Our members have talent: interview with Vanessa PROUX, Director of Sup'Biotech

Tell us about your organization. What are some unique features of your organization? What is your relationship with ABG? When and why have you joined ABG?

What school activity are you most proud of?

What messages would you share with our audiences?

Tell us about your organization. What are some unique features of your organization? What is your relationship with ABG? When and why have you joined ABG?

Sup'Biotech is a post-baccalaureate engineering school (integrated preparatory cycle + engineering cycle) specializing in Biotechnology, created nearly 20 years ago to provide a complementary training response to the growing need for engineering profiles in the fields of application of Biotechnology (Health, Agri-food, Environment, Cosmetics...). The special features of Sup'Biotech's engineering training are based on a strong, multidisciplinary scientific project pedagogy, an international anchorage from the 1st to the 5th year and close relationships with companies.

I found my current position thanks to ABG, I am a member of the board of directors. Sup'Biotech trains its engineers for and through research and on average 10% of them go on to PhD level when they leave Sup'Biotech. In this context, interacting with ABG is, naturally, part of what we do. We also recruit most of our teaching staff through ABG.

What school activity are you most proud of?

This is a difficult question as I am proud of many of the school's activities and have been following its development since its opening in 2004. I will mention as an example the program of innovative projects of Sup'Biotech: the innovation projects SBIP Sup'Biotech which are collective projects deployed from the 2nd to the 5th year. The concept is to ask a team of students to think about an unmet need in biotechnology and to propose a solution.  Students then have four years to work on technical and economic feasibility.

At the same time, we encourage our teams to participate in external competitions and challenges within SBIP. I am proud to see that, since the very first time we participated in these competitions, our teams have suceeded each year (ex: Biomim'expo, Syntec Engineer of the Future Award).

What messages would you share with our audiences?

• To PhD candidates / PhD holders / Master's degree students / engineering students...

In addition to being a professional experience in its own, a PhD not only allows you to deepen your scientific expertise, it also develops soft skills that can be applied to a wide variety of professions. I would never have imagined during the preparation of my PhD that I would be managing an engineering school, and yet today I see all the advantages of being a PhD holder for my job... In conclusion, if you feel ready to embark on a PhD, this will open new doors!

• To private sector recruiters...

You need new talents to support the development of your activities while taking into account the environmental and social issues that are becoming more and more prevalent. Of course new generations are increasingly in search of meaningful jobs and must share the values of the companies with which they work. The common ground (or the modus operandi?) can sometimes still be established...

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