38
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
The “Agence
inter-établissements
de recherche pour
le développement”
• 40 The AIRD: mobilising for the South
• 42 The research programmes
• 44 Capacity-building in the South
• 46 Innovating with the South
• 48 Sharing knowledge
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40
Annual report 2011
THE AIRD: mobilising for the South
Now fully integrated into the IRD with its own senior management committee,
the AIRD (Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement)
has consolidated its internal organisation and its position on the French
institutional landscape. Its mission is to coordinate French research in the
South, with the South and for the South, as laid out in the IRD's objectives
contract.
The AIRD is made up of three divisions with skills that complement each other.
The division for Programmes and training in the South coordinates the Agency's
programmes for implementing research activities and reinforcing knowledge.
The Information and scientific culture in the South division facilitates the
production and presentation of scientific knowledge through a variety of media.
Lastly, the division for Expertise and consulting in the South develops a wide
range of instruments for the socio-economic promotion of research results in
Southern countries. These three divisions cover the full spectrum of the research/
training/promotion continuum, including promotion that is economic, societal
and cultural.
Working directly in accordance with the mission it was allocated by decree in
June 2010 - to bring together research and higher education establishments to
discuss questions of science for development - the AIRD has strengthened its
bonds with the different institutional players on the French stage. The framework
agreement signed on 14 September 2011 with the ANR(1) allows the Agency to
contribute to programming and to allocate funding to Southern teams linked
to the projects it supports. Similarly, a framework agreement with the AFD(2)
will be signed during 2012 to facilitate the inclusion of research activities in
public funding for development. Lastly, the Agency contributes to the national
programme coordinated by the five research Alliances(3), working with each of
them to define scientific themes to be implemented in the South.
The AIRD has also consolidated its relationships with its founding members(4)
through the creation of a steering committee. The framework agreement signed
on 10 November 2011 certifies the commitment of each member to contribute
to the Agency's activities.
(1) Agence nationale de la recherche.
(2) Agence française de développement.
(3) Aviesan, AllEnvi, Ancre, Allistene, Athena.
(4) Cirad, CNRS, CPU, Inserm, Institut Pasteur and the IRD.
Contact:
dgdagence@ird.fr
The official COrA steering committee gives advice and proposals concerning
activities, partnerships and the means available for implementing their missions.
The Committee is made up of 13 qualified professionals from the South and
13 institutional representatives from France, 11 of whom are from the research
and higher education sphere (founder members of the AIRD, Alliances) and
2 representatives from the ministries that supervise the IRD. The first meeting
was held on 16 December 2011. This meeting resulted in the election of the
committee's chairman (Jean-Pierre Ezin, African Union Commissioner for Human
Resources, Research and Technology), and vice-chairman (Michel Laurent, IRD
Chairman).
The COrA has also set out the axes of its own work programme for the coming
term of office: increasing the efficiency and visibility of the French capacity
for research for development and coordination of stakeholders; working
to strengthen that capacity by mobilising academic potential through the
Conférence des présidents d’Universités and the Conférence des grandes écoles
and defining a national strategy; creating proposals to influence European policy
on research for development, in coordination with the Senior management
concerned and in line with the H2020 programme; preparation of an annual
financial report.
The AIRD has also implemented new programmes and coordinated activities
for its members, creating a shared policy at an international level. Southern
partner nations can be divided into four categories: least developed countries
(Sub-Saharan Africa), middle-income countries (Mediterranean and South East
Asia), emerging nations (Brazil, South Africa, ...) and overseas regions (French
Overseas Departments and Territories).
Annual report 2011
A few examples of initiatives taken can illustrate such activities:
• The Great Green Wall project has led to a cooperation agreement, signed in
March 2011 in N’Djamena in Chad, between the Institute, acting as agent, and
the Pan-African Agency Responsible for the Great Green Wall, placing French
expertise at the heart of the operation.
