30
ASSESSING,
TRAINING AND CONSULTING
Research unit evaluation
Dynamic partnerships through training
Applications
Sharing scientific and technical information
32
33
36
38
31
EVALUATION OF RESEARCH
AND SERVICE UNITS
New scientific council
A new scientific council was installed at an inaugural
session on 29 June, during which its chairman, vice
chairman and members of the permanent delegation
were elected. Almost a third of the new council
are international experts representing scientific
communities in the North and South.
The scientific council took an active part in evaluating
the units being created or extended, mostly during
an extraordinary session.
Two-thirds of the research and service units underwent evaluation by the IRD’s
representative bodies this year. The review process is a continuation of the
reform that began with the creation of the IRD, further stabilising the Institute’s
internal organisation as research and service units. This was the first review of
the units created on 1 January 2001. It was also an important stage towards
drawing up a second «objectives contract» between the IRD and its supervising
ministries in 2005 and then a strategic plan for the next ten years.
This year’s evaluation concerned all those research and service units that came
to the end of their first four-year term on 31 December 2004. After the review,
conducted by the relevant scientific commissions and the scientific council,
43 units (36 research and 7 service) were created or granted a further term
and 9 units or projects were put into transition for a year.The IRD’s new, tighter
scientific structure now comprises 83 units instead of 97, namely 71 research
units (including 26 joint units with universities or other French research bodies)
and 12 service units. The concept of international research units was also
introduced.
The evaluation process is intended to raise the quality of research projects, while
improving the flexibility and consequently the responsiveness of the Institute as
a whole.
The commissions also carried out the two-yearly evaluation of researchers,
and took part in the selection for voluntary promotions. They continued their
examination of the activities of engineers and technicians. They held the
admission jury meetings for the 23 open competitive examinations to recruit
researchers, offering 17 senior and 21 junior research posts.
Contact dep@paris.ird.fr
Chair
Daniel Le Rudulier
Professor at the University of Nice, microbiology
Appointed members:
Jean-Louis Arcand
Netji Ben Mechlia
Professor at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, economics
Professor at the Tunisian National Institute of Agronomy
(INAT), agro-climatology
Pascale Delécluse
Senior researcher at the CNRS, oceanography
Stéphane Doumbé-Billé
Professor of public law at Jean Moulin University, Lyon 3,
international law
Jacqueline Heinen
Professor at the University of Versailles St-Quentin-enYvelines, sociology
Newton Paciornik
Technical adviser at the Brazilian research ministry, energy,
environment
Rémi Pochat
Scientific director of the Ponts et Chaussées central
laboratory, engineering, consulting
Jean-Luc Redelsperger
Senior researcher at the CNRS, climatology
Sergio Revah,
Professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University,
Mexico City, microbiology, biotechnology
Jean-Pierre Revéret
Professor at the University of Quebec, ecology, environment
Barbara Romanowicz
Professor at the University of California, Berkeley,
geophysics
Mamadou Souncalo Traoré National director of health, Mali, parasitology
Rodolphe Spichiger
Professor at the University of Geneva and director of the
Geneva botanical garden, biology and plant ecology
Elected members
College I, IRD senior researchers
Jean Albergel
Pierre Chevallier,
Georges de Noni
Jean-Paul Gonzalez
Emmanuel Grégoire
Michel Tibayrenc
hydrology
hydrology
geography, research management
human virology
geography
genetics of infectious diseases
Scientific commissions
College II, IRD junior researchers
Chairs of sectoral scientific commissions (CSS) and research and
applications management commissions (CGRA)
Sylvain Bonvalot
Dominique Buchillet
Marie-Hélène Durand
Michel Petit
Yves Goudineau
Yann Moreau
Yves Gaudemer
32
Scientific council (at 1 July 2005)
CSS1: Physical and chemical sciences
of the global environment
Dominique-Angèle Vuitton CSS2: Biological and medical sciences
Pierre Auger
CSS3: Sciences of ecological systems
Émile Le Bris
CSS4: Human and social sciences
Jean-Philippe Chippaux CGRA 1: Engineering and consulting
François Jarrige
CGRA 2: Administration and management
geophysics
anthropology of health
economics
remote sensing, hydrobiology
anthropology
hydrobiology
College III, IRD Engineers and Technicians
Odile Fossati
Yann Hello
Michel Larue
hydrobiology
geophysics
research management, IRD representative in Indonesia
DYNAMIC PARTNERSHIPS
THROUGH TRAINING
The Support and Training Department (DSF),
which provides support and training for scientific
communities in the South via South-North and
South-South-North partnerships celebrated five
years of existence in 2004. It has gained valuable
experience in selecting and awarding doctoral
grants, in-service training, short scientific
exchanges, and funding research teams and
science-focused institutions.
