photographist

“I have always wanted to understand and to study, and I have been lucky enough to have an open-minded and supportive family. I thought the field of health was one of the noblest causes I could embrace. I am a doctoral researcher in medicinal chemistry, involved in a French National Research Agency (ANR) project. There are several teams, all with different specialities: there are chemists who build molecules, biologists who study results on the molecules selected and specialists who put our molecules, with the DNA sequence, onto an electronic chip. We check the ability to inhibit bacteria, notably Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is a very interesting target because there is a resistance phenomenon with regard to the massive use of antibiotics. The work is extremely stimulating and gives us the opportunity to consider a lot of molecules and to re-synthesise those that demonstrate the best affinity.

I have always loved France. I took evening classes in French at the Alliance française in Bologna, my home town, where I took all the European diplomas in French. I absolutely wanted to do my doctoral degree in France. I found a research subject I liked, sent my CV in and was called the next day. It was totally unexpected and brilliant. To understand the research system in France, I joined Contact, my university's association of doctoral researchers. I was elected representative of doctoral researchers on the scientific and technical council at Montpellier 2 university and now I am also vice-president of the Confederation of young researchers (CJC). For me it is an honour and an exceptional source of enrichment. I learn a lot of things, which I try to pass on to other students, in particular taking part in writing the "Guide du doctorat – Le doctorat à la loupe", written by the CJC and the ministry.”

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