• In the context of reinforcement of Franco-German partnerships for scientific
and technological cooperation with Africa, the AIRD was allocated the
responsibility of organising a tripartite call for projects on themes of health,
agriculture/food security, the environment, applied mathematics and computer
science. Four successful candidates were selected and presented at the FrancoGerman research forum in October 2011.
• The AIRD is closely involved with the action plan for the 8th Africa-European
Union Strategic Partnership (sciences, space and information technology), and
will coordinate the science theme for the 2011-2013 edition.
• The Agency has been contracted to coordinate the activities of the French
scientific organisations working on the relaunch of higher education and
research systems in Haiti. In a difficult context, these systems are still attractive
to students, with 256 requests for fellowships being processed. Six locations for
remote digital teaching (PENDHA) were opened in the country in 2011.
• Lastly, as part of the investissements d'avenir programme, the AIRD has
participated in the creation of four organisations for accelerating technological
transfers (SATT), as a shareholder or partner. Elsewhere, the agency proposed
the creation of Valorisation Sud, a thematic promotion consortium (CVT) in
partnership with Cirad, the Institut Pasteur and the Overseas universities.
Great Green Wall / Senegal
Computer lab / Haiti
Le COrA
“The COrA is a consultation and exchange committee for partners who share the same cause, scientific
research focused on development in the South. This is the primary task of the AIRD. The primary feature
of the Council is its composition which, unusually, is shared between representatives from ministries
or Northern organisations and high-level figures from the South. As a result - and this is our second
characteristic -, the strategic and scientific dialogue within the COrA to organise programmes and projects
draws from our individual experiences and interests without losing any of its dynamism. An excellent
listening capacity is required to capture all of the nuances of our members’ contributions, in order to
synthesise them and focus on activities that are best suited to the development of human capital.”
Jean-Pierre Ezin.
African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, COrA Chairman.
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Annual report 2011
The research programmes
Programmes to assist research in the South
The majority of research programmes the AIRD supports through implementation
or steering contain elements of training and consulting. They have been financed,
over a period of several years, by a start-up fund supplemented by the IRD.
This has enabled external funds to be raised from the ministry of foreign and
European affairs (Fonds de solidarité prioritaire, donations from embassies, etc.),
the AFD and a range of public and private donators, or to co-finance projects
in the South, like certain ANR programmes. This activity can be seen to have
leveraged by a factor of around 5 between 2007 and 2011.
Southern teams are funded in various scientific domains such as the environment,
climate and the function of ecosystems (Systerra), agronomy (Agrobiosphère)
and infectious diseases (MIE programme).
Programmes have been completed with
support from the Fonds de solidarité
prioritaire du ministère des Affaires
étrangères et européennes. Notable
examples are CORUS(1), AIRES-Sud(2)
and RIPIECSA(3). A variety of scientific
stakeholders from North and South
have been involved, demonstrating the
organising, mobilising and coordinating
role the AIRD plays in supporting and
developing research and training in the
South.
Irrigated landscape / Madagascar
Elsewhere, the Agency serves to construct or curate projects or activities as multipartnerships between North and South, to meet the demands of the South, with
the possibility of external funding. Such is the case for GUYAMAZON. TheCentre
de recherche et de veille sur les maladies émergentes de l’océan Indien (CRVOI), the Scientific interest group created in Réunion following the Chikungunya
crisis, is another example. The steering committee for CRV-OI’s “Faune sauvage”
project held its scientific conference halfway through the process. The notion
of a centre or network for research and monitoring of emerging illnesses in
the South may soon be applied to other diseases in other geographic areas.
As a result, and as part of the Aviesan Alliance in cooperation with the Institut
Pasteur, discussions were held to create a similar network in South-East Asia,
focusing on encephalitis.
The AIRD has also begun to progressively coordinate major regional programmes
resulting from projects generated by founder members(4) that involve numerous
partners from the North and the South. The fight against desertification, tropical
forest ecosystems, and emerging illnesses are the main themes.
(1) Coopération pour la recherche universitaire et scientifique.
(2) Appuis intégrés pour le renforcement des équipes scientifiques du Sud.