Five years’experience has validated the hypotheses
underpinning the Department’s approach: for
example, that collective approaches are fruitful,
and that before support is provided it is worth
conducting a preliminary, differentiated analysis
of the scientific context in which researchers and
teams are working. The Department has also
developed an increasingly integrated approach to
its activities.
Information system
The Department has set up Eleusine, an information
system that records the data on its operations. This
includes, for example, cases of support for teams
or individuals where the DSF is acting as delegate
for the main agency, as with the AIRE-development
projects and the French foreign ministry’s Campus
and Corus programmes. The database has been
designed to facilitate the management and followup of the Department’s operations and to enhance
its ability to analyse developments in the scientific
communities of the South. Ultimately, it will be linked
to Sorgho for the financial management aspects.
A website was opened in early 2004. It provides
information about the Department’s missions and
the principles and practice of its work.
A “news” section was soon added to publicise the
work and results of partners receiving support:
publications, theses presented and symposia held..
Interconnected operations
Partnership operations are designed to
strengthen local scientific environments as a
whole. Although the award of a doctoral grant
is based on the scientific quality of the thesis
proposal, it also depends on the student’s
expected contribution to a team and, more
broadly, a research institution. Conversely, a team
receives support if its scientific project is sound,
on condition that it trains young researchers and
meets the science and development priorities laid
down by the relevant authorities in the South.The
Department’s action is guided both by quality
imperatives for the research supported and by the
nature of the partnership and its medium- and
long-term effects.
Support and training: 2004 data
Soutien et formation : les chiffres 2004
Number of individual support grants
Doctoral theses
In-service training
Scientific exchanges
Suport of teams (number of operations)
AIRE Développement
CORUS-Campus
Young IRD partner teams
Institutional support (€170,000 in 2004)
Training courses
Teams and centres
Seminars and workshops
Soutien et formation : les chiffres 2004
http://www.dsf.ird.fr/
Website
/A
© IR D
l
. R iv a
INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT GRANTS BY TOPIC
234
147
34
53
124
25
79
20
11
1
3
7
Topic 6
Economic, social,
identity and spatial
dynamics issues
in the South
Topic 1
Environmental hazards
and safety
for communities
in the South
7%
26%
13%
Topic 5
Health in the South:
epidemics, endemic
and emerging diseases,
healthcare systems
33
17%
18%
19%
Topic 2
Sustainable
ecosystem
management
in the South
Topic 3
Southern continental
and coastal water
resources and use
Topic 4
Food security
in the South
Evaluating support operations
In Chile, increasingly
convergent support
The record of IRD operations in Chile shows that
Chilean scientists and their IRD partners have
taken advantage of the Institute’s international
dimension and are combining the DSF’s intervention
programmes to devise innovative and rewarding
operations. For example, young Chilean scientists
have been trained by using opportunities for
exchanges with other countries of the South – going
to South Africa to study the Benguela upwelling
ecosystem, for example. Conversely, and a young
researcher from Côte d’Ivoire found a position on a
team at the Chilean University of La Serena to do her
thesis fieldwork on pastoralism in the high Andes.
A “young IRD partner team” was selected for
the topic of “marine sedimentation in a desert
environment” at the University of Antofagasta in
Chile; it is hosting Peruvian researchers on scientific
exchanges funded by the Department.
