Resources
for research
Shared equipment
available
to partners
Information
systems
Human
resources
Financial
resources
Annual report 2008 s
Shared equipment available to
Ever since its foundation, the IRD has maintained and managed
capital equipment and scientific infrastructure for research
focused on Southern countries’ development needs. With two
oceanographic vessels, the Alis in the Pacific and the Antea in
the tropical Atlantic, satellite receiving stations in French Guiana
and La Réunion and medical research laboratories such as the
mother and child malaria research platform in Benin, the IRD
and its equipment are at work on land and at sea throughout the
intertropical zone. Recently, the Institute has adopted the approach
of pooling resources so that equipment with the most advanced
technology can be provided, not only in Metropolitan France but also
in the French overseas territories and other countries. In 2008, the
Institute spent €1.3 million on financing scientific equipment and
€1.2 million to maintain the fleet and replace onboard equipment..
Oceanographic survey vessels scour
the Pacific and Atlantic
the biodiversity of algae, corals and venomous cone shell molluscs; the
seismology of Vanuatu; and the biogeochemistry of water masses in
relation to fishery resources.
ASTER, a particle accelerator like
no other in France
On the earth sciences front, the French accelerator mass spectrometer
ASTER reached cruising speed in 2008. The IRD contributed €400,000
out of a total cost of €3.8 million (excluding the building). It was
installed in late 2006 at CEREGE (Centre Européen de Recherche et
d’Enseignement des Géosciences de l’Environnement) at the Europôle
in Arbois, Aix-en-Provence. Its purpose is to measure isotopes other
than carbon 14. This opens up new prospects for studying geological
deformations, assessing seismic risk, determining degrees of
denudation, describing aquifer recharge mechanisms more precisely
and even dating hominid evolution stages. ASTER is now fully
operational, performing more than 2000 analyses a year.
The IRD’s two oceanographic vessels were in operation all year. The
Antea conducted several surveys in the northern tropical Atlantic, from
Mexico to Equatorial Guinea, studying sedimentary biogeochemistry off
the Amazon estuary and tsunami risk in the Caribbean. The Alis sailed
from New Caledonia to the Solomon Islands. Its research fields were
Aquaculture platforms and a fishery
resources monitoring system
In view of current predictions of fishery resource trends, researchers
think that aquaculture is one way to compensate for the expected drop
in world fish catches. Freshwater fish farming is a response to numerous
development challenges, both in Asia where it began and in the Amazon
basin where its future looks very promising. The IRD has been playing
a part in building and equipping fish farming platforms in Indonesia
and Peru. A hatchery was installed at the fish farm of the IIAP (Peruvian
Institute for Research in Amazonia) in Iquitos. Batteries of rearing tanks
were built at Peruana Cayetano Heredia University in Lima and at the
Depok station near Jakarta, which is run by the Indonesian Agency for
Aquaculture Research.
Databases are now essential to research. The IRD’s fishery research
teams have long been designing and using databases on tropical fishing
grounds, especially fisheries involving species with large populations
such as sardines and anchovies, and high-value species like the large
tunas. The IRD’s tuna monitoring system, which gathers data from the
tropical Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, is a major part of the work at
the fishery research centre in Sète, France. In 2008 it obtained ISO 9001
certification, making it an exception among fishery databases.
ch Polynesia.
Taking current meter readings/Fren
vence.
The Antea/Cuba.
sInstitut de recherche pour le développement
ASTER particle accelerator/Aix-en-Pro
partners
Biology facilities in Cayenne,
Nouméa and Montpellier set the
standard
Population and health monitoring
units in Senegal
In 2007 the IRD began the work of computerising its Cayenne and
Nouméa herbarium collections and making them available online for
the purposes of plant biology research. In 2008 this work continued and
both collections were attached to the same research structure, in order
to provide a regional database on the exceptional botanical biodiversity
of the South Pacific and Northeast Amazonia. In Metropolitan France,
the experimental tropical greenhouse at the Montpellier centre adopted
formal quality management and received official approval as a "Major
scientific facility".
The IRD’s population and health monitoring units at Niakhar and DielmoNdiop in Senegal are managed in partnership with the Senegalese
health ministry and the Pasteur Institute. In 2008 both monitoring
units − the older of which has been running since 1962 − joined the
joint research unit on emerging tropical and infectious diseases. The
change of status is intended to open the platform more quickly to a
larger number of users and make better use of the research potential of
the databases they have built up.
A molecular biology platform was set up in New Caledonia. This is a
joint facility with the New Caledonia Agronomy Institute, Ifremer, the
Pasteur Institute in New Caledonia and the University of New Caledonia.