(3) Recherche interdisciplinaire et participative sur les interactions entre écosystèmes, climat et sociétés en Afrique de l’Ouest.
(4) Regional pilot programmes, Partnership operations, International research consortiums…
Contact:
dpf@ird.fr
Vector study / Réunion
Annual report 2011
RIPIECSA
Study of the climate/ Benin
Promoting scientific cooperation with the
South as part of the European Research Area
The Agency plays a major role in the formation of the European Research
Area, so that questions of research for development take a central role in the
programming. To achieve this, it supports research teams and is directly involved
in the networks and think tanks that contribute to the creation of European
agendas for research and innovation.
Support is given to the creation and monitoring of resulting projects through
direct collaborations with European and Southern researchers, particularly as
part of the FP7. Priority issues for research in the South are promoted among
European research networks.
The IRD is a stakeholder in 56 current projects, and is coordinator for 8 of
these. Nine were selected this year, including three as coordinator (SMILING(5),
NOPOOR(6) and INCOLAB CLIM-AMAZON(7)).
Elsewhere, the Agency is involved in numerous institutional programmes
such as the PACE-Net(8) programme, which aims to develop durable scientific
partnerships between Europe and the Pacific, the ERAFRICA network, which
strengthens scientific cooperation between Europe and Africa, and the
EULARINET network, between Europe and Latin America.
(5) Food, Agriculture, Fishing.
(6) Human and social sciences.
(7) Research mutualisation programme.
(8) The PACE-Net network includes 11 research institutions from the EU (France, Italy, Germany, Malta), the Pacific (Australia,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea) and 2 regional organisations (the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (CPS) and the
University of the South Pacific (USP)).
The RIPIECSA (Recherche interdisciplinaire et participative sur les interactions entre écosystème, climat
et sociétés en Afrique de l'Ouest) programme continued with its cross-disciplinary activities, aimed at
integrating Southern teams into networks, including a major training strand and significant participation
from civil society. Seventeen African nations were partners to the programme, which sourced funding for
24 research projects between 2007 and 2011. The final FSP workshop, held in Cotonou between 18 and
21 October 2011, brought together 180 participants (115 from the West African nations or France) and
100 secondary school students participating in a poster event.
CORUS and AIRES Sud
These programmes were subject to competitive calls for offers, and led in the selection of 50 and
32 projects respectively. 150 teams from 30 African nations in total were supported, bringing together
around 1,500 researchers and students, of which 1,200 are in Africa. These projects have led to
800 publications (of which 340 were in academic journals), 1,000 scientific communications during
conferences, 263 doctoral theses, 405 dissertations at undergraduate and Masters level, and 20 threemonth visits to France. Eleven thematic workshops brought together 400 researchers, and facilitated
the building of international scientific networks.
GUYAMAZON
GUYAMAZON: Franco-Brazilian programme for scientific and academic cooperation
GUYAMAZON was launched in 2011 by the AIRD, working in partnership with the
French embassy in Brazil, the Fondations de soutien à la recherche for the states of
Amazonas (FAPEAM), Amapá (FAP Tumucumaque) and Maranhão (FAPEMA). Its aim
is to support the implementation of research projects, training, development and
innovation as part of scientific and technological collaborations between researchers Amazonian Flora / Brazil
and lecturer-researchers from French teaching and research institutions, primarily in Guiana, and their
equivalents from the Brazilian states concerned.
These projects relate to biodiversity in the Amazonian environment, agroecology, biotechnology, remote
sensing and aerospace engineering, healthcare and society.
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Annual report 2011
Capacity-building in the South
In the North as in the South, researchers are required to find inventive
solutions to the major global challenges. To enable them to make the
scientific and technological choices that will support their development and
hold influence in international negotiations, the countries of the South must
benefit from an autonomous research, training and expertise capability. To
facilitate the acquisition of these skills by scientists and administrators from
Southern partner institutions, the AIRD is implementing tools such as the
training of doctoral students, assistance to emerging teams and participation
in the organisation of research and teaching systems in the South.
Supporting the training of individuals in
research professions
In order to support the training of individuals in research professions, several
systems have been put in place.