Whatever the type of project receiving support
– doctoral research, team project – it is submitted
for evaluation to researchers and academics who
compare it with the state of the art internationally
and judge the relevance of its theoretical framework,
the quality of the methods used and its scientific
results. Thought is also being given to ways of
enhancing the purely scientific evaluation by
endeavouring to measure the longer-term effects
of our support operations. For example, it has
been shown that sustainable support for a limited
number of topic areas is more effective overall than
support divided among a large number of small
short-term projects. The next step is to construct
impact indicators for support to Southern scientific
communities, to measure the multiplier effect on
research in developing countries of investment in
human resources.The new Eleusine database should
help this investigation, but it will also require closer
links with national and European evaluation bodies
in order to improve consistency among the many
forms of scientific cooperation with the South.
Linking up with the work of other
players
This quest for synergy was expressed in 2004
through closer ties with particular research
institutions (e.g. the Graduate Institute of
Development Studies in Geneva (IUED), with
whom the IRD earlier created a social sciences
research laboratory in Niger) and funding agencies
(e.g. the International Foundation for Science in
Stockholm, with whom a framework agreement
has been signed). The Department’s “exploratory”
missions to Ecuador, Chile and Peru prompted
discussions that will soon lead to a system of grants,
particularly for post-doctoral studies, cofunded by
the IRD, local institutions and French embassies, in
order to coordinate the resources invested in local
research. This system will guide our future action.
Contact dsf@paris.ird.fr
Successful operation
in South Africa
REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS 2004
International Foundation
for Science
The International Foundation for Science (IFS)
and the IRD share some research fields and have
common goals. In recent years the two bodies
have jointly supported a number of actions, such
as the Microtrop summer school in Senegal and
the 2002 workshop in Buea, Cameroon, on the
purchasing, servicing and maintenance of scientific
equipment in Western Africa. The IRD also seconds
a researcher to work with the IFS secretariat.
In December, an agreement was signed to facilitate
information exchange and skill-sharing, and
promote common strategies to strengthen the two
institutions’ missions and programmes. Practical
long-term action is being designed to integrate
young people into multidisciplinary teams, bring the
social sciences into the study of living resources,
sponsor grantees and provide training in research
management. Strong partnership links are essential
for approaching donors and promoting development
projects for research systems in the South.
12
Asia
74
Latin American and Caribbean
29
North Africa, Middle East
12
East Africa and Indian Ocean
22
Central Africa
94
West Africa
D I S T R I B U T I O N O F Y O U N G I R D PA R T N E R T E A M S B Y T O P I C A N D R E G I O N
TOPIC 1
34
Environmental hazards
and safety for communities in the South
3
TOPIC 2
Sustainable ecosystem management in the South
TOPIC 3
Southern continental
and coastal water resources and their use
TOPIC 4
Food security in the South
1
1
1
1
5
2
TOPIC 5
Health in the South: epidemics, endemic
and emerging diseases, healthcare systems
TOPIC 6
Economic, social,
identity and spatial dynamics issues in the South
2
3
1
1
Sub-Saharan Africa
North Africa
Latin America
Since 1999, the IRD has been working with the
South African Sugarcane Research Institute
(formerly SASEX, Durban) on biological control
of nematode crop pests. In view of the country’s
particular features and the local scientific and
institutional environment, it was decided to promote
the emergence of a nematology research team
and so shift from a service role to a research role.
A comprehensive plan to train young researchers
and technicians was carried out locally and with
IRD teams based in France, Burkina Faso and
Martinique.
Senegalese partners were called in to teach some
of the courses. A research team is now operating,
publications and papers have been produced, and
close ties have been formed with a variety of French,
European and African partners. The South African
Sugarcane Research Institute has been inspired by
these promising results for its own projects, as have
local universities for their curriculum design.
35
APPLICATIONS
The Consulting and Industrial Relations Department (DEV) focuses on
five areas: economic applications (i.e. industrial property and relations
with industry), spin-offs, expert group reviews, consultancy services, and
coordinating research quality management. Its networking extends beyond
other research and teaching establishments to public administrations and
local authorities in France and abroad, NGOs and companies. These partners
may commission expert group reviews, pay for institutional consultancy or
sign intellectual property contracts, usually to exploit patents held by the
Institute.
Quality management in research
Fruit and seeds of the shibadan (Aspidosperma
album), a Guianese tree with pharmacological
properties.
