Inalco at the Experimentarium 2025 Festival

Three PhD students, three viewpoints, the same desire to pass on

Representing the diversity of Inalco's research fields, our three PhD students made their voices heard, each in their own way:

• Alexis Markovitch (IFRAE) explored the history of modern Japanese cuisine, between popular traditions and political mutations;
• Ourida Manseri (LaCNAD) presented her research into Berber syntax, shedding light on the logic of discursive structures;
• Miharitiana Rakotonirina (PLIDAM) addressed contemporary dynamics between witchcraft, Christianity and modernity in Antananarivo.

All three brilliantly met the challenge of making their research accessible, lively and conducive to exchange.

A variety of formats to meet all audiences

During three days, doctoral students took part in a wide variety of contexts, designed to reach the widest possible audience:

• Classical workshops with school groups or in media libraries;
• Science walks in the city of Besançon;
• Informal exchanges at markets ("along the way" format);
• Speed-searching: 10-minute conversations in small groups around a key object;
• Mediation games: "Draw my research" or "Science blind test";
• And new for 2025: interventions in retirement homes, particularly rich intergenerational moments.

But the highlight of the festival was undoubtedly the European Museum Night, at the Musée Comtois and the Besançon Natural History Museum. Each researcher spoke alongside a work from the collection chosen to echo his or her theme. This sensitive, immersive format weaved unexpected links between scientific knowledge and cultural heritage.

L'Inalco, first Parisian institution in the network

The Experimentarium Network brings together several universities committed to promoting research through scientific mediation: Université de Bourgogne (founding structure), Université de Franche-Comté (Marie et Louis Pasteur de Besançon), Université de La Réunion, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières... Inalco is the first Parisian institution to join the network, in 2025.

And tomorrow?

To date, eight Inalco doctoral students have been trained in scientific mediation using the Experimentarium methodology. This pool will be expanded as of the start of the 2025 academic year, with new training sessions planned. The objective is clear: to train a generation of young researchers capable of sharing their work outside university walls, with a wide range of audiences.

And perhaps, one day, organize an edition of the Experimentarium Festival at Inalco, in partnership with other establishments in the network. Such a project would enable the establishment to boost its visibility, forge links with other disciplines, and become even more firmly rooted in its territory.