Spotlight on Young Researchers – Revisited: From Luxembourg, to Cambridge, France, and an ERC grant

BACK TO RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: FNR HIGHLIGHTS

When Guillaume Nataf was featured in Spotlight on Young Researchers in 2017, he had completed his PhD at LIST in the research group of Jens Kreisel (former FNR PEARL Chair, now Rector of the University of Luxembourg), and had just started a Postdoc position at the University of Cambridge. We catch up with Guillaume, now a researcher at CNRS in France with an ERC Starting Grant in his pocket, about where his research journey has taken him over the last years.

Are you still active as a researcher?

“Yes, I obtained a permanent position as researcher in the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France. I am working in a laboratory called GREMAN, specialized in materials, microelectronics, acoustics and nanotechnology.”

Where has your career journey taken you since 2017?

“In 2017, just after my PhD, I joined the University of Cambridge in England, for a postdoc. I stayed there for four years, which were incredibly enriching. I met many new researchers, from all fields, including social sciences. I could set up new collaborations, obtain my own funding, carry out new research. I also had the chance to advocate for postdocs by joining the Postdocs of Cambridge Society.

“I then successfully passed the competition to become CNRS researcher in France. The laboratory where I am working now, GREMAN, is based in two cities: Tours and Blois. There are 70 kilometres between both cities, so it is sometimes a real challenge to commute between the two workplaces, but it is also a great opportunity since each part of the lab has its own way of working and of thinking research.

“I am convinced that this diversity is essential to achieve original research results, and I think that in Luxembourg the inherent cultural diversity was also playing this role. ”

Guillaume Nataf CNRS Research Scientist, GREMAN, University of Tours

Looking back over the past eight years, how has your research evolved, and what new areas or projects have you found yourself exploring?

“In Luxembourg I was focusing on a specific type of materials, inorganic oxides, which I was trying to understand at a fundamental level. In England, I completely changed my research topic and focused on organic materials, and in particular liquid crystals. I explored their thermal properties, in view of developing an energy-efficient and environment-friendly refrigeration technology.“

“In France, I am now combining both fields by investigating the thermal conductivity of inorganic oxides, with the aim to control heat flows as easily as electricity, funded by my ERC Starting Grant DYNAMHEAT. ”

Guillaume Nataf CNRS Research Scientist, GREMAN, University of Tours

In 2017, we asked you if there was anything particular you would like to achieve in your research career. Your answer in 2017:

“I have a passion for research that relies on understanding the microstructures of materials. Every fundamental progress I make in this direction is an achievement.

“However, I would like to see how all these achievements sum up to provide novel technologies. I also have a passion for teaching fundamental science. Therefore, I am particularly enthusiastic about the wide range of supervising and teaching opportunities on offer during a researcher career.”

8 years later, do you still identify with this answer or how would you answer this question today?

“Understanding, supervising, teaching and providing insights for novel technologies are still at the heart of my work. It is too early to know if the discoveries I was involved in will lead to applications in the coming years, but I hope that they will contribute. I also realize that back in 2017 I had not highlighted enough the importance of working within a community.

“To carry out excellent research requires collaborations, and these collaborations can exist only if there is a strong community investigating a similar topic, supporting young researchers and willing to work together. Keeping these communities live requires time and commitment from everyone, and when it works it can be in my opining considered as an achievement.”

Is there any advice you would like to give early-career researchers, or yourself when you started your research career, if you could go back in time?

“My research career would not have been the same if I had not interacted with so many different persons. Daily progresses and discoveries come very often thanks to the involvement of others: researchers, technicians, engineers, friends. I had already a few cases where friends from school, or people I met around a drink, led to new research topics, often successful. So, if you are a young researcher, don’t stay locked up in your lab, discuss with others, talk about your research and listen to what others have to offer. “

Do you see yourself staying in your current career in the next 5 years?

“I indeed imagine that I will keep working in GREMAN as CNRS researcher. I also hope that I will still be able to continue my collaborations with researchers in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is hosting top scientists in my field, and it is a privilege to still have the chance to work with them. ”

Guillaume Nataf CNRS Research Scientist, GREMAN, University of Tours