[RETROSPECTIVE] MT180 2023: Lucie Boël and Valentin Gautier win the Université de Lyon regional finals

On The March 22, 2023

The 12 doctoral students who took part in the regional finals of the international My Thesis in 180 Seconds competition delighted the large audience at the Université de Lyon’s Grand Amphitheater on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. The candidates who qualified for the national semi-final are Lucie Boël, from the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 and Valentin Gautier, from INSA Lyon.

The Université de Lyon finals

On Tuesday, March 21, twelve doctoral students from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, the Université Jean Monnet Saint-Étienne and the INSA Lyon presented their research projects in three minutes. A crowd of almost 350 people gathered at the Université de Lyon’s Grand Amphitheater to support their favorite candidate, with an additional 685 viewers tuning in to watch the competition online.

The finalists 

  • First place was awarded to Valentin Gautier from the INSA Lyon (CREATIS laboratory), for his thesis “Reconstruction multimodale d’images TEP et IRM par intelligence artificielle” (Multimodal reconstruction of PET and MRI images using artificial intelligence). He spoke about medical imaging and combining information using algorithms.
  • Second place went to Mathias Valla from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (LSAF laboratory), for his thesis “Traitement de données longitudinales par des algorithmes par arbres: état de l’art, étude comparative et applications actuarielles” (Processing longitudinal data with tree algorithms: state of the art, comparative study, and actuarial applications). His work involves studying data over time to predict the evolution of a situation.
  • And finally, third place was awarded to Lucie Boël from the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (IRPhiL laboratory). With her thesis “Heuristique de l’ignorance en sciences: comment les ignorances structurent la pratique scientifique” (Heuristics of ignorance in science: how ignorance can help shape scientific practice), in which she focused on the doubts inherent to scientific research, she captivated the audience at the Université de Lyon’s Grand Amphitheater and took home the People’s Choice Award.


Valentin Gautier and Lucie Boël will travel to Paris to represent the Université de Lyon in the national semi-finals on March 29, 30 and 31. Congratulations to all!




© Copyright: Vincent Noclin