INAC major commitments are to:

produce frontier science results in basic research over selected fields of nanoscience and condensed matter, and develop innovative cryogenic engineering for large instruments and basic research;

take care of valorising opportunities for applications emerging from INAC breakthroughs;

train first class scientists through doctoral and postdoctoral studies. INAC also participates to higher education through teaching in Universities and Schools of Engineering.

Over the reporting period, INAC research activities covered seven axes: nanoelectronics, photonics, spintronics, nanociences for energy, nanosciences at the interface with biology and health technologies, unconventional superconductivity and magnetism, cryogenic engineering. These axes build upon transverse research facilities and expertises, such as advanced characterization tools, clean rooms, theory and numerical simulation. As well as 116 PhD students (the ratio PhD over scientific staff is approximately 0.56) and 67 post-doctoral researchers.

Over the reporting period (2009 -June 2014), INAC teams, published 1895 papers (excl. proceedings) in international refereed journals, including 296 in journals with the highest impact factors (> 6.5). Its researchers have been awarded major scientific prizes and ended the period with six ongoing ERC contracts; INAC patented 146 innovations; INAC has, since 2011, been inolved in the creation of 4 start-ups, building upon INAC IP (Aryballe, LXRepair, Prestodiag) or joint INAC-Leti IP (Aledia). Over the period, INAC trained an increasing number of PhDs students, 182 having started their PhD over the reporting period, including 116 students present at the end of June 2014 and 39 new PhDs joining in 2013 (an all-time high).

In addition, INAC proactively reinforced its key partnerships with the academic community, including through the participation in five Laboratory of Excellence (Labex) networks: LANEF (nanoscience, energy), ARCANE (chemistry) in Grenoble, GANEX (nitride semiconductors), PRIMES (medical imaging and radiology) and SERENADE (nanosafety). It partnered with the LETI and LITEN laboratories which belong to the CEA technological research division (DRT),through an ambitious coupling programme ("programme phare") launched in 2013, addressing 6 key scientific and technological issues, namely the ultimate nanoelectronic components, organic batteries, ADN-based 2-and 3D organization of matter, advanced in situ characterization for energy, Ge-based laser, metal-free catalysts.

INAC expanded its policy to create, share and operate with the appropriate partners, key research facilities in nanoscience or cryogenic engineering: the French CRG beamlines at ESRF (jointly operated with CNRS partners), the CRGs neutron lines at ILL (jointly operated with FZ Juelich, Germany), the Upstream Technological Facility (PTA, a 700 m² clean room jointly operated with the LTM laboratory), the Minatec nanocharacterization facility (PFNC, jointly operated with CEA-LETI and LITEN), the 400 W, 1.8 K cryogenic test facility. Over the reporting period, resources granted to INAC teams through competitive calls (ANR, Europe, ESA, CNES, ITER IO...), industrial partnerships or internal grants from CEA, CNRS and UJF increased steadily (> 10% per year from 2009 to 2013). In the european programs (FP6, FP7), annual resources went from 879 k€ in 2009 to 4,203 k€ in 2013 (note that ITER grants for thermometers and flowmeters appears in INAC budget from 2014 on), leading to an average annual increase of 48% over the period. The increase of ANR resources from 2,477 k€ in 2009 to 4,991 k€ in 2013 (average annual growth: 19%) has been achieved in a context of increasing competition as the ANR budget dedicated to competitive calls for research projects has decreased over the last years. This comes after an annual increase of external funding of 15% over the previous reporting period 2005-2010.

Management team

The current director of INAC is Mr Yves SAMSON, assisted by Ms Pascale BAYLE-GUILLEMAUD, deputy-director. The six laboratories are headed by lab directors and deputy directors. INAC is a major research laboratory in the physical sciences in France, with a broad range of competences in nanosciences and low temperatures. It has a number of unique features: very large and efficient facilities in the fields of characterization (nano Laue X ray diffraction, in-operando set-ups for batteries and fuel-cells, nanoscale chemical and physical analysis including high resolution TEM, high field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP-NMR)), material growth (numerous MBE and MOCVD crystal growth systems), nano fabrication, physical measurements in extreme conditions, low temperature systems with extreme refrigeration power, etc.

HCERES nomenclature

ST2

Unit workforce

It has a remarkable publication record, with 1895 papers published over the period (excl. proceedings) in international refereed journals, including 296 in journals with the highest impact factors (> 6.5). Its researchers were awarded major scientific prizes and ended the period with six ongoing ERC (European Research Council) contracts.

Its attractiveness is well demonstrated by its high success rate in the highly competitive French and European funding calls, with an average increase in external funding of 10-15% over the past decade. It also attracts high potential PhD students and post-docs on a wide national and european basis.

The training of students is remarkable and the high employment rate testifies of both the attraction of excellent students and the quality of training in technical and other skills.

