A former PPSM doctoral student in Japan

What is your background?

After the baccalaureate, I went to the lycée St Louis in Paris in the Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Science section. After these two years, I joined the University of Paris-Saclay, in the 3rd year of the Chemistry Licence.

At the end of this licence, and on the advice of the course leader, I applied and joined the magistère of molecular physics and chemistry between the University of Paris-Saclay and ENS Paris-Saclay, in the first year of a master's degree. This was followed by a master 2 in organic chemistry and a thesis at the Supramolecular and Macromolecular Photophysics and Photochemistry (PPSM - ENS Paris-Saclay).

After my defence, I went to Dresden, Germany, for a first post-doctorate at the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) in the group of Professor Sebastian REINEKE.
I then went to Japan for my second post-doctoral fellowship at NAIST.

Why and what post-doctoral work did you do at NAIST?

I have always aimed to continue research work in the academic world. Today this environment has become ultra competitive. After my first post-doc in Germany, TUD, I felt that I needed a second experience to feel fully legitimate when applying for permanent positions in France.

I had done my Master 1 internship at NAIST, and had collaborated with Professor Tsuyoshi KAWAI during my thesis. I knew that the university and this team had an ideal framework for a solid second postdoctoral experience. With the help of Prof. Kawai, I applied for and obtained a 2-year Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship.

What is your current position and what are your research areas?

I am currently employed by the NAIST faculty as a teaching assistant. It is a 5 year position, renewable once.

I work at the interface of organic chemistry and photophysics. My main research topics are :

• The synthesis and study of luminescent molecules/polymers with delayed and polarized fluorescence properties.
• The synthesis and study of photoresponsive molecules with applications ranging from X-ray detection to photocatalysis.

Why did you choose to join NAIST?

I have been living in Japan for 3 years now. While I was doing my 2nd post-doc, one of the assistant professors was promoted and left for another university, leaving a vacancy. After discussion with Professor Kawai, who strongly encouraged me to apply, I decided that the opportunity was too good to pass up. I know the laboratory and the team well.
I can continue my research activities without being swamped with teaching while supervising about 2 trainees each year.

What is your mission as supervisor of PhD students in cotutelle with the PPSM?

I take care of the daily life in the laboratory. I help with the science: experiments, interpretation of results, preparation of publications and presentations etc. It depends a lot on how much autonomy the student wants to have, as well as on the more administrative details.

Any advice for doctoral or post-doctoral students interested in NAIST? Do these exchanges also concern master's students?

Exchanges are open to all students of the University of Paris-Saclay from the Master level onwards as part of an internship. It also depends on the capacity of the laboratories at NAIST.

For doctoral students, the double degree course is a real opportunity, even if it does have some challenges. Do not hesitate to discuss it with the teachers on the French side and to contact us on the Japanese side. It is better to start the dialogues early enough to form a pair between 2 teams and to determine the research topic and the contribution of each team.
In addition to the French scholarships, some Japanese scholarships are also available. Fluency in English is of course required.

For post-docs interested in NAIST, it is best to contact the team they would like to join as early as possible. Unfortunately, many laboratories do not have sufficient funds to pay a post-doctoral fellow, but scholarships exist, such as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). However, writing a research proposal to submit can be very time consuming. I had contacted Professor KAWAI 6 months in advance.

What do you want to do in the future?

I am not 100% sure. I don't know if I want to come back to France and apply for professorships or stay in Japan and become an associate professor.
It will depend a lot on my results, performance and opportunities in the next few years.

But I want to stay in the academic and teaching field.