It provides the archipelago’s scientists with a high-performance tool for
analysing the structure and functioning of animal, plant and microbe
genomes from land or marine species. Genotyping and sequencing
projects for the endemic flora and fauna and for the human and animal
diseases present on the islands are already under way.
Information
systems
Implementation of the information systems master plan continued
in 2008.
As part of decentralising the Institute’s administrative management
and dematerialising internal communications, the data processing
centre’s scope was extended to include the budget scorecards and
SORGHO-Finances. This means the research units can now handle
their credit transfers directly. Contract management (SIROCCO) was
computerised. WiFi terminals, videoconferencing and storage solutions
were set up. A platform was created for online collaborative work and
for sending bulky files. All these measures will facilitate staff travel and
work with partners.
With regard to scientific computing (SPIRALES), the IS department
provided help to twenty-two research and service units. It also organised
training in cataloguing, databases and the use of the "R" statistical
tool. Two shared host platforms, Nouméa and Montpellier, now host more
than fifty applications. The department transferred several projects to
other units and there were transfers of IS competencies to partners.
The data processing infrastructure continued to evolve, with the
deployment of an external operator’s links across some twenty sites
outside France. Management of much of the IRD’s electronic mail was
transferred to the servers at the Bondy site.
[ Contact: dsi@ird.fr ]
Herbarium/New Caledonia.
Fish farm/Indonesia.
Annual report 2008 s
Human resources
Key features of 2008 were the move to the new headquarters in
Marseille, the introduction of a new system of “joint chairs” for
hosting researchers at the IRD and the introduction of online
assessment for engineers and technicians.
IRD staff numbers
The IRD had 2172 staff including 858 researchers, 973 engineers
and technicians and 341 local staff. The average age of IRD staff
(excluding local employees) was 44 − 41 for women and 47 for
men. Women made up 40% of the total (proportionately less among
the researchers (26%) but a majority among the engineers and
technicians (56%)).
Moving to Marseille
Assistance was provided for staff affected by the relocation of the
head office from Paris to Marseille. A special staff support team
was formed, to help staff and their families decide whether or not to
make the move to Marseille, but also to ensure continuity of service
throughout the period of the move.
Particular attention was paid to the individual situations of staff
who chose not to move to Marseille. Some solution was found for
everyone, either through a move to another government institution
or through redeployment within the IRD. This involved a major
campaign for internal mobility and collaboration with other
research and higher education institutions.
One hundred and eighty staff decided to move to Marseille. The IRD
and all its partners in Marseille pulled out the stops to help them
solve the attendant problems of housing, schools or nurseries for
the children, and spouses’ job-hunting.
The head office mainly employs tenured IRD staff or on secondment.
Continuity of service was ensured by efficient management of the
departure dates and by the willing efforts of everyone concerned.
At work in the South and mobilising
the scientific community
In 2008, 38% of IRD staff were working outside Metropolitan
France: 50% in Africa or the Mediterranean, 25% in the French
overseas territories, 15% in South America and 10% in Asia and
the Pacific. Tthe Institute’s presence was most intensive in Senegal,
Burkina Faso, Brazil, Peru, French Guiana and New Caledonia.
Other staff work overseas on long missions lasting a little less
than three months on average. 182 long missions were performed
in 2008 − nearly half in Africa, 20% in Latin America and 20% in
Asia and the Pacific.
Part of the Institute’s function is to mobilise the Northern scientific
and academic community to address development issues. To
do this it hosts a growing number of guest researchers and
teacher-researchers from other bodies and universities. In 2008
it introduced a new system of joint chairs to foster research and
training for development, in Northern and Southern countries alike.
The Personnel department invested additional effort to help the
research units submit tenders and mount complex programs. At the
end of 2008 the IRD had 70 people working on research contracts,
compared to about 15 at the start of 2006. Resources were deployed
in both centres in Metropolitan France to give the units closecontact assistance.
Staff welfare
A "welfare and quality of life at work" team was set up within
the Personnel department to assist individual staff members
with incidents in their careers, social security problems or risk
situations. Its aim will be to protect the health and safety of IRD
staff (the coordinating doctor will play a key role) and to assist staff
with welfare-related issues such as social security coverage. It will
pursue an active policy of communicating and informing staff on
retirement issues.
Seventeen additional health and safety delegates joined the health
and safety network in the Institute’s centres and research units
in France and abroad. Training sessions were organised for their
benefit. The new head office premises were brought up to current
fire safety standards.
The arrangements for assessing risks before staff leave on missions
overseas were perfected and an inter-establishment study was
conducted to harmonise practice among French research bodies.
