"Ever since I was a little girl, I've always felt that I had to choose between science and art, first for my education and then for my career. I chose science. I'm particularly pleased to be recognised in the artistic field by receiving an award in the cultural field. It shows that you don't necessarily have to choose. For me, science and art are part of a balance that is useful to all of us."
Catherine Rolland, a woman committed to science and culture
Catherine Rolland is project manager of the GameLab of the "Science and Video Games" Chair at the École Polytechnique. In autumn 2023, she was named one of the 100 Women of Culture of the Year for her commitment to video games.
Catherine Rolland, 2023 laureate of the "100 femmes de Culture" (100 Women of Culture) / Image: Association Femmes de Culture
10 Sep. 2024
Scientific level :
Every year since 2019, the Femmes de Culture association has selected 100 outstanding personalities from the world of culture, with the aim of highlighting remarkable career paths and professional investments in the field. The 5th edition took place on 9 October 2023 at the Palais de Tokyo, and the winners included: Catherine Rolland, project manager of the GameLab of the "Science and Video Games" Chair at the École Polytechnique.
The 100 Women of Culture award aims to represent all forms of culture through the women it honours: artists, actors, dancers, directors, Michelin-starred chefs, CEOs of cultural start-ups, creators of museum exhibitions, women working in fashion, perfume, etc. As a cultural element in its own right, video games have had their place since the first edition, when Déborah Papiernik, then director of innovative projects at Ubisoft, was honoured.
This initiative showcases personalities who are not necessarily visible, but whose inspiring career paths deserve to be highlighted. It is a way of showcasing the sectors, creating and animating a community, and putting these personalities in contact with each other to build new projects with a view to inclusiveness.
A committed personality
As a video game designer and developer for 15 years, Catherine Rolland has been committed to the acculturation of the medium from the outset. In particular, she teaches at the CNAM-ENJMIN video game school (the X application school), in the JMIN master's programme in Angoulême and in the IDE specialised master's programme with GOBELINS Paris, where she helps students with their game projects. She hosts events and takes part in associations to raise awareness of the impact of video games beyond the leisure sphere, particularly in the health and education sectors. For four years, for example, she ran game creation workshops and took part in the activities of the Collectif PédaGoJeux, which provides families with information and tools to help them get to grips with video games. The general public will be able to watch her video in the E-lab at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris, in which she presents the different aspects of video games. Her commitment and actions led to her appointment by the French President to the committee of experts for the "young people and screens" commission in early 2024.
The Science and Video Games Chair
Among the many supporters of 100 femmes de culture is the company Ubisoft, patron of the first version of the "Science and Video Games" Chair, housed in the Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR*) at the École polytechnique. The Chair's GameLab, for which Catherine Rolland is project manager, is dedicated to video game production, teaching and research, and to highlighting the potential of video games and their creation.
The "Science and Video Games" Chair interacts directly with 15% of each year's intake of Polytechnique engineering students, through the courses it offers (modal in video game creation and an advanced programme in real-time AI) but above all by supporting collective scientific projects linked to video games, carried out in a wide variety of disciplines (eight partner departments) and with results that are regularly promoted (publications, prizes, etc.).
The Chair has also developed its own scientific game, "Reveal", which lets you play with the complex science of particle physics. The team is present every autumn at the Fête de la Science IP Paris for a demonstration. The game was presented in autumn 2023 at Paris Game Week, as well as at the Explor'Espace festival in Montrouge, before its commercial launch scheduled for the 26th of September 2024 under its new name “Exographer”.
As part of the Research team, Catherine Rolland has also supervised the work of Chloé Vigneau, who has just defended her thesis on learning through the creation of video games in the classroom. This work has received the support of the French Ministry of Education, enabling the two women to coordinate a digital thematic working group (GTnumCreaJV) for the past three years, developing tools and conducting experiments in five education authorities (Versailles, Créteil, Clermont-Ferrand, Bordeaux and Poitiers). As well as measuring the impact on subject and cross-curricular learning, the aim of this project is to make it easier to set up these workshops, which will help to prevent school drop-outs and show that digital technology is accessible and inclusive, particularly for girls and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, by breaking down the psychological barriers that students may have to the sciences and digital careers, opening up new prospects for them and helping to tackle gender issues as early as possible.
To date, Catherine Rolland has set up other partnerships focusing on the use of games to build sustainable futures, and she is leading a new programme including an in-depth section on AI for the "Science and Video Games" chair, with the aim of recruiting new sponsors. Do not hesitate to contact her!
*LLR: a joint research unit of CNRS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France
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