Researcher's portrait - ISITE-BFC fellowships - COMUE Université Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Uri Gneezy, international coach

Holder of the Epstein/Atkinson Chair in behavioral economics, Uri Gneezy is a professor of Economics and Strategy at the University of California in San Diego / Rady School of Management. He is considered as one of the world’s top experts in his field.

Since October, he has joined Burgundy School of Business (BSB) as an international coach. His arrival is to the credit of UBFC, of which BSB is one of its founding member, since he has been recruited under the I-SITE BFC « International Coach Fellowships » program (« Initiatives-Science-Innovation-Territoires-Économie » du Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir).

A few months ago, you applied to UBFC for the international coach fellowship position. Could you please give us the main motives of your application?

There are many reasons for this. First of all, I will mention Angela Sutan (head of LESSAC and professor of behavioral economics) whom I know well for her work. Secondly, the LESSAC (Laboratory for Experimentation in Social Sciences and Behavior Analysis) of Burgundy School of Business is a very good research lab which intend to evolve over time. Taking part to the improvement of the research carried out within it is an inspiring challenge, especially in this very beautiful wine region which I particularly enjoy. All the more so as the LESSAC laboratory does really encourage researchers to publish more, which is very positive and not so common in France, nor in the current world of research. Finally, joining Burgundy School of Business is also a real satisfaction since it offers quality training: the best institutions are not only those that promote high-level research but also those that are committed to providing quality teaching to its students.

Could you give us a better insight of your role as a coach within one of the founding member of UBFC?

When doing research, you need two basic items: creativity and experience. As you get older, you gain experience but you gradually lose creativity. You are however more competent than young researchers in detecting good ideas.

My role in BSB is to work alongside young researchers to spur new ideas. My experience will then be used to identify the best ones and to turn them into innovative and competitive research subjects that can be submitted to the ERC*. If we manage to come up with even just one, but very good subject, it will already be a great success for me because it is all but a matter of quantity!

*ERC = European Research Council

In your opinion, what would be the main strengths of the I-SITE project run by UBFC?

The I-SITE BFC International Coach Fellowships program highlights the ambition to build a true culture of high-level research within University Bourgogne Franche-Comté. It is also a form of “incentive” with a snowball effect: building the reputation of a research institution takes time but the spillovers are significant. In the near future, researchers from all over the world will come to LESSAC to benefit from its expertise. Today, when I ask my students “where are you going to study? “, I don’t expect the name of a reputable university in response, but the name of the renowned researcher they will be working with.