UESTC Winter School – Chengdu
From February 2 to 7, the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Montpellier welcomed 20 students from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu, China, for an immersive week of mathematics, innovation, and French culture.
This week was marked by:
- lectures given by university professors and researchers, highlighting the legacy of Grothendieck and Jean-Jacques Moreau
- presentations and visits to key facilities such asIMAG, Euromov, the MIPS cluster, and the Montpellier Business Innovation Center ( BIC )
- special opportunities for discussion about contemporary applications of mathematics in movement sciences, modeling, and AI
- A cultural immersion including discovering Montpellier's heritage, a day trip to Avignon, and a trip to the beach, a first for some students.
Monday, February 2
- Welcome breakfast
- Opening ceremony attended by Clare Hart, Vice President of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole and delegate for international relations and European cooperation, François Pierrot, Vice President for International Relations at the University of Montpellier, and Jean-Michel Marin, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences.
- Lecture: Alexander Grothendieck and the Power of Abstraction by Jean-Michel Marin
- Lunch cocktail party
- Presentation to students at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier on the UESTC Summer Schools.
- Lecture: Jean-Jacques Moreau and the Birth of Non-Smooth Mechanics by Pierre Alart
Tuesday, February 3
- Lecture: From Convex Analysis to Contact Dynamics: The Legacy of Moreau. Applications in Granular and Fractured Media: Bridging Theory and Engineering by Frederic Dubois
- Presentation of the MIPS Training and Research Center ( Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, and Systems)
- Visit to the Montpellier Business Innovation Center (BIC)
Wednesday, February 4
- Lecture: Computational cardiovascular biomechanics: a multiscale and multiphysics perspective by Franck Nicoud
- Presentation of the international strategy of the University of Montpellier by François Pierrot – Vice President in charge of International Relations at UM
- Tour of the former Faculty of Medicine in Montpellier
- Guided tour of Montpellier's Jardin des Plantes
Thursday, February 5
- Lecture: From Musculoskeletal Models to Motion Analysis and Bioengineering by Franck Jourdan
- Lecture on Mathematical Foundations of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning by Jean-Michel Marin
- Networking cocktail party
Friday, February 6
- Guided tour of the city of Montpellier
- Discussion with researchers from IMAG (Institut Montpellérien Alexander Grothendieck) and tour of IMAG
- Tour of the EuroMov laboratory (Human Movement Sciences)
Saturday, February 7
- Guided tour of the city of Avignon
- Lunch on the Rhône
- Visit to Le Grau-du-Roi
- Closing night
A huge thank you to all the speakers, the organizing teams, and the students for their commitment and curiosity!