Agriculture, Environment, and Biodiversity (AEB) Division

Director of the Agriculture, Environment, and Biodiversity Division: Daniel Barthélémy

Deputy Director of the Agriculture, Environment, and Biodiversity Division: Rutger De Wit

Administrative and Management Support Officer: Yasmine Lecuyer

Administrative Officer and Manager of Long-Term Thematic Projects:Aude Montout

Head of the Human Resources Committee (CRH) for Biology and Agrosciences: Pierre Czernic

Human Resources Committee (CRH) Manager, Biology and Agrosciences: Sabrina Lecourt

Chair of the Human Resources Committee (CRH) for Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Environment, Earth and Water Sciences: Mathilde Dufaÿ

Administrator of the Human Resources Committee (CRH) for Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Environment, Earth and Water Sciences: Yasmine Lecuyer

Strategic Steering Committee (COS)

The Strategic Steering Committee serves as a link between the Research Cluster and its institutional partners. It helps define the Research Cluster’s broad strategic scientific directions and provides input on the action plan proposed by the Director of the Research Cluster.

Division Council

The Cluster Council issues advisory opinions on the direction and implementation of the Cluster’s initiatives and strategy.

Division Office

The AEB division has an office consisting of the director, the deputy director, and the managers of Long-Term Thematic Projects.

Human Resources Committee (HRC)

The “Human Resources” Committees address issues specific to the University of Montpellier’s staff. Each “Human Resources” Committee issues an advisory opinion in accordance with the statutory provisions specific to the faculty and researchers.

Key Figures

1UNESCO Chair on World Food Systems

37 Laboratoriesin Agriculture, Environment, and Biodiversity

9Service, research support, experimental, or scientific platform units

9Partner Institutions

1Main Doctoral School(GAIA: Biodiversity, Agriculture, Food, Environment, Earth, Water)

19ongoing ERC (European Research Council) projectsin 2024

1,800 facultymembers and researchers

175dissertations defended each year

38CIFRE contracts

1UNESCO Water CenterICIREWARD

• Facilitate, Communicate, and Highlight Scientific Strategy and Future Outlook

• Uniting and Promoting Partnerships

• To increase visibility and contribute to the Region’s excellence in agronomy, the environment, ecology, and biodiversity at the national and international levels

• Strengthening the Link Between Education and Research

• Facilitate a collective discussion on platforms and infrastructure in collaboration with institutions and organizations

• Facilitate a collective discussion on coordinated planning for jobs, skills, and human resources in collaboration with institutions and organizations

The Cluster comprises 46 research, experimental, research support, and service units as primary affiliates, and 10 other laboratories as secondary affiliates. It encompasses agricultural, environmental, and water sciences, as well as ecology and evolution. Within these disciplines, it carries out four long-term thematic projects:

• Plant Adaptation to Global Changes
• Agroecology and Food Systems
• Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution
• Georesources, Risks, and Societies

Structured around these four interrelated thematic areas, the AEB cluster is a highly multidisciplinary group that addresses a wide range of issues and questions related to the promotion of sustainable and ecologically innovative agriculture, food safety and security, the characterization, documentation, management, and conservation of biodiversity, the structure and functioning of ecosystems, and environmental health and quality—while explicitly taking into account the impact of environmental and global changes, particularly climate change, on all of these topics.

The AEB Cluster brings together staff from several research organizations:

• BRGM ( French Geological and Mining Research Bureau)
• CIRAD ( Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development)
• CNRS ( National Center for Scientific Research)
• IFREMER ( French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea)
• INRAE ( National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food, and the Environment)
• IRD ( Research Institute for Development)

or higher education:

• University of Montpellier
• Institut Agro (National Institute of Higher Education for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment) / Montpellier SupAgro
• CIHEAM-IAMM (International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies—Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier)

It also maintains close ties (and even hosts researchers in its laboratories) with other research organizations such asINRAP (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) and INRIA (National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology), as well as higher education institutions: AgroParisTech (Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences and Industries), ENSCM (Montpellier National School of Chemistry), ARMINES ParisTech (IMT Mines Alès), EPHE ( École Pratique des Hautes Études), UPVM ( Paul Valéry University of Montpellier), UPVD ( Perpignan Via Domitia University), University of Avignon, University of the Antilles, University of Réunion, Mayotte University Center.

