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Mission-oriented research
The research carried out by INRA is in close interaction with society and is concerned with ensuring the public good. Research programmes thus develop both as a result of questions arising from the evolution of scientific knowledge and in response to the demands of society. Their aim is to advance knowledge, produce innovations to serve society and provide expert opinions to inform decision-making or construct standards. This research contributes to developing scientific culture and to sharing information and questions with the public in the area of the life sciences, food and nutrition, agriculture and the environment.
Public sector research
Public sector research guarantees the broadest, long-term management of social demands. The challenges for today and for the future are not restricted to economic competitiveness. The statutes of the Institute and its staff enable them to conduct research on non-commercial subjects which otherwise would not be considered.
INRA has developed a novel approach to innovation by targeting new practices and organisational systems as well as technological advances. Intellectual property is managed so as to preserve a balance between public and commercial assets and to avoid the confiscation of knowledge by major economic operators.
Open to Europe and the world
Science is called upon to provide support for economic and social development projects at a European level and to contribute to regional cohesion and the European identity.
As the leading agricultural research institute in Europe, INRA aims to play a major role in pooling research resources and constructing the European Research Area. To achieve this, the Institute has established dynamic relationships with several other European institutions. It is a member of three ERA-Nets, which are EU systems intended to harmonise national policies in specific areas (plant genomics, food safety, agricultural research for development). INRA participates actively in calls for projects under the European Framework Programmes on major themes such as food quality and safety, the modernisation and sustainability of farming, life sciences, genomics and biotechnologies for health and global changes and ecosystems.
Furthermore, INRA is developing numerous collaborative projects with countries outside Europe, both industrialised and emerging: the United States, Canada, Japan, Mediterranean countries, Brazil, China, India, etc. In total, INRA works in collaboration with some one hundred countries, and is formally linked, through bilateral institutional agreements, with partners in thirty different countries.
Interdisciplinary research
The complexity of the research questions addressed by INRA can only be considered through collaboration between different areas: life sciences, material sciences or social sciences, using skills which are sometimes new or recently acquired by the Institute.
INRA is keen to develop a culture of openness, notably through interdisciplinary projects which encourage critical comparisons and the improved sharing of knowledge between all researchers. Thematic, functional or geographical mobility is also encouraged.
Research projects aim to determine the effects of interactions and organisation in complex systems. Markedly differing time and spatial scales (from the short to the long term, from a gene to a population) need to be taken into account simultaneously. This new research mode increasingly involves mathematical formalisation and modelling. More attention is now being paid to how human and social sciences interface with other disciplines. The field of agronomy is seeing renewal through the adoption of ecological approaches and methods, which contribute to providing agronomic foundations for the concept of sustainable development, and to regenerating innovation.
Three closely intertwined areas
INRA has the expertise to respond to society's demands in three, closely linked areas: agriculture, food and nutrition and the environment.
Five major questions, of both local and worldwide importance, are thus addressed:
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food safety at a global level, i.e. the prevention of hunger and malnutrition,
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the health safety of foods and the protective effects of foods on health,
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the localisation of farming activities which will generate employment and wealth, and regional cohesion in the face of economic mobility,
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the management of natural resources and preservation of the environment,
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projects and models for economic and social development.
INRA research aims to contribute to sustainable development, which requires both economic viability, social equity and preservation of the environment.
Partnership policies
Since 1998, INRA has deliberately encouraged openness towards its scientific partners. Diverse tools have allowed it to associate its resources with those of partners in research and higher education: Joint Research Units (UMR), which account for more than half of all INRA research units, Contract-Based Research Units (USC), technical platforms, collaborations within research groups, Scientific Interest Groups, or support for joint incentive projects. Within these different systems, INRA is associated with research agencies in the fields of life sciences and the environment, with some fifteen national agronomy or veterinary colleges, and with around forty universities.
The "historic" partnership with farmers has been rethought and is now based on a joint approach to solving problems and constructing research questions. Several programmes developed in this way have demonstrated the relevance of this approach.
A few examples:
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The Northern Alps Scientific Interest Group was set up in 1985 to enable the exploitation of products from this region based on quality labels linking them with their geographical origin, in order to maintain a high-quality environment and participate in the economic and social life of the region.
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The "Green Piggery" project was set up in 2001 in order to develop and promote pig production systems which would reconcile economic, social and environmental performance.
As a mission-oriented public research agency, INRA has always maintained partnerships with organisations in its socioeconomic environment, while ensuring the protection of public assets. Today, these links are organised around orientation partnerships, which enable the translation of society's demands into research questions or partnerships in order to construct and carry out research, as well as transfer partnerships to exploit the knowledge acquired by INRA.
With regional government bodies
INRA is characterised by its solid regional foundations, arising from the very active decentralisation policies applied since the 1980s in the context of government orientations concerning regional development. INRA's geographical proximity and the mission-oriented nature of its research mean that it has been able to develop dynamic partnerships with regional government bodies. Thus today, INRA is one of the major agencies present in many regions, which in turn provide financial support for its research activities. The dynamism of such partnerships has resulted in the emergence and organisation of regional poles of excellence with a European dimension, whose international reputation benefits the image and economic development of these different regions.
INRA is now striving for the better integration of these partnerships by involving scientists, socioeconomic actors or local government bodies in major programmes of scientific, economic and social relevance.
Three research programmes: "Agriculture and Sustainable Development", "Food and Nutrition" and "Ecology (Ecoger)" have been launched in 2005, and will enable further development of this approach. They are open to all partners: scientific, institutional, agricultural, industrial or non-profit organisations.
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