A PhD graduate from Rennes University, Emmanuel Mahé (HDR) started his career as a researcher in human sciences- at the crossroads between art, design & sciences. Emmanuel worked during ten years as a researcher and project lead for Orange Labs in France (the innovation practice of the telecommunication giant), then joined the renowned French design school ENSAD - as Director of Research - and PSL Research University as the SACRe laboratory director.
The SACRe (Sciences Arts Creation Research) doctoral program is unique in the French higher education landscape. It is different from academic doctorates in the arts because it places artistic practice at the heart of research. Art schools, and not universities, pilot this doctorate, which is a powerful difference. The arts are often presented as being close to the humanities, but SACRe is closer to the experimental sciences than to the humanities, though social science researchers are also associated. Goals of SACRe :
-  Train a new generation of creative artists (“practice-based” doctorate)
-  Invent a PhD thesis model centered on artistic forms (films, performances,
installations, prototyping, exhibitions, musical creations, etc.), and that favors the emergence of new knowledge
-  Participate in structuring research in conservatories and art schools, encouraging rapprochements without uniformity, while respecting the rhythms specific to each institution (research activities are heterogeneous depending on the partner)