THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
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IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
THE AGENCE INTERÉTABLISSEMENTS DE
RECHERCHE POUR LE
DÉVELOPPEMENT
40
Mobilising, coordinating and leading
research for development
42
Research and training
programmes
44
The missions of the Agence inter-établissement de
recherche pour le développement (AIRD, an agency
bringing together the main French research and higher
education institutes involved in development in the
South) include dissemination of scientific knowledge,
innovation, assessment, capacity-building in the South,
and programme management.
Capacity-building in the South
46
Promoting the results of research
48
Dissemination of knowledge and communication
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
39
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
MOBILISING, COORDINATING AND LEADING RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT
MOBILISING, COORDINATING
AND LEADING RESEARCH FOR
DEVELOPMENT
Following a joint mission by the general inspection services of the French Ministry of National Education,
Higher Learning and Research and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013, the governing ministries
announced the abolition of the AIRD at the IRD's board meeting held in December of that year. Decree
no.2014-1441 of 3 December 2014 officialises this and entrusts IRD with the task of "contributing to the
national coordination of research for development".
Throughout this transition period, the Agency continued with programmes
already underway and endeavoured to fulfil its commitments. Several
meetings with the Agency's partners were held to share information on
current programmes and take the necessary collegial decisions.
The Advisory Board (COrA): a forum for strategic
reflection between North and South
Partnership
in the field/Cameroon
40
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
The COrA was set up at the end of 2011 as a unique place for expression for
partners from the South. Its role was to make proposals on the directions to
be taken by the AIRD with regard to activities, partnerships, and the resources
used to carry out its work. The COrA was therefore tasked with advising
the AIRD and stakeholders in research for development on the definition
of a research, training and innovation policy to benefit development in the
countries of the South.
After the governing ministries' announcement of its decision to abolish the
AIRD at the end of 2013, the COrA's activity was partially suspended. However,
the "innovation" working group met to conclude its work and a review of
COrA's activities since its foundation was produced.
It should be noted that the decree of 3 December 2014 stipulates the set-up of
an "advisory board" comprising representatives from the Institute's partner
establishments and organisations and from the Institute's governing ministries.
Cross-cutting and inter-establishment partnerships
in countries of the South
One key mission of the AIRD was the co-development of partner research
programmes based on demand from countries of the South. The aim of
these initiatives is to have an impact on public policies, economic growth
and the well-being of populations in the South.
In 2014, the Institute's strategy reflected a triangle made up of research,
training and innovation. Within an inter-establishment framework, the
Agency's management implemented a number of actions and programmes
focused on training in countries of the South, capacity-building, business
start-ups, innovation, industrial partnerships, European partnerships,
communication and the dissemination of scientific culture.
At the end of 2014, there were more than twenty inter-establishment
research programmes receiving support to pursue with their action in
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
MOBILISING, COORDINATING AND LEADING RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT
Sociological survey/Vietnam
Inauguration
of Valorisation Sud
in Marseille
the South. Cross-cutting programmes combine research and innovation
initiatives, such as AMRUGE (project to support modernisation and
research in universities and higher education establishments in Côte
d'Ivoire) and the Sud Expert Plantes sustainable development initiative.
Capacity-building in countries of the South continued with the Parraf
programme (programme to support network-based research in Africa),
as well as the organisation of training seminars and the funding of grants
for doctorate students and young teams affiliated with the IRD (JEAI).
Several initiatives are gradually making the IRD and its Agency partners
an essential feature in the international innovation ecosystem, for example CVT Valorisation Sud for technology transfer, the organisation of an
Africatechno forum to promote technological know-how in countries of
the South, and the Paceim programme for the creation of innovative companies around the Mediterranean.
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
41
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES
RESEARCH AND
TRAINING PROGRAMMES
One of the Agency's tasks was to initiate and support research excellence for and with the South.
To achieve this, the AIRD co-constructed and managed research programmes with partners from
the South and national research organizations or institutes working in the South. It has assured
its partners of its commitment to coordinate research focused on development of the South.
Programme management
The Institute invested €1.1 million in more than fifteen programmes. For a
Dugout canoe
on the Amazon/Brazil
42
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
high number of programmes, the co-funding from partners and international
donors meant that support for projects was two to ten times higher. Some
programmes, such as AMRUGE, are managed by IRD but funded by international donors. Several programmes were co-constructed with partners from
the South: Guyamazon, aimed at structuring and supporting cooperation
between research teams in the states of Northern Brazil, the Guyana region
and mainland France in the field of the Amazonian biome, is set to receive
the CNPq (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) label; STDF (partnership programme with the Egyptian Science
and Technology Development Fund); the Great Green Wall programme with
PAGGW (Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall) on the functioning of
ecosystems and local use of semi-arid Sahelian environments; the tripartite
France (AIRD)-Brazil (CNPq)-APGMV programme within the framework of
the combat against desertification.
