On the 28th of January 2025, the CIBM Breakfast & Science Seminar 47, and the first of the 2025 Series, was given by Solange Denervaud, CIBM Flagship Project Officer. The event was chaired by Dimitri Van De Ville, Head of CIBM SP EPFL UNIGE Section.
When Wonder Paves your Scientific Journey
Abstract
From observing children evolving in classrooms to leading the coordination of the CIBM TESSERACT Initiative, this talk explores how wonder has shaped my scientific journey and ignited an unprecedented initiative centered on investigating curiosity, creativity, and cooperation in schoolchildren.
First, drawing on over a decade of research, I will delve into how school environments influence the developing brain to foster creativity, adaptability, and resilience. It highlights three key mechanisms driving this process: (i) error-monitoring abilities, which underpin self-regulation and innovation; (ii) social dynamics, which enrich cognitive flexibility and shared meaning-making; and (iii) alignment with developmental trajectories, ensuring that educational approaches nurture rather than hinder potential. These insights have established fertile ground for ambitious inquiries into the nature of human potential, raising profound questions that demand a collective and interdisciplinary effort.
Second, I will briefly introduce the CIBM TESSERACT Initiative, which aims to be transformative by integrating cutting-edge tools and analytical framework development thanks to shared expertise and multidisciplinary knowledge. Its mission is to advance our understanding of how curiosity, creativity, and cooperation develop in children while encouraging scientists to embody these same principles. The challenge is to move beyond the constraints of focusing solely on isolated organs toward understanding brain-body dynamics, beyond examining individuals in isolation toward embracing collective, real-time imaging measures, and beyond the confines of a single discipline to harness the power of diverse perspectives.
In sum, by fostering wonder, we unlock the mysteries of the developing mind and inspire a deeper appreciation of the interconnectedness of life processes.
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Solange Denervaud
CIBM Flagship Project Officer
About the speaker
Solange earned her BSc and MSc in Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) in 2013. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV-UNIL) in collaboration with the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA-UNIGE) from 2014 to 2020, focusing on bridging neuroscience and education. This interdisciplinary interest stems from her initial training as a Montessori school teacher (2003–2007), where she developed a passion for understanding the impact of learning environments on cognitive development. Her research investigates how educational settings influence the development of core adaptive mechanisms, including error monitoring, cognitive flexibility, creativity, and peer-to-peer learning, in school-aged children and teenagers. She employs a multidisciplinary approach combining psychophysics, neuropsychology, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Since October 2023, Solange has been the CIBM Flagship Project Officer, a pioneering research initiative to explore the development of curiosity, creativity, and cooperation throughout the school years. Her role involves uniting the diverse expertise and advanced techniques of CIBM to innovate and refine biomedical tools and methodologies, driving new insights into these fundamental aspects of learning and development.