The Bourse de thèse (thesis fellowship) programme relates to the initial training
of scientific personnel from Southern countries. It supports doctoral students
who are writing a thesis as part of a research collaboration between a team
from the North and a team from the South. The aim is to integrate them into a
higher education and research system in a Southern country, thus building the
research capability in these countries. One hundred and twenty projects were
supported in 2011.
In order to prepare young researchers from the South for their future activities
and to facilitate freedom within networks, specific support is offered through
doctoral meetings and/or workshops. The most recent session in Montpellier
welcomed around fifty doctoral students of all nationalities, facilitating the
sharing of experiences.
Promoting the creation of new research teams
The Jeunes équipes AIRD (JEAI) programme enables the emergence of new
research teams and builds their capabilities, their autonomy and their
competitiveness in an international environment. It is aimed at researchers
and lecturer-researchers from the South working on shared topics who wish
to create a research team. Forty-four JEAIs were supported in 2011. This
programme has been supported by all of the AIRD founding members.
This is also the case for the Programme d'excellence pour l'enseignement et la
recherche au Sud (PEERS), which supports and solidifies cooperation between
professional scientists (researchers and lecturer-researchers) through the
implementation of a research project and shared training, innovation and
promotional activities. Twelve projects have been funded as a result, including
six new projects.
The Bourses d’échange scientifique et technologique (BEST) serve to assist
researchers, engineers and technicians from Southern countries who wish to
transfer to research or higher education institutions outside their own country.
This initiative guarantees them access to the logistical and intellectual support
they require to gain new skills and learn new techniques and innovative
methodologies. Thirty projects were supported in 2011.
Making use of the AIRD’s unifying role, Cirad has delegated administration
of its Southern doctoral fellowship allocations, part of the Doctorants du Sud
programme.
Contact:
sud.formation@ird.fr
Entomological training
Burkina Faso
Annual report 2011
Market / Benin
Helping Southern partners to structure their
education and research systems
In partnership with 8 West African institutions, the AIRD is coordinating the
GVal-Sécurité alimentaire programme. As a result, four cross-discipline groups
and a regional discussion forum with public and private decision-makers on
food security have been commissioned. The programme has also enabled the
organisation of a West African network of teaching and research institutions
specialising in this area.
Led by a researcher, a researcher-lecturer or a relevant engineer from an IRDsponsored unit in combination with at least one Southern partner, the BaseBuilding activities programme helps to finance short-term training and the
strengthening of institutional partnerships. Among 18 projects that have been
co-funded, training in sales promotion has been organised in Cameroon as well
as various summer schools and “Doctoriales”.
Other actions have included the International Doctoral Programme “Modelling
and complex systems” and the social sciences summer school in Tam Dao,
taking place for the third consecutive year in partnership with the Agence
française de développement, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, the école
française d’Extrême-Orient and the University of Nantes. The support given to
the Programme régional de coopération universitaire France-Amérique latineCaraïbes (PREFALC) has been extended, and training in writing scientific projects
has been organised with the International Science Foundation.
The Agency also contributes to the development of training programmes such
as the International Masters in Entomology at the Abomey Calavi University
in Benin and the regional Masters in plant biotechnologies at Cheikh Anta
Diop University, Senegal, which involves 7 universities in West Africa and two
universities in the south of France.
Doctorants du Sud
Doctorants du Sud is a new programme to support and consolidate research
potential in Southern countries, implemented by the AIRD on behalf of Cirad.
This operation is aimed at students from Southern countries who wish to write a
thesis as part of a partnership with a Cirad research team and a Southern research
team, guaranteeing quality of supervision and work environment. Through this
programme, the AIRD hopes to contribute to the initial training for future
researchers who will help to build the scientific or technological capability in their
country once their theses are completed. 18 thesis topics have been offered in
the call for applications and 13 doctoral students have been selected to benefit
from a 3-year fellowship.