IRD was also involved, alongside the ministries and research organisations,
to provide financial backing for the Research and Watch Centre on emerging
diseases in the Indian Ocean (CRV-OI), up to the structuring of a UMR
bring-ing together the University of La Réunion, Inserm and IRD as of
1st January 2015. It also helped the Aviesan Alliance in establishing a regional
centre for the study of emerging pathogens in Southeast Asia. The AIRD
also managed a number of programmes with the ANR (French National
Research Agency). Among them, we can mention Agrobiosphere, devoted
to the transition towards sustainable production systems. Finally, it runs
programmes with various partners: Agroforesterie, with Cirad, focused
on agriculture in the temperate African zone; Mistrals, with CNRS, on the
environment and climate change; Sud Expert Plantes, with AFD (French
Development Fund) and the FFEM (French Global Environment Facility), on
the promotion of research into plants in the South, a five-year programme with
funding of €5.2 million that will move into its operational phase in early 2015.
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
RESEARCH AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES
THE IF-EBOLA PROJECT:
THE HEALTH CHALLENGE IN
HORIZON 2020
IF-EBOLA (Control of the Ebola Outbreak by both
innovative Ultrasensitive Detection of EBOV and
therapy), coordinated by IRD, was selected by the
European Commission in 2014, with funding of
€2 million over two years. Thanks to two innovative
approaches, its goal is the use of antibodies
produced in horses to immunise patients carrying
the virus. This project's goal is to respond as
rapidly as possible to the Ebola virus epidemic and
better protect populations at risk in emerging and
industrialised countries.
Great Green
Wall project/Senegal
Research on emerging diseases
at the CRV-OI/Réunion
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
(MAEDI) also entrusted IRD with the coordination and management of the
Parraf programme, with a budget of €1.8 million. The AIRD was also present
in Haiti with the AUF, working on the reconstruction of the teaching and
research system after the earthquake that devastated the island. Finally,
within the framework of its debt reduction-development contract (C2D), the
Côte d'Ivoire Research Ministry entrusted the Agency with management of
the teaching and research aspect of the AMRUGE-CI project to support the
implementation of the university/higher education reform (with a budget of
€1.9 million in 2014). The Agency worked on the project for a second part to
this programme (C2D2).
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
43
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
CAPACITY-BUILDING IN THE SOUTH
CAPACITY-BUILDING
IN THE SOUTH
Driven by a dual conviction that scientific research can provide solutions
to development issues and that development requires stronger capacities
among the scientific communities in the South, IRD endeavours to ensure that
the projects it runs include actions to build those capacities. It also develops
a set of specific programmes, ranging from individual backing for researchers
to support for research institutes.
JEAI VIP team/Peru
44
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
Training
on malaria/Cameroon
Targeted programmes, with a budget of €2.475 million, have contributed
to capacity-building for researchers, research teams, partner institutions
and enabled the scientific, cultural and economic development of the
countries concerned.
Support for thesis-based training is a key element in the individual
backing provided to scientists in IRD's partner institutes. In 2014,
40 research allowances for a thesis paper in the South (known as ARTS)
were granted, taking the number of ongoing support grants up to 100.
Among them, six come from partnerships formed with the CNRS (IN2P3)
and the Mérieux Foundation; moreover, Cirad has tasked IRD with the
management of a fourth call for tenders for the Doctorant du Sud (DDS)
programme. Ten new PhD candidates have been selected, bringing the
total number of bursary students to 45. IRD is also involved in other thesisbased training programmes with the international PhD programme, in
liaison with Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris (around ten bursary
students per year). Finally, this individual support is completed by the
BEST programme for scientific and technological exchange grants, where
researchers, engineers and technicians from countries of the South have
the opportunity to work in research or higher education institutions in
other countries. In 2014, 15 BEST grants were awarded, taking the total
number to 37 ongoing grants.
