Caroline Cohen, for science and sport.

You work in a physics laboratory focusing on sports-related themes.  Why this topic?

I've always been involved in sport, including during my studies at ENS Lyon. I played volleyball and we practiced floating serves. I was intrigued by the ball's random, zig-zag trajectory. So I thought I'd look into it, and I did a thesis at LadHyX on the subject, among others. I like the concrete side of trying to explain phenomena using physical laws. To do that, you have to observe, measure and rack your brains to understand. Fluid mechanics also has the advantage of being very visual. For the trajectory of a ball, for example, you have to visualize the flow of fluid around the ball to observe the vortex structures. These are fascinating experiments.   

How did you get into science in the first place? 

I loved science for its ability to explain the world around us, but I don't think I ever had a vocation. When I was young, I didn't know what it meant to be a researcher, let alone a woman researcher. One day in elementary school, the teacher was giving us a math lesson and wanted to explain transitivity. He said he was explaining it more for boys than for girls, and that girls couldn't do math after primary school anyway, so they'd be more interested in boys. That stuck with me. Personally, it may have motivated me to prove him wrong, but it seems to me that one of the causes of the low presence of women in science is these sexist stereotypes that are still present, even if progress has been made since then.

At LadHyX, you had the opportunity to work with biathlete Martin Fourcade and his team.

By chance, Martin Fourcade and the French biathlon team contacted us to study ski waxing (nb: wax is the product applied to the underside of skis to improve glide). In a refrigerated container in front of the laboratory, we were experimenting on artificial snow to measure various parameters such as friction forces. I don't know if this had any impact on his later victories! At least it helped to rationalize the empirical knowledge of the technicians and the feelings of the skiers, and with the colleagues we were able to show some interesting effects from a physical point of view on the properties of the film of water that forms between the ski and the snow on a very small scale.

You helped the athletes prepare for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. How did you get involved?

We launched the Sciences2024 project with the aim of putting fundamental science at the service of athletes to optimize their performance. We went to the Olympic and Paralympic sports federations to ask them what they needed, and what we could do to help them. At LadHyX, we focused mainly on cycling, but also rowing, archery and table tennis, for example. For cycling, we'd go to the velodrome at least once a week to talk things over and perform experiments. It's really stimulating when you love sport! Among the different aspects we tackled, we worked on optimizing race strategies for the team pursuit in track cycling with Alice Boilet, who did her thesis with me.

Is there a follow-up to this project for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028?

Yes, of course 2028 and 2030 with the Winter Games! We're all motivated to continue, but it's absolutely vital to preserve the links that have been forged between the sporting world and the basic sciences, because it's been a success and international competition is moving very fast on these subjects. But for this to happen, we need to be able to obtain funding, which is always the most complicated aspect of research.

Is it an environment where it's easy for women to fit in?

Strangely enough, I think I've always liked somewhat masculine environments: doing science, playing soccer in the schoolyard, working with wood and metal... Maybe so as not to be accused of doing girly things. Today, I regret having internalized this sexism, but it was my way of fighting against societal injunctions and gender stereotypes. During my studies, I didn't really pay attention to the fact that there were more men than women, or to sexist behavior. Today, I notice it more. In the Mechanics Department, there are quite a few female teacher-researchers. And as in our profession, we often have impostor syndrome, sometimes we wonder what we're doing here and our voices tremble when we have to speak up. Men and women alike, of course, but as we have far fewer female role models or representations, it's even harder to feel legitimate, and we tend to censor ourselves. But there really is an increasing awareness and a determination to change things, and it's really important to move towards gender parity. The day we stop noticing, the day we stop wondering, that will be the success.

*LadHyX: a joint research unit CNRS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France