INAC is strongly committed to valorisation of its research results with 146 patented innovations, and the creation of 4 start-up since 2011, thus testifying to a successful strategy of rapidly implementing and transferring innovations to the market.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

The first strength of INAC is its permanent staff with high technical and scientific skills: this in turn attracts very high quality non-permanent staff, such as PhD students and postdocs. The experts committee notes a large increase in the HDR (Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches) population ( 22) over the period. The general attractivity of the Grenoble area for students is high in physical sciences, comparable to Paris for some domains and is a major strength. This was eloquently expressed by the foreign students and postdocs in all opportunities. It is also well examplified by the international recruitment of INAC. The creation of UGA (Université Grenoble Alpes) will undoutedbly be a further asset for the determinental role of the region in the scientific advancement on a national level and should also boost the attractivity towards students both on a national and international levels.

The second strength of INAC is the existence and operation of shared facilities such as PTA ("Plateforme Technologique Amont") and PFNC ("Plateforme de Nano Caractérisation") with a state of the art equipment, partly run by INAC. These facilities not only allow for advanced analyses and processing, but also for specific developments such as e.g. advanced electron microscopy (HRTEM-STEM). The new HYBRIDEN platform recently set up and devoted to testing of both photovoltaics and batteries is also an opportunity for further developing the energy theme at the lab scale. Beyond these shared facilities, INAC has developed, and seemingly is able to pursue, a policy of ultimate experimental facilities, such as those in low temperatures, the low temperature high field DNP experiment, polarized neutron lines for spin studies, focused X ray scattering beam line, materials synthesis under radioprotection… which allow to undertake studies that cannot be undertaken elsewhere.

The third strength of INAC is its local environment with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the Laue-Langevin Institute (neutron source ILL), the Micro and nanotechnologies innovation campus (MINATECH), the CEA Technological Research Division (DRT / LETI and LITEN), Néel Institute and many other academic laboratories notwithstanding private companies working in domains related to physics (Air Liquide is such an example). This leads to numerous collaborations, shared students and postdocs, shared permanent researchers, and shared facilities.

A very meaningful factor is the support by research bodies other than CEA (les "tutelles"), totaling 56 staff members on secondment at INAC from UJF and CNRS. In spite of their difficulties (reduced overall number of new open positions in Grenoble), they increased their commitment at INAC by three staff members over the period.

INAC has an excellent management structure, which operates well to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. In particular, the training of PhD students and PostDocs is deemed excellent.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context Two main concerns have been expressed by the laboratories/services: 1. funding arises primarily from the successful application to outside calls (mainly ANR and EU). Is it detrimental to, or, even compatible with the definition of INAC's own scientific policy ? In the short term, it might appear as only leading small deviations to INACs directions, but integrated on a long period, these small changes in "derivatives" could lead to a severely altered course. An example is given by the relative abundance of funds for equipment that makes INAC a gifted place to perform research. However, on the long term, the maintenance costs of these equipments could be an added burden on general resources;

2. the shrinkage of permanent manpower could be a major threat to the development of new themes or subjects. Moreover, the change in retirement rules at CEA lead to a delayed retirement of many researchers, hampering the capacity to create new positions; over the period, the 29 CEA recruitments represent 63% of the total recruitments while CEA represents 80% of manpower, and 37% were due to CNRS and UJF which represent 20% of manpower. Both of these could handicap INAC in its exploration of new avenues.

Unless expressedly omitted from presentations or from the written report, the Committee sees a lack in transversality within the fields of Theory/Simulation and Advanced Characterization, all tools that should be a trademark of INAC. The organizational structuring along transveral "axes" (terminology of INAC) (nanoelectronics, photonics, spintronics, nanociences for energy, nanosciences at the interface with biology and health technologies, unconventional superconductivity and magnetism, cryogenic engineering), supposed to operate the transversal synergies between laboratories, seemed through the written documents and presentations to the committee to operate at a relatively low activity level.

The new emphasis on energy related matter is to be noted but it still lacks visibility. A more optimal use of INAC's resources should be deployed in this hot topic to reach the required critical mass. Strengthening the field further might help alleviating financing difficulties by tapping into new sources of funding.

INAC has set up a large number of state-of-the-art equipments and facilities which require large maintenance budget. Decreased supports from the institutions (CEA, CNRS, UGA), if not compensated for by external contracts, may lead to financial difficulties. This can be seen as a significant threat.

There is some ambiguity on the research goals of CEA's and in the present case of INAC's basic research in the frame of CEA mission, possibly leading to research activities developing in directions not perfectly in line, or departing from CEA priorities. More generally, this ambiguity might be seen as a possible weakness.

