BE-LIGHT Workshop 1 (W1) lands in Paris!
The first BE-LIGHT Workshop (W1) will take place in the heart of Paris from October 1st to 3rd, 2025 🗓️, bringing together fellows, supervisors, and invited speakers for three inspiring days of science, networking, and skill-building 💡🤗.
📍 Location: Institut de la Vision – 17 Rue Moreau, Paris 75014
Institut de la Vision in Paris, France
This is the first of three workshops (W1–W3) organized roughly every 8 months after the BE-LIGHT Schools. These workshops are designed to:
✨ host scientific talks by invited speakers from consortium partners
🤝 create a networking forum for fellows to present and discuss their research
🎓 include training sessions on transversal skills, with active contributions from non-academic partners
🧑🏫 Organized with Sorbonne Université & Prof. Matthew Chalk
This workshop is being organized by our colleagues at Sorbonne Université, one of Europe’s leading universities in science and technology 🌍. A key figure in this organization is Prof. Matthew Chalk, from the Institut de la Vision (profile, personal site).
Prof. Matthew Chalk talking about retinal implants @Paroles de Chercheurs – Institut de la Vision
Prof. Chalk is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on computational models of sensory processing, combining machine learning, neural coding, and perception studies. He is part of the Vision Institute’s Neural Information Processing department, which explores how the brain represents and interprets visual information 🧠👁️.
Together with the team at Sorbonne Université, Prof. Chalk is working to finalize the full program, but several exciting sessions are already confirmed! 🎉
🗓️ Provisional program
Day 1 – October 1st
The workshop kicks off with two inspiring invited talks:
⭐ Valentina Emiliani (Wavefront Engineering Microscopy)
⭐ Kate Grieve (Paris Eye Imaging)
You’ll also join the first transversal skills sessions (topics TBA) and end the day with an outreach activity to connect science with the public ✨.
Day 2 – October 2nd
This is all about the fellows’ research presentations! 🎓 Each fellow will have 30 minutes to share their progress and exchange ideas. In the afternoon, the Supervisory Board meeting (for PIs & student reps) will take place. The day ends with a cozy networking dinner in Paris 🍷🍽️.
Day 3 – October 3rd
The workshop wraps up with two more high-level talks:
⭐ Alexandre Gramfort (Meta Reality Labs, Paris) on machine learning for neuroscience
⭐ Ulisse Ferrari on neural information processing, biophysics & AI
Finally, there will be a closing transversal skills session, sending everyone home with new knowledge and stronger connections 💡🤝.