2026 MFO Phil Prize
25 September 2026, 3.45-6.15pm
Maison Française d'Oxford
In 2022, the Maison Française d’Oxford (MFO), together with its Oxford Committee, launched the DPhil Prize for French students entering the final year of their doctorate at the University of Oxford. We are delighted to announce the fifth edition of the prize in 2026, bringing together participants from across all four of the University’s academic Divisions: Medical Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS).
Each participant will give a 15-minute presentation of their research in English, designed to be accessible and engaging to an audience beyond their own academic field.
The audience will include DPhil students and researchers, members of the Oxford Committee for the Maison Française d’Oxford, as well as colleagues from Science and Technology Department of the French Embassy in London.
A prize will be awarded to the participant whose presentation is judged to be the most successful in communicating their research to a broad audience.
We warmly invite everyone to join us for this special occasion!
Programme
3:45-4:00pm: Mathilde Morin (Social Sciences) – ‘Shepherds, pigs and nostalgic elders: some lessons from the Basque Country’
4:00-4:15pm: Zoe Lienard (Humanities) – ‘The Last Mauretanian Dynasty: Representation, Agency and Imperialism (25 BCE - 40 CE)’
4:15-4.30pm: Maira Cordelle (Medical Sciences) – ‘Engineering skeletal muscle using a humanoid bioreactor platform’
4:30-4:45pm: Baptiste Alloui-Cros (Social sciences) – ‘How can Artificial Intelligence provide insights to modern strategic thought? Using wargames as a bridge between machines and strategists’
5:00-5:15pm: Louise Sodergren (Social sciences) – ‘Whatever Happened to France? Re-examining the Little Divergence with England, 1300–1900’
5:15-5:30pm: Alice Boussaroque (Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences) – ‘How plant and mutualistic soil fungi communicate?’
5:30-5:45pm: Marguerite Waechter (Social sciences) – ‘Anatomy of a cultural landscape: vegetation history, archaeology, and rewilding in the Simonside Hills (Northumberland, UK)’
5:45-6:00pm: Zoe Godard (Mathematics, Physical and Life Sciences) – ‘Mathematical modelling of tendon biomechanics’
6:00-6:15pm: Wallerand Bazin (Social sciences) – ‘Post-pastoral aesthetics: designing, managing and governing the upland futures of the Lake District’
