By Léo Le MoignePhD student at the LAPP laboratory

The light our eyes perceive is only a tiny fraction of the rays that pass through our Universe. The last century has seen the emergence of numerous technologies that have enabled us to venture into the realm of the invisible, to better understand the astrophysical phenomena that surround us. These advances have not only answered our questions; they have challenged our understanding of physics by revealing extreme and previously unknown events. Where do these energy bombs come from, as astrophysicists call them "gamma-ray bursts"?
Léo Le Moigne is a PhD student at the Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP) in the gamma-ray astronomy group. He is part of the CTAO collaboration, an international telescope array project. His research focuses on transient phenomena, in particular gamma-ray bursts.

The Exoplanets closest to our solar system, an opportunity to search for life
At 8:30pm and 9:30pm - Room 2
By Xavier Delfosse, teacher-researcher at the IPAG laboratory

Since the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a star other than our Sun a quarter-century ago, several thousand other planets have been discovered. Some are similar in size to Earth, and orbit at a distance from their star that makes the presence of liquid water on their surface conceivable. Major projects are currently underway to analyze the composition of the Exo-Earths closest to us, and eventually to search for traces of life on these planets.
Xavier Delfosse is an astronomer at the Grenoble Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics (IPAG: UGA/CNRS). He works on the detection of planets orbiting red dwarf stars (small stars less than half the mass of the Sun). After discovering the first exoplanet around such a star in 1998, Xavier Delfosse and his colleagues went on to discover a large fraction of the exoplanets closest to us.

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