The A2F Science Cluster
Agronomie, Agroalimentaire, Forêt
People
6 research units
Trusteeships
The PhD within the A2F cluster
About one hundred thesis students at A2F are from the graduate school: Sciences and Engineering of Natural Resources (SIReNa). Members of A2F play a transversal role in the various training (undergraduate and graduate levels) at the Faculty of Science and Technology, IUTs and engineering schools, which are part of the ST, Technology and L-INP collegiums.
Research activities
The A2F scientific pole groups 7 research laboratories from the University of Lorraine (UL), 2 of which are University research units, and 5 of which are associated with INRAE (as mixed University-INRAE research units or as University research units under contract with INRAE) or INRAE and AgroParisTech. Research activities in the A2F scientific cluster aim towards better understanding of ecosystems:
1) to understand the biological mechanisms involved,
2) for better ecosystem management,
3) to enhance the value of resources derived from living organisms,
4) to study their impact on the human population.
The research carried out by A2F research units focuses on three complementary and overlapping themes:
- Ecosystem/agrosystem and territory (study and functions on different scales of forest, agricultural, agroforestry and aquaculture systems and their interactions)
- Products from living organisms (biomolecules extracted from wood, agroresources, microorganisms or animals)
- Agri-food (foods, improvement of functional properties, food safety and health impact)
While these scientific issues represent the foundation of the A2F scientific pole, they are also at the heart of three research projects: LABEX ARBRE, the LUE IMPACT Biomolecules project and the AGROVALOR teaching and research consortium, which include not only A2F and UL, but also these partners at the national level: INRAE, ANSES, AgroParisTech.
Publications
The publications of the laboratories of the A2F cluster are accessible on the open archive of the University of Lorraine, on the HAL website.
EFABA Federative Structure
Forest Ecosystems, Agroresources, Bioprocesses and Food
The A2F pole is part of the EFABA federative structure (Forest Ecosystems, Agroresources, Bioprocesses and Food) which includes all the units involved in LABEX TREE, the units of the AGROVALOR consortium (with the exception of the LSE), and some of the research units involved in the LUE IMPACT Biomolecules project. This inter-disciplinary structure provides the means to interact with other research units within the university perimeter, which are also in the EPST (INRA and CNRS units). Research laboratories of the A2F scientific pole also share the use and management of collective technological platforms.
Director of the federative structure: Mr. Éric GELHAYE
SF4242 represents an organized consortium of the Foret/Wood/Agriculture and Food sector in Lorraine, with the aim towards improving communication between units and between institutions (INRAE, AgroParisTech, CNRS).
One of the objectives of SF4242 is to combine and provide to the scientific community a set of technological experimental platforms.