On May 8th, Valérie Brisson, a PhD student in rehabilitation sciences at the laboratory, defended her thesis. Valérie’s doctoral thesis, entitled “Perception de la parole dans le bruit au cours du vieillissement normal : études de stimulation magnétique transcrânienne [translation: Speech Perception in Noise during Normal Aging: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies]”, was submitted in January.

Family, friends, colleagues, and lab members gathered to participate in this extremely important event! The thesis defence is indeed the final step in a doctoral journey that lasts several years, typically between 3 and 6 years. Following the evaluation of the thesis by a jury of four professor-researchers (including the thesis supervisor), the defence allows the candidate to orally present their work, explain its originality, rigour, and relevance, and demonstrate their mastery of the subject and methodology by answering questions from jury members for about 2 hours. In Valérie’s case, the jury members were Marc Sato, a researcher from Aix-Marseille University and the CNRS, Laura Monetta, a professor at the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at Laval University, Joël Macoir, also a professor at the School of Rehabilitation Sciences, and finally Pascale, the lab director and Valérie’s thesis supervisor.

 

The event was truly remarkable: Valérie delivered a clear and effective presentation of her work, then answered the committee’s questions flawlessly. Her responses were intelligent and thoughtful, delivered in the confident yet humble manner that characterizes Valérie.

After deliberation, the jury awarded Valérie the distinction of “excellent” for both the presentation and her responses to the questions. Valérie will thus be listed on the Honor Roll of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies! Next steps: making the (minor) corrections requested by the jury and then submitting the final version of the thesis. On the morning of the defence, Valérie’s second thesis article was accepted for publication at the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience after a careful evaluation process that took several months. The latest version of this article will need to be integrated into the thesis, which is a thesis ‘by article,’ meaning that the bulk of the thesis consists in peer-reviewed scientific articles.

 

Congratulations, Valérie, for all your hard work and a magnificent defence! The entire team is very proud of you!

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