Lyon, 30 January 2026, the Lyon-Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance and Jean Monnet University, hosted a day dedicated to the 2024 and 2025 thesis bundles at the INSA premises. This event was a highlight for doctoral students engaged in collective research on the challenges of decarbonisation and responsible digital technology, two of the College’s three key areas of focus.

Enriching feedback for the 2024 thesis

Launched in September 2024, the thesis bundles of 2024 brings together six doctoral students (Agathe Cavana, Vincent Duret, Herman Djerareou, Pablo Laico and Maxime Ritouet) from nine laboratories, supervised by 16 researchers. This exchange provided an opportunity to review the functioning of this innovative programme, which promotes transdisciplinary approaches to addressing the challenges of decarbonisation.

The discussions highlighted:

• The richness of collaborations between various disciplines (materials, systems, human sciences, etc.).
• The importance of collective actions, such as laboratory visits, conferences (e.g. Low-Tech), and scientific mediation projects with La Rotonde.
• The challenges associated with the diversity of methods and project maturities, perceived as a strength for innovation.

Launch of the 2025 Thesis bundles: Responsible Digital Technology

The day also marked the official launch of the 2025 Thesis Package, focusing on the theme of ‘Data and Artificial Intelligence in a Sustainable and Responsible Approach’. This new programme brings together six doctoral students (Leo Calmette, Ugo Martinez, Jose Antonio Miranda Mattei, Jocelyn Maury, Katterine Patricia Taipe Huamani and Anouar Zahran) from 11 laboratories and supervised by 16 researchers to explore the environmental, ethical, social and economic challenges of digital technology.

A collective strategy for transitions

The thesis bundles embody the desire of the Lyon Saint-Etienne Engineering Alliance and Jean Monnet University to strengthen synergies between laboratories and support high-impact research for transitions. They aim to encourage scientific mediation, in particular by offering doctoral students in the thesis clusters training in partnership with the CIST La Rotonde.

In line with this approach, thesis bundles are an original mechanism designed to promote cross-disciplinary approaches by bringing together four to six theses on the same transition-related theme from complementary disciplines and laboratories across all institutions in the Lyon–Saint-Étienne area, in partnership with Jean Monnet University in Saint-Étienne.

The 2024 thesis bundles has helped to build a multidisciplinary scientific community around the challenges of decarbonisation and responsible digital technology, promoting scientific exchange, mediation and openness in research practices.

Feedback included:

• Pablo Lacio, a PhD student researching photovoltaic energy, worked on developing and comparing innovative solar modules, while actively participating in the programme’s activities: laboratory visits (Hubert Curien, Fayol Institute), Low-Tech conference and outreach activities with La Rotonde.
• Agathe Cavanna, leader of the PHOTOSOL project, highlighted the value of interdisciplinary exchanges, the organisation of inter-laboratory meetings, the creation of analytical posters and the implementation of a scientific mediation project.
• Ngo, an international doctoral student, highlighted the richness of the cross-disciplinary perspectives (materials, systems, human sciences), despite the diversity of methods and project maturities.
• Maxime, a doctoral student researching urban transformation, currently on a mobility programme in Quebec, has been working on participatory processes and the role of citizens in the ecological transition of cities.

This feedback confirms the scientific and human value of the programme, while highlighting the inherent limitations of disciplinary diversity, which is embraced as one of the programme’s strengths.