Laurent Servant: Vice-President for international networks

An engineer by training, Laurent Servant studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux (ENSCBP), now ENSMAC (in French). He continued his studies with a thesis in physical chemistry at the Paul Pascal Research Centre in Bordeaux (in French).
After defending his thesis in 1992, Laurent Servant took off for Canada where he completed a post-doc at the University of Toronto.
Recruited as a lecturer in 1993 at University Bordeaux I, he joined the Molecular Spectroscopy Group (GSM) (in French) at the Institute of Molecular Sciences to develop research on the study of confined media using vibrational spectroscopic methods.
In 2010, he coordinated an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate project involving four French graduate research schools, nine universities in five countries, supported by companies.

This experience showed him how valuable it is for doctoral students to participate in international research projects and revealed the advantages that academic institutions can gain from their involvement in such networks: putting their views to the test and improving their international positioning, their daily practices and their governance.
Appointed as a university professor in 1999, he began directing the Graduate Research School of Chemical Science in 2005.
In 2012, he was appointed Vice-President of international relations for University Bordeaux I, then for the University of Bordeaux in 2014. In 2018, he was appointed Vice-President for international networks, a mission that was renewed in 2022.

Key dates

1988: ENSCBP engineer

1988-1989: ONERA, Châtillon (conscript engineer)

1992: PhD in physical chemistry, University Bordeaux I

1992-1993: Post-doc, University of Toronto

1993: Lecturer, University Bordeaux I

1999: University professor, University Bordeaux I

2005-2012: Director of the Graduate Research School of Chemical Sciences, University Bordeaux I

2012-2014: Vice-President for international relations, University Bordeaux I

2014-2018: Deputy Vice-President for international relations, University of Bordeaux

2018-2022: Vice-President for international networks, University of Bordeaux

2022: Vice-President for international networks, University of Bordeaux