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A unique, decentralised research system working closely with other institutions
With 8,537 researchers, engineers, technicians and administrative staff, nearly 2,000 PhD students, 14 scientific divisions, 19 regional centres, a close involvement in the pooling of research resources with other research agencies and higher education institutions in France and other countries, an open-minded policy concerning transfers towards socio-economic partners and a 2010 budget of €813 million, INRA is endowed with a unique research system in the life sciences.
An ethical approach
As a public research institute, INRA has extensive responsibilities towards society. For this reason, the Institute felt it was necessary to develop its ethical approach to research projects and their applications. In 1999, the Ethics and Safety Committee for Agricultural Research Applications (COMEPRA) was set up and in 2007 this was succeeded by the INRA-CIRAD Common Advisory Committee for Ethics in Agricultural Research. Ethical questions are now discussed as far upstream as possible during the preparation of research projects.
Scientific evaluation adapted to a mission-oriented research institute
INRA focuses its research on both socio-economic and scientific targets. For this reason, the evaluation of both individuals and groups concerns both socio-economic relevance and scientific excellence. This implies a multicriterion approach to evaluation, which is not restricted to scientific publications for an international audience. For this reason, individual researchers, research units and research divisions are all subject to regular appraisals.
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