Marie-Pauline GacoinPrincipal Private Secretary

Marie-Pauline Gacoin was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the CNRS Chairman and CEO in May 2022. Following a master's degree in law and political science from Paris 1, she specialized in information and communication at Bordeaux III University and then marketing at HEC a few years later. She initially worked as a freelance journalist then as an agency consultant for large French and international companies and corporations. In 1995 she joined the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra) to take part in the consultation and public inquiry process paving the way for the installation of the underground laboratory in Bure. She also worked on the dissemination of the national inventory of radioactive waste in France. In 2001, she set up the SOLEIL synchrotron's communication and public outreach department and also takes part in several structures and networks that promote and develop dialogue between science and society. She worked as volunteer for the conservation and promotion of the pioneering e+/e- particle accelerator, Sciences ACO, and has also been appointed president of this science history museum. In 2013, she joined the Foundation for Scientific Cooperation on the Paris-Saclay Campus and, as Communications Director, took part in the construction of the university as a member of the project development unit and then of the organisational development group. When the University of Paris-Saclay was created in January 2020, she continued her work as the Brand and Communication Director.