Staff promotion improved
In 2007 and 2008 the IRD took steps to make it easier for junior
researchers to move up a grade (from CR2 to CR1), so opening new
career prospects for them. The annual rate of upgrades doubled.
Possibilities for engineers and technicians to move up a grade or to
a higher category were also increased.
Online assessment
for engineers and technicians
New stage in training policy
New functions were added to the administrative portal: staff
had been able to apply for leave or consult and correct their
administrative files online since 2007. Now, engineers and
technicians can also create and manage their own assessment
files online. The same facility will be made available to researchers
in 2009.
In the context of the head office’s move to Marseille, the IRD
focused on helping individual staff pursue further training. A new
methodology was used in drawing up the training plan. Group
training on change management and professionalisation was
provided. All in all 5900 training days were dispensed to 1229
trainees.
[ Contact: ddp@ird.fr ]
sInstitut de recherche pour le développement
Staff numbers
Researchers
Engineers and technicians
Permanent local staff
TOTAL
IRD staff age distribution
TENURED STAFF
808
779
1587
NON-TENURED STAFF*
50
194
341
585
TOTAL
858
973
341
2172
WOMEN
227
544
106
877
TOTAL
858
973
341
2172
Men Age Women
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
*Short-term contracts, insourcing, youth volunteers, grantees and local staff.
Staff by gender
Researchers
Engineers and technicians
Permanent local staff
TOTAL
MEN
631
429
235
1295
%
74
44
69
60
%
26
56
31
40
On assignment outside Metropolitan France
Researchers
Engineers and technicians
2004*
34%
29%
2005*
35%
24%
2006**
37%
26%
2007**
35%
25%
2008**
34%
21%
*Until 2005, percentage based on budgeted posts **Since 2006, percentage based on IRD staff numbers at 31/12 (excl. local staff).
Long term missions
Africa
America
Asia - Ocaania
Europe
TOTAL
2003
33
38
8
2
81
2004
42
45
20
8
115
2005
60
60
32
3
155
2006
52
40
19
6
117
2007
61
36
23
5
125
2008
89
51
41
1
182
70
Source: Sorgho at 31/12/2008.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Numbers
Staff by geographical region
Mediterranean [2%] 50
Europe and 5
North America [0,2%]
Researchers by discipline
36 East Africa and Indian Ocean [2%]
81 Asia and Pacific [4%]
81 French overseas regions [4%]
129 South America [6%]
Chemistry 1%
Engineering sciences 2%
Physics 2%
Human sciences 4%
Engineers and technicians by occupational category
Engineering sciences,
scientific instrumentation 4%
1% Mathematics
40%
Life sciences
41%
Management
and admin.
5% Human and social sciences
5% Chemistry, materials science
5% Property management, logistics,
Medecine 5%
prevention, restoration
123 French overseas
collectivities [6%]
1 339
Metropolitan France [61%]
328
West and Central Africa
[15%]
9% Data processing, statistics,
scientific computing
Social sciences
21%
24%
Universe sciences
22%
Life sciences
9% Information, documentation, culture,
communication, publishing, ICTE
Annual report 2008 s
Financial resources
The IRD’s achievements were fully in compliance with the
geographical and scientific priorities set out in its objectives
contract. Among the salient financial facts of the year were
a significant increase in the Institute’s own resources, an
exceptional government subsidy for the relocation of the
Institute’s head office, and a continuing high level of investment.
The budget
The initial budget was close to €219m in expenditure and over
€216m in income. The IRD has three sources of funds: government
grants (€194m in 2008, or 88.5%), research contract revenue
(€16.9m or about 8%) and miscellaneous income (€5.8m or about
3%). Staff salaries accounted for €153m of the total (70%).
The research and service units received 56% of the Institute’s
financial resources (€123m) – an increase of 4.7% over 2007.
Incentive credits for research and service units, and for pilot
operations in support of scientific work, were increased to €1.8m
in 2008.
Sharp increase in research
contract income
Income from research contracts amounted to €25.6m, €8.72m
more than in the budget forecast and €3.2m more than the
previous year. One reason for this was the IRD’s good performance in
response to calls for proposals from the National Research Agency.
Another was its prominent role as a research operator with public
and private partners: French government institutions (€5.90m),
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (€4.95m), European institutions
(€2.93m), other countries’ government institutions (€2.56m),
non-French private sector partners (€2.23m) etc.
The institute’s own resources were nearly double their 2006 figure
and are now more than 70% of the target set by the 2006-2009
objectives contract (16% of budget).