Young doctoral student
Montpellier
JEAI TQI2A
Technologie, qualité et innovations agro-alimentaires
“ The activities of JEAI TQI2A relate to the promotion of agri-food technologies in Cameroon, with support
from UMR Qualisud (Cirad, Universities Montpellier 1 et 2, SupAgro). Activities within the team that will
be developed as part of the AIRD's programme relate to: the jujube and its locally-processed product
(AFTER(1) project); husking sorghum by nixtamalization(2); improving the production of kilishi (strips of
dried meat); local production systems for bili-bili, a sorghum-based fermented drink; the characterisation
and promotion of amylolytic local flora ; the characterisation and promotion of the kernels of local mango
varieties; the study of local hydrocolloid gums and plants; the promotion of the Anacardium occidentale
fruit, and the characterisation and nutritional and functional promotion of Moringa leaves.”
Professeur Robert Ndjouenkeu, UMR Qualisud
(1) Programme FP7 African Food Tradition Revisited by Research.
(2) Ancient Mesoamerican process for soaking and cooking grains in an alkaline solution.
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Annual report 2011
Innovating with the South
The promotion of Southern research results within the political and
socio-economic spheres is implemented through consultancy missions,
the protection and exploitation of intellectual property, and numerous
collaborations with industrial partners. This year, such activities have
generated almost €4m in revenue.
Expertise and consulting
Regularly in demand for advisory and consultation activities, the Institute
supervises knowledge transfer to decision-makers and directors in order to
guarantee effective societal promotion.
Two new expert panel reviews have been launched in the South. The first was
launched in Egypt in a difficult domestic context. Led by the President of the
Egyptian Appeal Court, it relates to the “organisation of the legal and judicial
system and the right to a reasonable delay in proceedings”. This twelfth expert
panel review is an innovation at a regional (Middle East), linguistic and thematic
level, and in the constitution of the panel (pluralistic, shared between North and
South). The second relates to “biodiversity and the development of productive
resources in the Bolivian Amazon”, and has led to an initial workshop.
A project was created for the “preservation and development strategy for Lake
Chad”, with support from the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the approval of
the French Global Environment Facility.
Furthermore, around ten institutional consultancies have been contracted by
governments, public authorities and development agencies on topics as varied
as palm oil and its impact on human nutrition, microcredit in Morocco, and the
creation of the Museum of Berber civilisation and art in Marrakech.
Canine leishmaniasis study / Montpellier
Contact:
dvs@ird.fr
13%
25%
10%
6%
Patents
by research field
Orphan diseases
HIV
6%
3%
6%
19%
Other diseases
Cosmetics
Food-Nutrition
Depollution-Environment-Bioremediation
Aquaculture
Plant genetics/Agronomy
5%
9%
Devices of measure
Other devices
Intellectual property and
technology transfer
One of the year’s major events was the market launch of CaniLeish® by the
Virbac group. The first ever vaccine against canine leishmaniasis, it opens up
important avenues for a cure to the illness in humans.
An agreement that guarantees conditions for access, security and archiving
of data relating to the monitoring of a cohort of 400 patients treated with
antiretroviral drugs in three healthcare establishments in Dakar has been signed
by the Centre régional de recherche et de formation à la prise en charge clinique
in Dakar, the ANRS and the IRD, a first in the field of legal security.
The current licensing contracts have generated €934,000 in annual fee
payments. This figure is clearly increasing and now stands at double the costs
involved in protecting researchers' inventions. Six new data operating licences
have also been signed.
Protection of the results obtained in IRD laboratories in
partnership with the South was achieved through 13 new
patents, bringing the total number of active patents to over
100. The overall aim is to encourage the joint filing of patents
with Southern partners.
In order to animate the transfer processes, the IRD has participated in several
events in the South, including the Forum technologique d’Afrique de l’Ouest
et centrale in Yaoundé, and the Réunion business meetings. The Institute’s
inventions are also included in a substantial portfolio of commercial proposals.
Annual report 2011
CaniLeish®
An industrial partnership at the origin of the first European vaccine against canine leishmaniasis
Bond’Innov
Business start-ups
The AIRD is pursuing its ambitions in the field of innovative business creation.