Support for emerging teams in the South is also vital to increase
the autonomy and international competitiveness of the Institute's
partners. 2014 saw ten new teams selected within the framework of the
JEAI (young teams affiliated with the IRD) programme, taking the total
number up to 42. The PEERS Programme (Programme d’excellence pour
l’enseignement et la recherche au Sud - Programme for Excellence in
Teaching and Research in the South), founded to support North-South
teams of two experienced teacher-researchers managing a research
project, including a significant training component, was subject to an
assessment of its impact. Eighteen PEERS currently receive backing.
From an institutional point of view, the Base-Building Activities
programme contributed to and supported the completion of twenty
projects (setting up networks, training workshops and summer schools).
Finally, in 2014, the GVal ("managing and promoting the results of
research into food safety in West Africa") programme was concluded.
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
CAPACITY-BUILDING IN THE SOUTH
1
1
2
SYRIA 1
TUNISIA
MOROCCO
4
3
5 LEBANON
1 10
ALGERIA
2
2
MEXICO
1
1
CUBA
1
MAURITANIA
1
HAITI
2
1
2
SENEGAL
2 12 3
COSTA RICA
2
1
1
4
1
4
1
2
2
7
1
PERU
BRAZIL
4
1
1
MALI
1
1
1
4
6
NIGER
1
3
1
3
1
5
3
2
1
3
3
9
1
1
2
1
11
4
2
2
2
RD CONGO
2
THAILAND
1
2
1
VIETNAM
5
1
2
8
2
MALAISIA
1
INDONESIA
1
1
1
1
3
SEYCHELLES 1
COMOROS
GABON
2
1
MOZAMBIQUE
1
BOLIVIA
2
UGANDA
1
KENYA
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
CAMBODIA
ETHIOPIA
1
CAMEROON
LAOS
INDIA
1
TOGO
GHANA
1
3
BENIN
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
1
2
BURKINA FASO
3
1
1
1
1
1
ECUADOR
2
2
1
COLOMBIA
2
2
VENEZUELA
1
EGYPT
2
1
1
1
1
1
MADAGASCAR
1
5
3
1
REUNION
CHILE
1
1
SOUTH AFRICA
1
GEOGRAPHIC
REPRESENTATION
OF CAPACITYBUILDING
1 JEAI
2 PEERS
3 DDS
ARGENTINA
1
4 ARTS
5 BEST
6 ATS
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
45
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
PROMOTING THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH
PROMOTING THE
RESULTS OF RESEARCH
87 %
AGREEMENTS SIGNED WITH
THE PRIVATE SECTOR
The results of research for the South are promoted in political, social and economic spheres via
partnerships and various services, including appraisals, actions to protect and use intellectual property,
and industrial partnerships. The annual revenue thus generated comes to €4.61 million.
Expert group review and consultancy
The expert group review of the situation and future of Lake Chad1,
commissioned by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and the French
Global Environment Facility (FGEF) was presented at N’Djamena in February
and at the AFD's head office in June. This review led to a bilingual publication
from Editions IRD and the release of an electronic version.
2014 also saw the launch of a new expert group review on "Deep mineral
resources in French Polynesia". The first workshop was held at Papeete on
3rd July 2014 and was an opportunity to list the expectations and guidelines
of the commissioning parties, the State and French Polynesia.
In addition, around fifteen institutional consultancies, covering inquiries,
surveys, project evaluations and training workshops, were finalised in 2014,
in response to calls for expressions of interest or at the request of public
authorities (World Bank), development agencies (such as the AFD) or private
concerns (e.g. Suez Environnement). The issues dealt with, as well as the
geographic areas concerned, were many and varied: a study into improved
access to and maintenance of women in quality jobs in the Mediterranean
region; map of the issues and stakeholders in underprivileged districts of
Greater Mumbai in India; support for the evaluation of the "mediators"
project in Benin; production of lists of fish species said to be essential in
Mayotte; a system of forecasting squall lines to help with offshore exploration
and operation in West Africa.
46
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
Intellectual property and technology transfer
Despite abandoning inventions with low potential, the portfolio of inventions
patented by IRD continued to expand in 2014, with nine new applications
submitted. The portfolio now has 116 families, some of which are used under
licence by industrial concerns, generating revenue of more than €1 million
in licence fees. The share of this portfolio owned jointly by institutions from
the South remains stable at 30%.
IRD has appointed CVT Valorisation Sud to oversee the transfer of its
technologies to the social and economic world. We are starting to see some
very promising results ahead of the forthcoming signature of operating
licences. Moreover, we have also entered into discussions with the SATTs
(technological transfer acceleration companies), with around fifteen files
under study. These partnerships favour the funding of the most promising
technology development projects.
