Launched in March 2021, the Epitech Research Laboratory brings together a dozen researchers in the human sciences field at the heart of the school of computer science expertise. Its vocation: to play a part in the contribution of technologies in various research fields and to promote the social impact of students.
Interview with Nicolas Bourgeois, Research Director of the Epitech lab:
What is the Epitech lab?
Epitech’s research lab is called MNSHS: “Méthodes Numériques pour les Sciences de l’Humain et de la Société”(Numerical Methods for Human and Social Sciences). It is a lab between computer science and everything that allows us to understand the social and human environment that surrounds us: history, political science, geography, sociology, game studies, education sciences, in addition to computer science and mathematics. It is composed of 5 researchers, an engineer, a doctoral student and me as the laboratory director.
An applied research laboratory
We try to address the understanding of society. Why with digital technology? Because in Epitech we we can work with with a large pool of passionate students and professors. Not all of our research is necessarily related to digital, but we have certain tropisms in our methods: we work with large amounts of data and technology helps us a lot.
The project started in March 2021. Before, I was working on data processing at Epitech. There was this idea of having institutional recognition. We wanted to show that our professors and teachers can tackle specialised topics. We ruled out the idea of a fundamental research lab in computer science: our researchers will focus their work on applied research, considering the scientific aspect would come from the topic itself.
We turned our attention towards the human and social sciences, fields where for several years, there has been an real awareness regarding importance of IT , but not necessarily an endogenous tools proficiency. We therefore believe that we have a role to play and help.
We work with large amounts of data, therefore technology helps us a lot.
Learning to decrypt information
The social impact of Epitech is also very important: we cannot have free and conscious citizens by conceiving them just as recipients of knowledge. The approach with the lab is the same. Being technically good must allow one to serve the society in which one lives, to be aware of the problems, to want to solve them.
Our starting point includes having a certain modesty and acknowledging that technical competence is not enough. You must be open to it. “Who uses technology?”, “To do what with?”. We want the people we teach to ask themselves the right questions before finding solutions. It is important that students, future workers, are able to have a reflective vision of what they are doing: “is it ethical?”, “is this in line with my own values?”. The social sciences are the right tools for this quest for meaning, allowing us to decrypt information. It is a good driver for being in line with society and with oneself.
What is the objective of the Epitech lab?
First, we have quantified objectives: to publish and share the knowledge we develop. We establish elements of truth that can be exploited by university and business representatives.
The stages of a researcher’s work
To begin with, we collect the information: either it is already written (reports, archives, etc.) and therefore easy to find; it then has to be processed, because it is extremely vast. Sometimes it does not exist, particularly in written form. In this case, we carry out a field survey: we observe, make exhaustive notes, and diversify the observations and observers. This can take up to 400 hours of observation, for example. We also conduct interviews.
Critical reading of sources is essential, and we want to work on this with our students.
After this acquisition phase, we compile the data. Depending on the case, we can have modelling stages to deduce laws from the situation. This works very well on economic or linguistic topics. We also do a bibliographic review. Critical reading of sources is essential and we want to work on this with the students.
Then we do the writing. We have designed study protocols based on a topic on which there was no general acceptance, we have obtained results, and then it is time to share them and persuade with. We generally write between 5 and 40 pages, and we send it to a journal, which assesses the quality and relevance for publication, through an editorial committee of peer researchers who review it. Once it is accepted, it needs to be edited and launched at the most convenient time in the journal’s publishing schedule. The publication interval can take from 3-4 months to 2-3 years, depending on the editorial calendar. We are considering long time frames.
How do you operate on a daily basis?
One of the original aspects of our lab is that we are an interdisciplinary team, not a group of researchers: we share methodologies and try to have transversal approaches. A discipline is not defined by an object, but by a method. For example, history is the critical study of sources, not necessarily the study of the past only. We can make history around contemporary facts.
In our laboratory, a researcher works on 2 to 5 subjects at a time. We have subjects that naturally interest us, but we are open to current events. The researchers’ community also makes a number of publications appeals. Research in the human and social sciences is very open: there are no patents, and the research of some is constantly updated by building on that of others.
What are the laboratory’s future projects?
We are currently working on a major project: offering Epitech students initiation modules to the scientific approach. At that point, they have acquired the initial knowledge, and they are wondering what they are going to do with it. We think that this is the right time to get them to read scientific literature, do experiments, study speeches, etc.
We would also like to offer students the opportunity to collaborate on research studies. Our topics often have a technical dimension, data analysis, software development… We bring our knowledge, they bring their technique, we collaborate and everyone gets credit. These can be short projects over a few weeks, or longer ones as they progress.
Epitech students are going to be important players in the future evolution of our society.
Contributing to society’s evolution
We organise a bi-monthly seminar, where students are welcome from any campus, the presentation format being mostly online. We also regularly participate in wider events, such as different conferences to present our studies, but in the framework of non-profit activities. We try to intervene, as far as we can, in the sharing of scientific approaches in the tech community, and the one of technical tools in the scientific community.
Epitech students are going to be important players in the future evolution of our society. It is fundamental to us that they benefit from the contribution of research, different tools and methodological knowledge from fundamental research, and for some we hope that they can even contribute to our research studies.