Laboratories with a primary affiliation:

• ABSys “ “Biodiverse Agrosystems”
• AGAP “ Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Mediterranean and Tropical Plants”
• AIDA “ Agroecology and Sustainable Intensification of Annual Crops”
• AMAP “Botany & Bioinformatics of Plant and Vegetation Architecture”
• ASTRE “Animals, Health, Territories, Risks, and Ecosystems”
• Biowooeb “Biomass, Wood, Energy, Bioproducts”
• CBGP “Center for Biology and Population Management”
• CEFE “Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology”
• ChimEco “Bio-inspired Chemistry and Green Innovations”
• DGIMI “Diversity, Genomes, and Microorganism-Insect Interactions”
• DIADE “Plant Diversity, Adaptation, and Development”
• Eco&Sols “Functional Ecology and Biogeochemistry of Soils and Agrosystems”
• F & S “Forests and Societies”
• G-EAU “Water Management, Stakeholders, and Uses”
• GECO “ Ecological Functioning and Sustainable Management of Banana and Pineapple Agrosystems”
• GM “Géosciences Montpellier”
• HortSys “Agroecological Functioning and Performance of Horticultural Cropping Systems”
• HSM “Hydrosciences Montpellier”
• IATE “Agro-Polymer Engineering and Emerging Technologies”
• IHPE “Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions”
• INNOVATION “Innovation and Development in Agriculture and Food”
• IPSIM “Montpellier Institute of Plant Sciences”
• ISEM “Montpellier Institute of Evolutionary Sciences”
• ITAP “ Information – Technologies – Environmental Analysis – Agricultural Processes”
• LBE “ Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology”
• LEPSE “The Laboratory of Plant Ecophysiology under Environmental Stress”
• LISAH “Laboratory for the Study of Soil–Agrosystem–Hydrosystem Interactions”
• MARBEC “Marine Biodiversity, Utilization, and Conservation”
• MIVEGEC “Infectious Diseases and Vectors: Ecology, Genetics, Evolution, and Control”
• MOISA “Montpellier Interdisciplinary Center on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems (Social and Nutritional Sciences)”
• PHIM “Plant Health Institute of Montpellier”
• QUALISUD “ An Integrated Approach to Producing High-Quality Food”
• Recycling and Risk
• SELMET “Mediterranean and Tropical Livestock Systems”
• SENS “Renewable Resources and Environmental Management”
• SPO “Sciences for Oenology”
• TETIS “ Territories, Environment, Remote Sensing, and Spatial Information”

CIRAD Service Unit:

• Analyses “Water, Soil, and Plant Analyses”

A CNRS/INEE service unit and also a major research infrastructure:

• ECOTRON “European Ecotron of Montpellier”

Research Support Unit:

• MEEB “Montpellier—Ecology, Evolution, Biodiversity”
• OSU OREME “Mediterranean Environmental Research Observatory”

INRAE Experimental Units:

• DIASCOPE “DiaScope Experimental Unit”
• VEGETABLE FARMING “ Experimental Vegetable Farming Unit”
• PECH ROUGE “Pech Rouge Experimental Unit”
• VASSAL “Vassal Experimental Unit”

Laboratories with a secondary affiliation:

Primarily affiliated with the Social Sciences division:

Research Unit:

• ART-DEV “Actors, Resources, and Territories in Development”
• CEE-M “Center for Environmental Economics Montpellier”

Research Support Unit:

• MSH “ Maison des Sciences de l’Homme SUD – Science and Society United for a Different Kind of Development”

Primarily affiliated with the MIPS division:

Research Unit:

• Espace-Dev “ESPACE for DEVelopment”
• MISTEA “Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics for the Environment and Agronomy”

Research Support Unit:

• ICS “ Engineering, Characterization, and Services”
• ISDM “ Montpellier Institute of Data Science”

With a primary affiliation with the Chemistry Division:

• ICGM “Institute of Molecular Chemistry and Materials – Charles Gerhardt Institute, Montpellier”
• IEM “ European Institute of Membranes”

With a primary affiliation with the Biology and Health Division:

Research Unit:

• DMEM “Muscle Dynamics and Metabolism”
• INTERTRYP “Host-Vector-Parasite Interactions and the Environment in Neglected Tropical Diseases Caused by Trypanosomatids”

Research Support Unit:

• BCM “ BioCampus Montpellier”

Locally:

• Four long-term thematic projects :
  • Plant Adaptation to Global Changes
  • Agroecology and Food Systems
  • Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution
  • Georesources, Risks, and Societies

Partner Programs:

• Two Key Challenges for the Occitanie Region: Biodivoc, Rivoc, VINID’OCC, O3T, and WOC
• A UNESCO International Water Center (ICIREWARD)
• A Foundation for Scientific Cooperation: One Science Montpellier
• The Mediterranean Environmental Research Observatory (OSU OREME), which is part of the Observatories of the Sciences of the Universe at the National Institute of Sciences of the Universe of the CNRS.
• A Convergences Institute for Digital Agriculture#DigitAg
• A “Territoires d’Innovation” Fablab (Occitanum)
• A UNESCO Chair in “World FoodSystems”

• View the list