A number of technology transfer initiatives were continued, alongside the
actions of CVT Sud. Five licence agreements have been signed, including
one with the SATT Lutech, covering peptides for therapeutic use, and
another with a company founded in Morocco by a beneficiary of the PACEIM
scheme.
1
Lake Chad: Current Situations and Possible Outcomes.
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
PROMOTING THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PATENT PORTFOLIO
Measurement devices
and other equipment
13%
Neglected diseases
27%
HIV
5% Plant genetics
Agronomy
25%
Aquaculture/Fishing
6%
Extraction of natural marine substances/
French Polynesia
Industrial partnerships
With research partnerships, scientific service provision, corporate
sponsorship, transfer of biological materials and confidentiality
agreements, an increasing number of researchers are turning to publicprivate partnerships to bring their research work to fruition. These
research partnerships, signed with industrials, entrepreneurs, professional
associations, and corporate foundations, involve all the Institute's major
research fields. As an example, several French companies, including
Colas SA, the Total Foundation and Veolia, provided financial backing for
the great Lengguru 2014 expedition in Indonesia.
In 2014, 87 agreements were signed with the private sector. More than half
of these agreements generate revenue for IRD's research teams, for a total
amount of €3.31 million from industrial contracts.
Business creation
Around a hundred entrepreneurs of various origins have benefited from support
via the schemes set up by IRD: Innodev incubators (Senegal), Bond'Innov
(France), Noumea Incubator (New Caledonia), Paceim scheme, etc.
To increase their number, IRD encourages the creation of North/South
networks of support structures (incubators, special schemes, investors,
etc.) for innovative start-up project backers in markets in the South. In 2014,
a dozen IRD spin-off companies were active around the world. To date,
they have led to around a hundred direct job creations with total income
of more than €2.5 million.
The Bond'innov incubator launched some new calls for projects. At the end
of 2014, 16 start-up projects were housed in incubators, ten of which have
activities linked to countries of the South.
Some of the highlights: on 6 November 2014, the second "North/South
innovative entrepreneurship" event was held on the IRD Bondy campus,
while the QuickDo BookBox, an innovative e-book downloading system,
presented to French president François Hollande at the Dakar Francophonie
summit.
In 2014, the New Caledonia "’iNCubateur" continued to grow with a new
director and new premises provided by IRD as part of the partnership with
Adecal (New Caledonia economic growth agency).
Pollution
Control
Environment
Bioremediation
7%
Other diseases
9%
Cosmetics
4%
Nutrition/Food
4%
François Hollande's visit to
the QuickDoobox project's
stand at Bondy
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
47
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATION
DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE
AND COMMUNICATION
The dissemination of knowledge and the release of research results to research
communities and civil society, in both the North and South, are an important part
of the Institute's activity.
Science Festival/
Marseille
Disseminating knowledge
Promoting free access to knowledge
Several tools offering free access to resources have been developed. IRD
collects all publications by its researchers and makes them available via
the Horizon database and the HAL open archive. The Horizon database is
very widely consulted with 10,000 pdf documents downloaded every day,
most notably in countries of the South. In 2014, it was ranked second among
French open archives (moving up one place since 2013), in the Ranking Web
of Repositories by Webometrics, just behind HAL. On a worldwide level, it
is ranked 83rd (moving up 45 places), and is actually 44th for the richness
of its content, out of a total of more than 1,800 listed open archives.
IRD's documentation centres played an active role during the Semaine de
l’Open Access (open access week) and IRD has signed up to a partnership
between 28 French stakeholders in research to encourage Open Access and
the pooled HAL platform.
The Sphaera cartographic database is comprised of more than
18,000 references and helps disseminate news of the Institute's
achievements in terms of geographical information.
In 2014, nearly 3,250 new photos covering a number of the Institute's
research disciplines were added to the Indigo image bank which now
contains almost 58,000 documents, accessible over the internet.
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IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
IRD's publishing department opened its new web-based library in 2014,
with the possibility of secure online purchasing. With reference works,
high-quality illustrated books, atlases and maps, more than 300 items
published or co-published by the Institute, in paper and/or electronic
versions, are available on the web. Most works will soon be available in a
digital version. In addition, 25 works were published or co-published,
including: Une autre terre which questions environmental changes
occurring on a planetary scale, and La Nouvelle-Calédonie, un destin peu
commun, devoted to the future of this territory undergoing deep change.
