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INRAE strengthens its scientific ties with Australia and New Zealand
From April 30 to May 7, INRAE representatives were in Oceania, building stronger collaborations with regional partners. The institute signed new agreements while also celebrating ongoing projects and recent successes, which helped solidify its long-term partnerships with scientific communities in Australia and New Zealand.
Published on 16 May 2025
Conflicts around resources, ever-greater climate challenges, food sovereignty concerns...these are current issues that Australia, New Zealand, and France are all facing. Scientific exchanges are playing an increasingly important role in supplying solutions. The team visiting Australia and New Zealand was led by Jean-François Hocquette, INRAE's Science Officer for International Relations for the region; the visit served to strengthen collaborations between France and Oceania.
On April 30, at the French Embassy in Canberra, INRAE took part in the launch of the Agricultural and Food Sciences Community associated with the Australian-French Research Network (AFRAN). The day was filled with scientific exchanges, bringing together representatives of French and Australian research institutions to discuss topics such as the bioeconomy, food security, adaptation to climate change, and the One Health approach as applied to agricultural systems.
In a prerecorded message shared with the participants, INRAE CEO Philippe Mauguin lauded these efforts, which "arise from our shared concerns and objectives, where the aim is to increase and adapt agricultural production, while also boosting its sustainability". Additionally, Philippe Mauguin underscored the large number and high quality of existing scientific collaborations between the two countries. Between 2017 and 2023, INRAE researchers co-authored over 2,000 publications with Australian researchers, making Australia one of the institute’s most active scientific partners outside of Europe. This dynamic is largely due to INRAE’s close ties with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of Queensland, the University of Melbourne, and Australian National University (ANU).
During the visit, INRAE renewed two research agreements with its top Australian collaborator, CSIRO. The first was a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that established a partnership around shared scientific priorities, and the second was a joint linkage call (JLC), which promotes scientific mobility between research institutes. In addition, a new international associated laboratory (LIA) was created, establishing ties between INRAE and the University of Queensland to adapt wheat varieties to extreme climatic conditions. More specifically, the LIA will study interactions between the environment and plant genetics with a view to increasing yields and ensuring yield consistency under the variable environmental conditions associated with climate change.
INRAE–Australia: 8 scientific cooperation projects highlighted in Canberra
Eight projects were presented in poster form at the launch of the Agri-Food Community at the French Embassy. They illustrate the institute’s dynamic scientific collaborations.
- Circular aquaculture systems (INRAE - CSIRO)
This project seeks to design more sustainable aquaculture models that combine circular approaches for limiting environmental impacts with features for ensuring economic viability.
- Modelling carbon dynamics in agricultural soils (INRAE - CSIRO)
This project is refining models of organic carbon storage in agricultural soils using data from Australian sites. The challenge is to arrive at model estimates that match up with actual field measurements so as to improve the monitoring tools used to inform climate policies.
- Plant resilience to water stress (INRAE - ANU - University of Angers)
This project is using isotopes to trace water and carbon fluxes in plants experiencing stressful environmental conditions. The aim is to better understand the underlying functional dynamics and to identify ways of adapting to climate change.
- Bioengineering cowpeas (INRAE - CSIRO)
This project is exploring strategies for nutritionally fortifying the cowpea, a legume grown in arid zones. To this end, bioengineering tools are being deployed to increase cowpea oil content. The objective is to better ensure dietary needs are being met for populations in arid zones, where food security is a major challenge.
- Genetic vigour of rapeseed (INRAE - CSIRO - IGEPP - University of Rennes - Institut Agro Rennes-Angers)
This project is exploiting the diversity found in rapeseed relatives to improve rapeseed vigour and robustness, with a view to increasing yield and enhancing resistance to climatic stressors, particularly drought.
- A global approach to beef sensory quality (INRAE, Centre for Animal Production and Health - Murdoch University, Meat & Livestock Australia, International 3G Meat Foundation)
Over the course of this project, researchers from different countries have successfully tested a modelling approach for predicting beef sensory quality, which was first deployed in Australia. This work exploited an international database containing contributions from 12 countries, and its results have allowed France to create a new premium brand of beef: Or Rouge.
- Collaboration around sheep breeding techniques (INRAE - University of Sydney)
France and Australia have each developed their own strategies for artificially inseminating sheep. Since 2009, the two countries have been sharing experimental models, imaging technologies, and complementary scientific expertise, a collaboration that has improved the success rate of artificial reproduction in sheep.
- Global health and zoonoses (PREZODE initiative)
The PREZODE initiative is a collaborative programme led by INRAE, CIRAD, and IRD. PREZODE aims to prevent health crises rooted in zoonoses by applying a One Health approach that considers the contributions of humans, animals, and the environment, an objective that aligns with INRAE research.
New Zealand: 20 years of scientific collaboration
On May 7 in Wellington, INRAE took part in an event marking the 20th anniversary of the Partenariat Hubert Curien Dumont d'Urville, which has bolstered scientific cooperation between France and New Zealand since 2005. The celebration took place at the French Embassy in Wellington and was co-sponsored by the Royal Society Te Apārangi. It highlighted the diverse collaborations that have taken place over the past two decades. Specifically, the two countries have organised 80 scientific exchange programmes and 20 research projects involving INRAE or CIRAD.
These partnerships have explored a wide range of topics: plant and forest biotechnologies, the animal sciences, meat quality, environmental modelling, and invasive species genomics.
At present, support is provided through two collaborative agreements (a MoU and a JLC, both established in 2023) with Science New Zealand, and three LIAs:
- RUMQUAL (INRAE - AgResearch - BSA), an LIA focused on ruminant meat quality
- BIOMATA (INRAE - Scion), an LIA focused on biomaterials derived from forest biomass
- AgriForAdapt, an LIA launched in 2023 that explores ways to adapt agroecosystems to climate change; led by CNRS, it has united several research institutes and universities in New Zealand with several INRAE laboratories and universities in France
To learn more
BIOMATA: a joint laboratory on biobased materialsThis French–New Zealand international associated laboratory develops both fundamental and applied knowledge to design the materials of the future from plant biomass. Rooted in a circular economy approach, it aims to reduce the environmental footprint of production processes from the design stage onward, by also integrating end-of-life considerations for the materials.
These collaborations draw strength from a diverse network of partners, including Crown Research Institutes (AgResearch, Scion, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research [NIWA], Plant and Food Research), multiple universities (Massey, Lincoln, Otago, Waikato, Canterbury) and, in some cases, private companies.
High-impact scientific collaborations
For scientific publications co-authored by INRAE and its Australian and New Zealand collaborators between 2017 and 2023, field-specific impact factors were 2–4 times higher than those of publications by scientists from France, Australia, or New Zealand alone. Between 10 and 14% of these publications were among the 1% most-cited papers (compared with ~2% for publications coming solely out of France).
"These partnerships encourage us to think across hemispheres, compare approaches, generate knowledge, and co-produce useful tools for facilitating transitions in agricultural systems, all while benefiting from the complementary perspectives provided by geographical differences in climatic and production conditions", comments Jean-François Hocquette, INRAE’s representative at the event.