For example, in collaboration with the Bondy town council, the IRD has created
the Bond’innov business incubator, the first in France aimed at Southern
markets, particularly through the “virtual incubation” facility, which allows
remote support to be offered to business creation projects.
The INNODEV incubator in Dakar has also entered its initial operational phase.
Six projects have been selected, among which are the creation of a pan-African
centre for genotype sequencing and the Comptoir de recherche aquacole et
myticole in Senegal.
The IRD also organised the Forum des technologies 2011 in collaboration with
the Technopole de la Réunion, in order to detect the potential for business
creation and promote local talent.
Elsewhere, the programme for assistance to innovative business start-ups in
the Mediterranean (PACEIM), which aims to assist in the creation of around
a hundred businesses in the countries of the southern Mediterranean basin
(Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia), has grown in importance. During the
first phase of PACEIM, launched in 2010, 6 candidates were supported. Three
companies are now being created. The second call for projects will support
around thirty new entrepreneurs at a level of €35,000 each.
Industrial partners
The AIRD encourages the creation of managerial industrial partnerships with the
private sector relating to the South. As such, more than fifty agreements have
been signed, with a total value of €3.2m.
As part of the pôles de compétitivité government initiative, two projects have
been selected by the Fonds unique interministériel, with an overall value of
€4.3m over several years. In addition, the IRD has confirmed its participation
in the Institut Carnot ISIFoR(1), which brings together all experts in the field of
sustainable engineering of fossil resources, covering geosciences, mathematics,
chemistry and engineering sciences.
(1) Institute for the Sustainable Engineering of Fossil Resources.
(2) Host-vector-parasite interactions in Trypanosomatidae infections.
Visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitic illness that kills 60,000 people each year and constitutes a major
public health problem in Latin America, Asia, Africa and southern Europe. The canine population is a
reservoir for parasites that can potentially be passed on to humans. It is estimated
that 25 million dogs are exposed in the Mediterranean zone. IRD researchers have
been working for UMR INTERTRYP(2) on canine leishmaniasis and have developed
an in vivo immunity study model. A partnership between the IRD, Bio Véto Test
and Virbac has led to the development of a vaccine which is now available in
Portugal and France. CaniLeish® is the first European vaccine against visceral
canine leishmaniasis. It has created avenues of study for the development of a
vaccine effective in humans.
CaniLeish vaccine
Bond’innov
The first business incubator for the South
The Bond’innov incubator is led by Bondy Innovation, an association created in June 2011 by six
founding members: The town of Bondy, Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Communauté
d’agglomération Est Ensemble, Biocitech life sciences park, Université Paris XIII and the IRD. Its aim is
to assist innovation start-up project sponsors in the areas of healthcare and biotechnology, the nonprofit sector, sustainable development and the environment, either in the South or in cooperation with
Southern countries. Bond’innov is based at the IRD France-Nord site.
PACEIM
Creating your business in the Mediterranean
“The reason for my participation in the PACEIM project was to benefit
from a structure that helped me with my deficiencies, particularly in
the fields of finance and start-up administration, in order to develop
an innovative and successful business. Thanks to the support from
the PACEIM programme, we are going to create a prototype, build a
comprehensive business plan to deal with financial institutions, and
develop a network of partners in Algeria, France, Germany and Bulgaria.”
Ismail Salhi,
PhD in IT, creator of 'Qleek’ and PACEIM 2010/2011 award winner.
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Annual report 2011
Sharing knowledge
Disseminating knowledge and the delivery of research results to Southern
communities form a major part of the IRD's activities.
Capitalising on knowledge
Disseminating knowledge
Numerous tools have been developed in order to capitalise on the knowledge
gained from research. The Horizon database, which references IRD researchers’
publications, contains more than 80,000 articles, of which 45,000 are available
to the public. Seven thousand visitors consult the database daily, of which 50%
are from the South (Africa: 30%, Latin America: 11%) and 30% from mainland
France. The SPHAERA cartographic database includes more than 18,000 items
and the Indigo photo archive currently contains more than 49,000 images,
with 3,000 added recently. Lastly, to contribute to a better dissemination of
scientific information and audiovisual content to Southern countries, and to
offer targeted services to students and young researchers, the NumeriSud digital
campus project in Bondy is continuing to operate in partnership with the Ilede-France region.
