France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) is no more. Instead, it has undergone a major merger with the country’s National Institute for Research in Science and Technology for the Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA). The new organisation is called the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment and will be known by the initials INRAE.
The new organisation has a budget of more than a billion euros and comprises 12,000 staff, encompassing more than 200 research units and some 40 or so experimental units across 14 research departments in 18 research centres across France. The merger process was first launched in 2018, driven by a firm belief that it will produce strong synergies and unlock much research potential.
INRAE notes that humanity and the planet are facing global change that is producing new expectations from research. These expectations include mitigating and adapting to climate change, food and nutritional security, agricultural transition, preservation of natural resources, restoration of biodiversity, and anticipating and managing risk. INRAE says the new organisation aims to better understand these challenges and build research excellence for knowledge production, teaching, innovation and policy support.
In addition to its own staff, INRAE has more than 450 socio-economic partners, is involved in 166 European projects and has seen the launch of 137 start-ups since 1999.
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