Biodiversity 1 min
International scientific collaboration: an agreement between Science New Zealand – federating eight research institutes - and INRAE
PRESS RELEASE - On 30 June 2020, John Morgan, president of Science New Zealand and Philippe Mauguin, Chair and CEO of INRAE signed a 6-year agreement to enhance joint projects, scientific exchange and talent development. The agreement sets out to meet the growing need for international scientific cooperation in a world confronted with global challenges such as climate change.
Published on 02 July 2020
The agreement encourages scientific exchanges between French and New Zealand research organisations and universities to train PhD and postdoc students as well as researchers and share scientific knowledge.
The scientific partnership focuses on subjects of mutual interest, such as crop pollination, sheep breeding, the warming of lake bodies, global climate change, genome mapping in trees, mapping nitrogen and carbon stocks in soils.
The institutes which make up Science New Zealand, like INRAE, conduct research in the fields of the environment, agriculture and food, as well as the bioeconomy. The agreement encourages collaborative projects in areas of mutual interest and exchange programmes for researchers and students. The carbon neutrality of projects will be a priority and in view of Covid-19-related travel restrictions, online scientific collaborative tools and e-research will be developed.
The agreement will also encourage research on how to better adapt to future risks, particularly those related to climate change. The two organisations will encourage substantial research cooperation in the domains of:
- Biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Healthy and sustainable diets including the quality of food products
- Carbon neutral & climate resilient agri-food, forestry and natural ecosystems
- Sustainable soil, landscape and water resources
- Circular bioeconomy
- Indigenous people’s aspirations for land development and sustainability
