[Portrait] Sylvie Cantet-Seguin, Research Valorisation Engineer at DARI

What is your job?

After obtaining a PhD in Cell Biology, I chose to do a Master's degree in Innovation and Technology Management (ESC Toulouse) to have a double competence and to widen the field of possibilities in terms of employment. I was thus able to work for several years at CNRS Innovation (Paris) and discover the world of intellectual property and the technology transfer. I joined the Valorisation and Technology Transfer Unit of the DARI in November 2021 where I am in charge of setting up different types of contracts related to research.

What is its link with Research?

The Valorisation Engineer works closely with the teacher-researchers in order to provide a contractual framework for any research project with another institution, with an industrial company (e.g. in the case of a Cifre thesis) or with several partners in the context of a funded project (e.g. ANR consortium). In addition to the scientific aspect managed by those in charge of the project, it is important to foresee what will happen to the results of the research in terms of distribution/publicationbut also protection and exploitation when the results are appropriate.

Generally speaking, the aim is to be able to advise and support researchers in their interactions with the various partners in the socio-economic world, in consultation with the other Pôles of the DARI and even the other services of the university.

What does it mean to you to work at a university?

Working at a university is a bit of a homecoming!

I find the exchanges with the teacher-researchers very stimulating and enriching because I am discovering areas of research that I did not know much about until now. You constantly have to know how to adapt to different fields, different people and different problems, often innovating in the drawing up of contracts or the implementation of new internal procedures.

What advice would you give to people who want to work in research support?

It is very useful to have a first-hand experience of research to understand the world of research! Research support covers a wide range of jobs and profiles, and I encourage students to do internships in research laboratories and to come and meet us at the DARI if they want to know more about the different aspects of research support that we manage in the department (dari@univ-avignon.fr).

What object or image from your business best illustrates you?

An image created to illustrate a profession at the border between science, business and law, with a brain that sometimes gets hot!