European innovation prize
A project to produce biodegradable polymers from
the lactic acid of fermented saccharose, presented
by a joint team from the IRD (Microbiology of
extreme environments, Luminy), the CNRS (CRBA)
and a sugar refiner, has been awarded the European
Grand Prix for Innovation by a European jury.
Study of the microflora in palm wine, a traditional
Senegalese drink, led to the discovery of a new
bacterium and a process that could be a basis
for industrial production of lactic acid from sugar.
A second bacterium, isolated in a deep Pacific trench,
was used to optimise production from saccharose.
Patents have been filed for both bacteria. The project
was funded by Sucreries et Raffineries d’Erstein.
This company’s business situation was particularly
appropriate, because industrial sugar producers
are currently looking for ways to diversify the uses
of their products. Manufacturing biodegradable
plastics offers an opportunity for the future of the
European sugar industry.
Contact combet@esil.univ-mrs.fr
Industrial property
Results obtained by the Montpellier centre researchers led to eleven new
patents being filed in 2004, six of them jointly: seven in biotechnology
(six applied to health and one to agronomy), four in fish-farming, insect
control and waste recycling.
Comparative analysis since 2000 shows a significant increase in the number
of patents filed in the last three years: three in 2000, three in 2001, four
in 2002, and seven in 2003. Contracts signed during the year were mainly
concerned with biotechnology applied to health. Demand is also increasing in
the fields of decontamination and environmental protection.
Research quality management advanced considerably during the year in
the French tropical overseas territories, with more publicity, awareness
and training courses, and application of the approach within the scientific
units and centres. A highlight of the year was the Director-General’s
declaration on quality policy, stressing its incentive aspects, its importance
for scientific work and its ramifications in hygiene, safety and administrative
modernisation. Each unit’s quality management actions are now described
in the record file drawn up for unit assessment and accreditation renewal
purposes. One example is the improvement in hosting procedures and safety
standards at the Montpellier centre. Further actions have been undertaken
with a local quality group at the Dakar centre.
/E
© IR D
36
Le m as so n
© IR D/ J. -J .
o
. Baud
in
Expert group reviews
Organic agriculture in Martinique
In Martinique, pesticide pollution of water and
soil is currently hampering the production of
some food crops, while reduced European aid
is threatening the production of bananas, the
island’s main export. Furthermore, the reduction
in arable land area is compromising the very
existence of farming. Against this background, the
département council requested an expert group
review on the opportunities for developing organic
farming in Martinique. Under IRD coordination a
team of specialists in agronomy, the environment,
sustainable development, sociology and economics
was formed, with additional expert advice on
organic and tropical farming. The conclusions show
that there are no insuperable technical obstacles
to developing some organic farming in Martinique.
The problems with soil and water contamination are
both a geographical constraint on the introduction
of organic farming and an opportunity to change
the island’s image, focusing on food quality and the
environment. A number of scenarios for encouraging
the development of organic farming were presented
to the island council.
For an expert group review to be launched, three
conditions must be met: one or more decisionmakers planning an action, a scientific aspect to
that action, and the existence of literature on the
topic. In 2004, three such reviews were completed
and are now being published: Organic farming
in Martinique, commissioned by the Martinique
département council; Trachoma in sub-Saharan
Africa, at the request of the Mali health ministry
and the Institut d’Ophtalmologie Tropicale; and
Utilisation of natural substances in Polynesia,
for the government of French Polynesia. Work
continues on the review of Management of the
River Niger’s resources, at the request of the
Institut d’Economie Rurale in Mali, the German
development agency GTZ, the World Conservation
Union, and the French development mission in
Bamako. In December 2004, a new expert group
review began, commissioned by the three provinces
of New Caledonia: it concerns invasive species and
the associated environmental and socio-economic
risks.
© IR D
/H
. Chev
il
lo tt e
Precipitating heavy metals
with bacteria
Secomat is a French engineering company with
600 employees and revenues of some �40m, whose
activities include refining, oil and gas production,
chemicals, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding
and the environment. They joined forces with the
IRD’s “Microbial ecology of natural and humanaltered environments” unit to study the technical
feasibility of decontaminating industrial wastewater
polluted by heavy metals. A dozen or so bacteria
were selected and tested. The results obtained from
this partnership have already been filed for patent.
