Back!

Last year I decided that, in the interest of time, it was better to put all my online efforts into a single place.

As it made absolutely no difference, I am working on reverting that change and will use this blog again (as it is better referenced that the other one). I have also started to transfer the content here. Do not be surprised if you see old posts popping up.

Currently offline

This blog was created in 2009. The idea, back then, was to take a few scientific topics (from my own research or from the news), and to explain them to a lay audience.

I think the idea was good, but the timing was not, as it came at a stage in my career when I rarely had enough spare time to post useful content here.

I have therefore decided to temporarily suspend this blog, and to return to it once I am in a position to ensure at least a couple of posts every month. In the meantime, my old posts will no longer be accessible. When the blog returns, some of this content may reappear.

If you need to contact me, please go to my main website.

Stand-by

As you have probably noticed, it has been quite a while since my last post here...

This blog is currently on stand-by, as I have very little time to write decent posts for this page. In the meantime, if you have a subject you would like me to cover, please feel free to leave a comment below this post, and I will do my best to help.

Welcome here!

Welcome on this blog!
If you allow me, I will take a few minutes to explain the rationale behind the creation of this blog.

As you may know, a researcher spends a fair amount of his/her time trying to efficiently disseminate the results he/she obtained. If we look at it in a very crude way, there are two levels of dissemination.

Obviously, the primary "target" of this effort is the scientific community: colleagues from the same area, but also the community at large, because a breakthrough rarely has implications in a unique domain. And with the increasing prevalence of multidisciplinary research, this is even more crucial.

This level of dissemination is paramount, and a researcher's efficiency in this task can largely determine how successful a career may be. On the other hand, it would be unfortunate to neglect another crucial level: knowledge transmission to the society as a whole.

Research is not possible without public funding, and it is therefore of chief importance that citizens are given the opportunity to access the results and benefits of this investment. Expertise levels are of course different, and so are expectations and questions, but neglecting this aspect would ultimately compromise the future of research.

The current economic climate makes this even more important: funding will decrease if scientists can not show they are worth being invested on, but at the same time, large-scale dissemination is becoming more difficult. Mass media are suffering, and cutting expenses often implies reducing the coverage of topics such as Arts and Science.

Obviously, this blog is not a solution in itself, but if it can help a few people get a clearer picture of the questions and challenges I am currently working on, then it will be worth the time taken to write these lines.
I guess it will at least be useful for family and friends... :)

Updates will be written during my spare time, so I apologize in advance for the potentially long time in between these.
If you can read French or Japanese, please feel free to have a look at what I wrote using those languages (for the latter, you will just have to wait until my level has sufficiently improved). The content is not necessarily identical.
And if you have any specific question, or if there is a theme you would like me to cover, please leave a comment!