International networking for more quality in research

Margot Neyret, a french researcher, is a guest at Leuphana thanks to EU funding

2024-12-10 Dr Margot Neyret who works at the Alpine Ecology Laboratory in Grenoble (France) has spent two two-week periods conducting research at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Stays abroad are encouraged under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie program, which is part of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The program aims to network researchers internationally to promote scientific exchange.

©Marie-Luise Braun
Dr. Margot Neyret

Shortly before the end of her second stay at Leuphana, Margot Neyret is sitting in one of the Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI) offices on the Leuphana campus. At SESI scientists are investigating the complex dynamics between people and their environment. This fits perfectly with Margot Neyret's research: she is looking at the question of how the landscape management can improve natural habitats in such a way that promotes multiple goals, such as biodiversity, recreational experiences and agricultural production. 

Margot Neyret originally studied ecology: ‘But over time, I have increasingly focused on socio-ecological issues’. The focus is on interrelationships: ‘My research used to concentrate on the effects of human and environmental factors on ecosystems. Now, I also look at how these affect nature's contributions to people, such as recreational and aesthetic experiences or food production,’ she explains. 

This research has taken Margot Neyret to various places: she studied in Paris (France) and Kent (UK). She spent research periods in Oxford (UK) and Thailand, among other places. After completing her PhD in Paris, she spent four years as a research associate at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) in Frankfurt/Main. This stay enabled her to reach her current position: to be able to work in France again within the funding of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme, she had to have previously conducted research in another country for at least three years. This is one way by which the mobility of researchers and their international networking is promoted. 

In Frankfurt at the BiK-F met Margot Neyret Prof. Dr. Berta Martín-López. The professor of International Sustainable Development and Planning at Leuphana co-heads SESI. She is involved in various projects of the German Research Foundation (DFG) in cooperation with the BiK-F, through which she has met brilliant international researchers like Margot: ‘The high-quality interdisciplinary research conducted by Margot is in part due to her international experience and networking,’ says Berta Martín-López, praising Margot Neyret. 

‘I love being outdoors,’ emphasises Margot Neyret. As an ecologist, she had many opportunities to do so at the beginning of her research career. Now, however, she spends a lot of time on her laptop: the researcher is evaluating data that she has collected herself or that come from other researchers through her extensive collaboration network. ‘I miss outdoor fieldwork, but data analysis and modelling also have their share of both fun and challenging times as well,’ says Neyret. 

Margot Neyret was already at Leuphana for two weeks in November 2023. She is currently deepening the contacts she made at the time—some of them already existed from her stay in Frankfurt/Main. And even after her time at Leuphana, she will continue to network internationally: from Lüneburg, Margot Neyret is going to a conference in the Netherlands, then it's back to Grenoble. She would like to stay there in the long term. Her family and husband live there – the couple will become parents in February. After a short break, Margot Neyret wants to devote herself to her interdisciplinary and collaborative research again.