Fall is the season for the “Descente des Alpages”! But as part of the 2026 Science Festival, this year’s event will have a scientific twist: several workshops will be offered on Saturday, October 10 on Rue de Strasbourg in Grenoble. Coordinated by Émilie Cousin, a CNRS research engineer at the Laboratory of Psychology and Neurocognition (LPNC – CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes), this program brings together scientists from various disciplines to explore the connections between the mountains, our food, and our perception of taste.

Stop No. 1: Stones with Flavor: When the Mountains Feed Our Plates
With Julia de Sigoyer, professor at theUniversité Grenoble Alpes and researcher at ISTerre (CNRS/IRD/Université Grenoble Alpes/Université Savoie Mont Blanc), to explore the connections between rocks, soils, and mountain regions.

Station No. 2: From Milk to Cheese: The Science of Cheese-Making
With Pascal Barbet, technical manager of the INRAE Experimental Mini-Cheese Factory in Poligny, to understand and observe the processes that transform milk into cheese.

Station No. 3: Taste, Smell, and the Brain
With Émilie Cousin and the Laboratory of Psychology and Neurocognition (LPNC – CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes). Through experiments, you’ll discover how our various senses and our brain construct what we call “taste.”

Station No. 4: Daring to Try Something Different: Entomophagy
With Aurélie Campagne, Yentl Gautier, and Elisa Rivière (LPNC – CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes) and Agnès Helme-Guizon (CERAG – Université Grenoble Alpes). A station where you can discover what science tells us about eating insects and examine our perceptions and eating habits.

Station No. 5: Taste, Culture, and Sharing
With Emma Orsolini, a doctoral student at GRESEC—Research Group on Communication Issues (Université Grenoble Alpes). A humanities and social sciences approach to exploring how context, representations, and social practices shape our experience of food.