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Founded in 1946, the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) is a mission-oriented public research institution under the joint authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
The research conducted at INRA concerns agriculture, food, nutrition and food safety, environment and land management, with particular emphasis on sustainable development.
Its principal goals
- producing and disseminating scientific knowledge
- developing innovations and know-how for the benefit of society
- through its expertise, informing decision-making by public and private sector players
- promoting scientific and technical culture and participating in the science/society debate
- training in and through research.
An institute open to society
Government authorities, the farming and industrial worlds, and associations of citizens or consumers all have a crucial role to play in orienting, monitoring and exploiting research. INRA has an active partnership policy with:
- the socio-economic world: private companies, agricultural organisations
- local authorities
- public authorities which call upon the expertise of INRA scientists on the national, European and international levels.
Scientific excellence
- INRA is ranked 2nd in the world and 1st in Europe for publications in the agricultural sciences, and plant and animal sciences,
- it maintains scientific partnerships with major scientific research institutes worldwide, universities, and agronomy and veterinary schools, and is committed to helping build the European Research Area,
- it develops a large number of collaborative projects and exchanges with the scientific community in numerous countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.
A foremost scientific research institution
Human resources: 1,837 researchers, 2,590 engineers, 4,061 technicians and administrative staff, nearly 2,000 PhD students and more than 1,800 foreign students and researchers and approximately 2,000 interns hosted each year in research units.
Organisation: 14 scientific divisions, 19 regional research centres
Budget for 2009: €813 million for 2010.
Status: public scientific and technological establishment (EPST)
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