The production of books, atlases and films can all play a part in delivering
research results. Several books have been published to this end, particularly
Poissons d’Afrique et peuples de l’eau, and Natural History of Santo, co-published
with the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle and the ProNatura NGO,
which relates the scientific findings of the Santo 2006 expedition. Improved
distribution is expected following the signing of an agreement with the Eyrolles/
Géodif group. In addition, fourteen documentaries have been produced by or
co-produced with the IRD, including the series Vivre en enfer and J’ai marché sur
la terre. The Institute has participated in around 80 national and international
festivals, including “Parisciences”. Six documentaries were awarded prizes.
A shared platform for geo-referenced scientific data is also under development.
The IRD has also supported 52 conferences, such as the international MISTRALS
conference in Malta, dedicated to the future of the Mediterranean basin, and
the 3rd international conference on public health in the Mekong region of Laos.
Geographic origin of visitors
on the Horizon database
Metropolitan France
Overseas France
East and southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
West and Central Africa
30%
23%
Mediterranean region
Latin America
Asia and Pacific region
Rest of the world
13%
3%
11%
14%
11%
Contact:
dic@ird.fr
Cartographic publications, notably the Manuel de cartographie urbaine rapide,
the Cartes numériques mondiales des anomalies gravimétriques and the Atlas de
Nouvelle-Calédonie have enabled the sharing of scientific information, at the
same time providing geomatic training to 159 students.
6%
Annual report 2011
Increasing the Institute's reputation
The Institute’s visibility is a means of gauging its national and international
recognition. The Institute has benefited from a substantial media presence
with 2,125 articles, including around thirty articles published in Le Monde,
around forty programmes for Radio France International, and around twenty
for France Culture and LCI. Fifty-four press releases were published, in addition
to 29 scientific newssheets relating to major advances in research. Furthermore,
the Sciences au Sud periodical was distributed in an edition of 75,000 in
100 countries, increasing its reach among our partners.
Thanks to the new design, traffic on the IRD website has increased by 18%, with
5.5 million visitors. Ten new associated websites went online, and the IRD also
branched out into social networking via facebook, twitter and google+, reaching
new audiences. IRD websites were particularly helped by high visibility in the
South, and among internet users in Francophone Africa, who are some of the
most loyal visitors to the Institute website, despite the digital divide.
Elsewhere, the new IRD intranet went online, with more than 4,000 visitors each
month.
CIRD 10-year celebration / Burkina Faso
Science fair / New Caledonia
Reinforcing the bonds between science and
society
In France, as in the Southern nations, the IRD has deployed a wide range of
activities. The “Forêts tropicales humides, avenir de la planète” exhibition, curated
with Cirad and funded by the Institut francais as part of the International Year
of Forests, was presented in around thirty different locations. Conferences and
debates were also held for the benefit of research into forests, with contributions
from numerous scientists, notably in the Cité des Sciences, the Marseille regional
library, the Festival d’Avignon and for the Fête de la Science in Paris, Marseille
and Montpellier. This year was also enriched by co-curated exhibitions on the
IRD's flagship themes, such as migration and agronomic and plant biodiversity.
The qualified success of travelling exhibitions should also be noted, with around
one hundred presentations in France and abroad.
Furthermore, IRD researchers have participated in 250 public debates, of which
almost two thirds were held in Southern partner countries and French Overseas
Departments and Territories.
Several activities took place aimed at a youth audience. In total, nearly one
thousand young people took part in teaching activities in mainland France
and in Southern countries. Environmental awareness was an important axis,
particularly through the “De l’espace pour la mer” programme, developed in
partnership with Ifremer and the CNES.
Website / French Polynesia
Mapping work/Bondy
Media mobilisation / Benin
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