Promoting work at the interface

To create real interaction, mathematicians must be placed in applied science laboratories since pure or applied mathematicians have preoccupations and objectives that are sometimes too far removed from applications. At the same time, it is important to maintain a high level in mathematics in order to be recognised by the community. This calls for a real effort from mathematicians.

These difficult careers are not given the value they deserve in France. In other countries, it is slightly different as there are small mixed groups and mathematics laboratories or departments, for example, in medical faculties. A brilliant student in mathematics will be encouraged to do a thesis at the interface between two disciplines, for example, in biology. In France, we are a long way behind and this is due in part to the very rigid system of the UFRs, the research and training units, and the problem of recruitment for and evaluation of interdisciplinary posts. However, there are facilities with the CNRS and the STII (Engineering and Information Sciences and Technologies) intersections, and with the new teams located at the Collège de France, particularly SMILE (Stochastic Models for the Inference of Life Evolution) led by Amaury Lambert, UPMC, at the CIRB*. We should also mention the LEFE/MANU programme (Fluid envelopes and the environment / Mathematical and numerical methods) at INSU, the aim of which is to bring the geophysics and mathematics communities closer together.

* The CIRB (Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology) is a new Collège de France / CNRS / INSERM research structure located at the Collège de France, in the centre of Paris. Nine teams from different origins recently created this structure with the aim of promoting new collaborative agreements in biology and through its constituent disciplines.