FOTON Institute is involved in scientific outreach activities all year round, offering workshops, conferences, events, interviews and articles on research and the scientific process to the general public and schoolchildren. In particular, the Institute takes part in the Fête de la Science, the biggest annual national event for scientific culture and the dissemination of research to the general public, every year at the beginning of October. In all these actions, particular attention is paid to the feminization and social openness of science, making it accessible to all, and promoting exchanges to establish a sustainable science-society link on a local level.
“Fête de la Science”
For many years now, Institut FOTON staff – both permanent employees and young researchers – have been setting up stands at the Fête de la Science events in Rennes and Lannion. These encounters with schoolchildren and the general public highlight laboratory research work, share scientific news and knowledge on the themes of photonics, energy, photovoltaics and hydrogen, produced by men and women, and discuss research careers.
FOTON Institute is proud of its “Fête de la Science” ambassadors!
Respectively Assistant Professor and Full Professor at FOTON Institute, Maud Guézo has been appointed “Fête de la Science” Ambassador for Brittany and the Ille-Et-Vilaine départment in 2018, and Thierry Chartier “Fête de la Science” Ambassador for the Côtes d’Armor département in 2023.
These two “Fête de la Science” ambassadors are involved in the Pôle Bretagne de Culture Scientifique, Technique et Industrielle, run by the Espace des Sciences (Rennes).
Pictures of the 2023 edition
(Rennes)
(Lannion)
(Rennes)
(Lannion)
(Lannion)
For schoolchildren…
“Immersion Sciences” Event
“Immersion Sciences” event: every year in March, organized by the Rectorat, the CNRS and the Région Bretagne. The Institute offers 3 activities at this event: workshops on the “LED/optics” theme, round-table discussions on research professions, scientific careers and career paths, and a popularization conference on nanomaterials. 11th participation of the FOTON Institute in 2023 !
It lets me know which fields I don’t like at all, for example biology, not a big fan! But there are other fields I’m discovering that look like fun, like… quantum physics!
Amandine, 11th grade (Extract radio INTERVIEW RCF 06/04/2022)
Operation “A la découverte de la recherche”: led by the Rectorat, in March-April in départements 35 and 56 and coordinated by M. Guézo at Institut FOTON: lectures by researchers offered in classes in local schools. The FOTON Institute has been involved since 2014.
“Discovering Research” Initiative
Led by the Rectorat and held each year in March and April across the Ille-et-Vilaine (35) and Morbihan (56) departments, the “Discovering Research” initiative is coordinated by Mr. Guézo at Institut FOTON. It brings researchers into local schools to give lectures and introduce students to scientific research.
Institut FOTON has been participating in this initiative since 2014!
… and for the public at large…
Scientific Lecture: “New Classes of Semiconductors for Photovoltaics”, presented by Jacky Even, Professor at Institut FOTON, during the Optics and Photonics Network Days, held in Roscoff from 10 to 12 October 2023. The Optics and Photonics Network is one of the CNRS networks coordinated by the Mission for Transversal and Interdisciplinary Initiatives (MITI).
A recording of the lecture is available here.
Scientific conference for the general public on “Colors, from light to laser” by Maud Guézo, Assistant Professor at the Institut FOTON, at the Noyal-Châtillon-Sur-Seiche Media Library, as part of its “Light in all its states” event during the Fête de la Science and throughout October 2023.
“Photovoltaic solar energy” scientific conference for the general public by Olivier Durand, Professor at the FOTON Institute, at the Saint-Michel auditorium in Les Sables d’Olonne. This conference was proposed by the Sol’aire Côte de Lumière collective as part of the Climate Air Energy week from October 8 to 15, 2023, organized by the Sables d’Olonne conurbation.
The exhibition “The Extraordinary Ray“, presented at Les Champs Libres in Rennes from November 2022 to March 2023, offered an immersive sensory experience that revealed a physical phenomenon normally invisible to the human eye: the polarization of light. Attracting nearly 30,000 visitors, the exhibition successfully combined a demanding artistic approach with a scientific topic—optical polarization—that may initially appear highly technical, while remaining accessible to the general public. The exhibition was the result of a two-year art-and-science research project conducted at the University of Rennes by two artists, Fred Murie and Flavien Théry (collective Spéculaire), together with Julien Fade, an optics researcher (formerly at Institut FOTON, now at Institut Fresnel).
“Light, what a phenomenon!” workshops at the “Prison des Femmes” in Rennes, and exchanges on Science with women prisoners. Participation of the FOTON Institute in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Science with and for society
The Rennes site was awarded the “Science with and for society” label in April 2022 for a three-year period by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The “TrIptyque Science Société pour AGir Ensemble” (TISSAGE) project proposed by the University of Rennes, its component institutions and the University of Rennes 2 aims to implement a dialogue between science and society by forging links between citizens, researchers and decision-makers, particularly on subjects related to environmental, health, digital or societal transitions.
Maud Guézo, Assistant Professor at Institut FOTON, is in charge of the science-society relationship at INSA Rennes and is responsible for Axis 2 “Reinventing public debate” of the TISSAGE project.
