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Through the study of scientific symposiums, a specific space-time generally forgotten, this paper proposes to explore the sexuality present at the core of research work, and to consider it as a factor of professional inequality. It is based on a corpus of 24 semi-structured interviews, conducted with research professionals, mostly CNRS agents in basic sciences. Blurring the lines between the public and private spheres, symposiums are to be seen as instances of informal professional socialisation, where festive practice, sex and science merge. Whereas men perceive symposiums as opportunities to combine professional activities and sexual experiences, women, exposed to sexual violence, experience it more as spaces of danger for their integrity and their career.