IRD resources [€millions]
O.54 Income from research applications [0,23%]
Exceptional government subsidy
for head office relocation
2.77
Other subsidies
and income
[1,19%]
With the IRD’s head office moving to Marseille, an exceptional
government subsidy of €2.6m was granted to compensate staff
transferred from the Ile de France region. The decentralised
authorities provided a subsidy of €4m towards fitting out the new
headquarters.
High level
of investment maintained
25.62
- €6.8m for property investments including €3.5m for
computer facilities and €1.8m for the CapMédiTrop operation
(reorganising agricultural science into three separate clusters
including construction of a building on the Lavalette campus
in Montpellier).
[ Contact: df@ird.fr ]
State subsidies
[87,60%]
Research contract income by origin [€millions]
O.21
International institutions
7.80
Ministries
and local
government
2.93
European institutions
3.06
French public
institutions
€25,62m
5.75
Agence nationale de
la recherche (ANR)
5.88
Other partners
(public and private
sectors)
Research contract income by origin [€millions]
MONTANT
Earth and Environment department
Living Resources department
Societies and Health department
Capacity-building Support
Applications and Consulting
Information and Communication
International Relations
Scientific Outreach
Decentralised services
Partners under IRD management*
TOTAL IN BUDGET
Paid out to partners off-budget
3.72
4.96
8.89
4.56
0.36
0.50
1.19
0.08
0.07
1.30
25.62
4.09
TOTAL
29.72
*Mainly under contracts with Europe, ANR, GIS etc.
sInstitut de recherche pour le développement
204.41
Research
agreements
[10,98%]
The IRD allocated €9m for investments, breaking down as
follows:
- €2.5m for scientific investments including €1.2m for
nautical resources (€1m for technical overhaul of the Alis and
€0.2m to re-equip both ocean-going vessels, the Alis and the
Antea) and €1.3m for scientific equipment, the most notable
being a €0.65m modular insectarium for studying vector
mosquitoes in Montpellier;
€233.34m
Expenditure of research & service units [€millions]
Expenditure on support functions [€millions]
PAYROLL
OPERATING COSTS
AND INVESTMENTS
TOTAL
Welfare
0.20
1.20
1.40
Information systems (excl. master plan)
2.91
4.45
7.36
1.09
1.09
2008 expenditure from government subsidies and own resources
PAYROLL
OPERATING COSTS
AND INVESTMENTS
TOTAL
Earth and environment
32.14
6.29
38.43
Information systems master plan
-
Living resources
33.63
6.68
40.31
Maintenance
-
0.65
0.65
Societies and health
35.97
9.32
45.29
Major building works
-
0.26
0.26
101.74
22.29
124.03
Construction
-
0.08
0.08
8.34
5.56
13.90
PAYROLL
OPERATING COSTS
AND INVESTMENTS
TOTAL
15.01
8.89
23.91
8.47
1.54
10.01
Sustainable management of Southern ecosystems
18.10
3.46
21.56
Continental and coastal waters
19.82
4.21
24.03
Food security in the South
17.46
3.27
20.73
Health in the South
19.58
7.10
26.68
Development and globalisation
18.30
2.71
21.02
101.74
22.29
124.03
Research department
TOTAL
Decentralised services
Research program
Natural hazards, climate
TOTAL
Central services
-
0.07
0.07
9.32
0.03
9.35
35.78
22.29
58.07
Financial operations
Other general expenses
TOTAL
3.02
IRD expenditure by type [€millions]
Programmed investment [1.34%]
66.33
Operating costs and
non-programmed
investment
[29.42%]
Expenditure on cross-cutting activities [€millions]
PAYROLL
OPERATING COSTS
AND INVESTMENTS
TOTAL
Capacity-building support
0.74
6.47
7.21
Consulting & applications
0.60
0.66
1.26
Information & communication
5.04
1.67
6.71
International relations
8.49
4.38
12.87
Scientific outreach
2.88
0.15
3.04
16.05
Scientific and ethical evaluation
0.50
0.34
0.83
Latin America
[7.12%]
Continuing education
0.15
1.06
1.22
21.46
Contributions to partnerships
0.13
4.03
4.16
French overseas territories
[9.52%]
Nautical resources FI
0.10
4.41
4.50
Nautical resources IP
-
1.17
1.17
34.04
Other major scientific capital equipment
-
0.41
0.41
Africa and Indian
Ocean [15.10%]
18.63
24.76
43.39
TOTAL
Expenditure by geographical region [€millions]
€225.48m
156.13
Payroll
[69.24%]
12.65
Asia [5.61%]
1.70 Other countries [0.75%]
€225.48m
139.58
Metropolitan
France
[61.90%]
Annual report 2008 s