Training through research

The Unit regularly trains around ninety doctoral students in the life sciences. Many of those students are from Southern countries, and more than half are based outside Montpellier, under the direct scientific supervision of the Unit’s staff.

An association, “Graines d’Agap” was set up in 2015 by the Unit’s doctoral students. It organizes scientific and social events and offers good advice on its website.

In Montpellier, the Unit is mostly involved with the Gaia doctoral school (Biodiversity, Agriculture, Food, Environment, Land, Water), less so with the I2S doctoral school (Information, Structures and Systems).

Through staff members working off-site, it also participates in the work of doctoral schools elsewhere, such as the Genetics and Molecular Biology Doctoral School (PPGGBM) at the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil) or the Doctoral schools of the Universities of Corsica, French West Indies and Guiana. It is involved in the scientific life of these doctoral schools and in developing academic doctoral training modules, in France or internationally.  It participates in international doctoral colleges, such as the “Genomics and Molecular Physiology of Fruit Crops” initiative organized by the Edmund Mach foundation (Italy). The Unit is also involved in a European ITN (international training network) programme, “MicroWine” (2015-2018). 

Lastly, short-term trainees are hosted each year, mainly at Degree, Master’s 1 and Master’s 2 level, or other educational levels, for training through research courses.

Professional training and researcher-schools

The Unit endeavours to meet the training needs of future managers of seed firms, particularly by developing partnerships, which result in MSc grants (Breeding Academy (Syngenta), WAAP West Africa project) and doctoral contracts of the type “Industrial agreement for training through research” (CIFRE).

The general infrastructure provided by the Unit through its many dedicated platforms and Biological Resource Centres also makes it possible to develop theoretical training sessions, backed up with practice in using equipment of excellence, maintained in tip-top condition. Technical information sessions are regularly organized for our institutional partners and outside members. For example, training in histocytology and plant anatomy techniques is organized each year via CIRAD professional training.

Some researcher-schools are regularly organized by the Unit, such as the “Agro-biodiversity, people and plants” training provided in 2009 and 2010, with financial backing from Agropolis Fondation, and the “Genomic Selection” researcher school organized in 2013 with the backing of the INRA and CIRAD further education services.

Lastly, most of the research projects and platforms in partnership (CIRAD) coordinated by the Unit have a training component.