Further testing is planned, in a pilot scheme in 2005
and on site in 2006.
Contact dev@paris.ird.fr
nec
/V. B e
© IR D
h
Contact ollivier@esil.univ-mrs.fr
37
SHARING SCIENTIFIC
AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The IRD fulfils three missions in this field: achieve visibility for the Institute,
disseminate scientific information and improve the dialogue between science
and society.
IRD researchers’ publications
Research work has significantly advanced in the
IRD’s main fields of endeavour, as can be seen from
the 690 scientific publications(1) with an A-rating in
the Science Citation Index.
At a time when a system of indicators is being
prepared for all research establishments in France,
a bibliometric study provides some suggestive
evidence for the trend in our publications between
1997 and 2003(1):
The IRD’s presence in the media made progress in 2004, with 1,628 articles
based on our press releases, scientific news sheets and films jointly produced
by the Institute, such as Moi Sékou, mon exil, mon village, mon combat
and Portés disparus on the search for traces of the La Pérouse expedition.
Our presence on the internet is now well established, with 125 scientific
sites linked to the official website www.ird.fr and the Canal IRD videos on
science news. The Institute also took part in a number of
relevant events such as the Paris Book Fair, the SaintDié-des-Vosges International Geography Festival and the
week-long Fête de la Science.
• The number of A-rated publications increased
regularly from 508 in 1997 to 665 in 2003. The 6%
annual growth rate observed in 2003 was confirmed
in 2004. Ninety-five per cent of these publications are
now in English.
• The number of publications per researcher also rose
significantly, from 0.86 in 1997 to 1.09 in 2003 (the
threshold of one A-rated publication per researcher
was crossed in 2002).
• Co-authorship rates rose between 1997 to 2000
and have been stable for the last two or three years:
43% of the articles are signed jointly with partners
from Southern countries. The co-authorship rate is
65% internationally, 21% within Europe, and 69%
within France.
There is no reference database for the human and
social sciences that provides data as useful as this.
However, in 2001-2004, 38 articles were published
in journals referenced in the Social Sciences Citation
Index (SSCI), 129 in journals analysed by the
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and
241 in journals analysed in the Francis database.
(1) Excluding social sciences.
38
Our Sciences au Sud magazine is widely distributed in more than 150
countries and helps to spread the latest news on research for development.
To support researchers, the Institute subscribes to a number of databases
and online magazines, making these services available to our scientists over
the internet via the “bureau des chercheurs”. The Francis database, focusing
mainly on human and social sciences, is now accessible and supplements our
offering of bibliography databases: Current Contents, CABAbstract, GeoRef
and Web of Science. As the IRD’s documentation system is modernised, its
15 documentation centres in mainland France and the tropics will be able
to share common tools over the network. Meanwhile, digitisation of the
archives is increasing the value of our scientific output; a special effort has
been made for our partners in Burkina Faso, with 120,000 pages digitised.
In the book-publishing field, some thirty books and atlases were brought
out, including Virus émergents and Pharmacopées de Guyane. Books
published in local languages were used to disseminate the research
done in partner countries. Cartographical highlights this year were the
publication of the Atlas du Viêt-nam, the distribution of the Atlas du
Développement Durable and a number of CD-ROMs. Our maps are now
accessible over the internet.
/A
© IR D
a
. Debr
y
Sharing Science
As part of our policy of publicising the progress made by research for
development, the IRD organised a number of public awareness events.
Our travelling exhibitions have visited some thirty countries since the
end of 2003. One of them, “Sciences au Sud”, an exhibition on French
research in countries of the South, was produced with support from
the French foreign ministry and was taken to Mauritius, Madagascar
and a number of African countries. The Indigo photo library, which now
comprises 30,000 images accessible over the internet, tripled its number
of visits in 2004. The Institute’s researchers continue to give their time
to lectures and public debates, with over a hundred appearances this
year.They help raise science awareness among the young via some fifteen
young peoples’ science clubs on major topics such as AIDS, biodiversity
and environmental issues, and by producing education kits.
© IR D
/J . Vo
is in
Contact dic@paris.ird.fr
ng
© IR D/ A. Ai
39