A significant share of editorial production in 2014 focused on African or
Latin American issues and regions, with five titles on Africa and around a
dozen on South America.
Fourteen films were also produced or co-produced, and ten others are in
production. IRD took part in thirty or so festivals in France and abroad,
where six films were selected and two received awards. The full-length
feature on Lyme disease, co-produced with IRD, was watched by 1.1 million
viewers on the France 5 TV channel, accounting for a 4.2% audience share.
The documentary Attaque de requins à la Réunion : l’enquête obtained the
best audience figures of the year for its time slot on the Arte channel. The
Lengguru 2014 expedition was filmed for a series of documentaries to be
broadcast on Arte.
A DVD was also produced to enhance the paper version of the Atlas of New
Caledonia, published in partnership with the Congress of New Caledonia.
THE AGENCE INTER-ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNICATION
It provides hundreds of previously unpublished maps and plans, more
than 1,400 photographs, along with audio and video documents, notices
and statistical data.
Fifty-two colloquiums received support, including the international
"Family farming and research" event held in Montpellier as part of the
International Year of Family Farming.
10,000 %
PDF DOCUMENTS DOWNLOADED
EVERY DAY IN THE HORIZON
DATABASE
Helping promote the Institute
More than 50 press releases and press packs were issued in 2014, resulting
in almost 2,580 press mentions. These included: 27 articles in Le Monde,
26 AFP reports, 15 articles in Liberation, 20 articles in Le Figaro, 50 programmes or interviews on RFI, 30 on France Culture, 24 on France Inter and
13 articles in La Recherche.
Scientific news sheets present the most recent IRD research results two
or three times per month. Presently, more than 500 of these sheets can
be consulted on www.ird.fr. Intended for French and foreign media, the
governing ministries, IRD partners, decision-makers and the public, they
provide an up-to-date summary of current research information. In 2014,
23 scientific news sheets resulted in more than 150 articles in the press.
The periodical Sciences au Sud, with circulation of 70,000 in more than
120 countries, invites partner institutions to contribute; highlights last year
included interviews with Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Manuel PulgarVidel, Peru's environment minister and chair of the COP 20 in Lima.
IRD's websites benefit from high visibility in the South. IRD also boosted its
presence on the social networks, with the number of Facebook and Twitter
followers increasing respectively by 59% and 76% last year.
Strengthening ties between science and society
Raising society's awareness about the challenges of research for
development and rallying younger generations around these questions
has led IRD to roll out a broad palette of activities in France and in the
countries of the South.
Twenty-five travelling exhibitions, including four new ones, are now
available. In the French network abroad and in the overseas regions and
communities, the IRD exhibitions were presented 73 times in 21 different
countries and 59 times in mainland France.
Researchers contributed and took part in 245 conferences for the general
public, including 75% in the overseas regions and communities and in
the countries of the South. Conferences for high school students were also
organised as part of the Lengguru expedition, in France and in Indonesia.
Young people benefited from some innovative educational initiatives:
during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic years, IRD ran Webradio
fennec, an introduction to environmental sciences and radio, in
partnership with universities and associations in Cameroon, Morocco,
Central African Republic and France. Supervised by researchers and
journalists, 18 clubs of almost 200 students produced 67 programmes on
their environment (broadcast on www.webradiofennec.fr and over the local
airwaves). The project received backing from the International Organization
of la Francophonie, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region and sponsorship
from Radio France Internationale.
The "Villes en questions" (city issues) scheme was followed by 200 high
school students. Accompanied by 15 social science researchers, 20 teachers
and 5 mediators, these young people received an introduction to the
scientific approach throughout their school year, where the goal was to
understand the social relationships in different parts of their town and
to carry out surveys on this theme. The programme has its own website
and finished with an international conference that brought together the
French, Moroccan, and Tunisian participants to discuss the question "How
do Mediterranean city-dwellers live together?" Lastly, one thousand high
school students from the PACA region were able to follow conferences on
the Institute's headline issues.
AN INNOVATIVE SCHEME
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR
OF FAMILY FARMING.
IRD launched a new web platform named "Suds
en ligne" containing photo galleries and a
web documentary. It is both entertaining and
educational, showing how researchers help farming
communities to address the three main challenges
of family farming: feeding people, protecting the
environment and fighting poverty. This platform also
gives web visitors the chance to see the exhibition
on the diversity of family farming in countries of the
South, produced in 2014.
For more information:
http://www.suds-en-ligne.ird.fr/agriculture
IRD ANNUAL REPORT 2014
49