Recommendations

INAC as all other top ranking institutes in France must be prepared to cope with a situation of diminished external funding and restricted hiring. Beyond the intrinsic political and scientific guidance of the CEA administration, the Committee can only propose some avenues for INAC:

1. to keep a high level of cross breeding of scientific ideas, a good practice would be to encourage / promote researcher thematic mobility e.g. in the form of sabbatical stays and invitations of foreign researchers. It should also be more proactive on ingoing and outgoing personnel fluxes (the latter much more of a challenge);

2. decision on maintaining or not ongoing thematic research must be discussed from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives. Only such practice would lead to viable and accepted compromise with the main actors who are the researchers;

3. the advent of Université Grenoble Alpes is a real opportunity for INAC to propose new collaborative efforts and shared facilities within this operation;

4. concerning the politics of attracting reknown researchers, INAC as all institutes in France must be able to propose internationally competitive packages, while this can lead to local large disparities (salaries, facilities etc…). An alternative may reside in more reliance on joint positions with its academic partners; 5. while the research record is excellent, more emphasis should be put on INAC missions in the frame of CEA objectives. The added Energies Alternatives (EA) to the former CEA acronym should take its whole share in the participation to find new ways to solve energy issues;

  Mr Christophe MORA, ENS Paris Mr Paulo Jorge PEIXEIRO de FREITAS, INESC MN, Lisboa, Portugal Mr Bernard PLAÇAIS, ENS Paris Mr Philippe POIZOT, IMN, Nantes Mr Louis RODRIGUEZ, CEA Saclay Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Serge BOUFFARD Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Christelle BRETON (représentante de l'École Doctorale n°218 Chimie et Sciences du Vivant) Mr Benoît CLEMENT (représentant de l'École Doctorale n°47 Physique) Ms Maria FAURY, CEA/DSM Mr Niels KELLER, CNRS -INP Mr Yassine LAKHNECH, Université Joseph Fourier Mr Jean-Pierre TRAVERS, Université Joseph Fourier Mr Jérôme VITRE, CNRS -Délégation Régionale 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit INAC is an institute mainly devoted to the physical sciences, comprising six laboratories focusing on nanosciences, and on low temperature science and technology. It is located in Grenoble. It originated from the 'Département de Recherche Fondamentale (DRF)' created in 1970 on the CEA Grenoble site. The Institute shifted its name to 'Département de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matière Condensée (DRFMC)' in 1990. On January 1st, 2008, it adopted its current name, INAC: Institut Nanoscience et Cryogénie. INAC became a joint CEA-UJF research Institute in 2011. INAC laboratories are active members of the University Joseph Fourier (and from mid-2014 of the Université Grenoble Alpes, UGA).

Mid 2014 ,

 2014 INAC staff comprised close to 500 people, including 281 for permanent staff belonging to: -CEA: 225 (including 165 executive staff [meaning french "cadres"] and 60 non-executive staff); -CNRS: 30 (including 18 researchers and 12 staff without research duty); -Grenoble-INP -UJF: 26 (including 24 professors or equivalent positions and 2 technicians).

  The institute brings together 6 laboratories/services, each being divided into research teams, namely: Cryogenic Engineering (SBT) [3 teams]; Inorganic and Biological Chemistry (SCIB) [3 teams]; Spin in Electronics (SPINTEC) [2 teams]; Physics of Materials and Microstructures (SP2M) [6 teams]; Structure and Properties of Molecular Architectures (SPRAM) [3 teams]; Statistical Physics, Magnetism and Superconductivity (SPSMS) [3 teams]. These laboratories are joint CEA -UJF research units, SPINTEC being further associated with CNRS and INP, SPRAM with CNRS, and SCIB being a FRE (Formations de Recherche en Évolution) with CNRS. INAC overall budget amounts to 40,570 k€, as estimated up to mid-2014 and including resources granted to or obtained by INAC (This does not include two important contributions, the industrial contract associated with the cryogenic plant of JT60-SA (designed by the SBT), 6,474 k€ in 2014 -and the invoicing associated with the supply of cryogenic fluids, by SBT, to INAC teams and INAC partners, estimated at 4,023 k€ for 2014).

N5:N6

  Permanent professors and similar positions 24 N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions 180 N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties) 59 N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.) 3 Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.) 93 spent at least 12 months in the unit Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken 22 Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions 2  Overall assessment of the unit Global assessment of the unit


Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee.

Unit name:

Research Center on Animal Cognition The CRCA is located at the University Paul Sabatier of Toulouse and is a mixed unit belonging both to this university and the CNRS. It was created on January 1 st 2003. The unit belongs to the field of Neurosciences (section 69 of the CNU, section 26 of the CNRS). The unit has been renewed three times and has been under the direction of Prof Mr Martin GIURFA since its creation. It was evaluated A+ at the last HCERES evaluation.

While up to now, the group was organized around three teams focusing respectively on insect learning and memory, rodent learning and memory and collective behaviour in animals, the new project involves 5 teams, two originating from the division of a former team and one moving from another CNRS unit to the CRCA.

The project of the unit is strongly related to the emergence on the site of Toulouse of a "Center of Integrative Biology (CIB)"; This center corresponds to a research federation that will include 5 different units which will develop common researches along different axes. The CRCA will be leader of the neuroscience and the computational and systems biology axes while contributing to the other axes. In this context, the CRCA will also on a short term benefit of a new building which will host also other units of the CIB and lead to the creation of a new rodent platform. Since its creation, the CRCA has been involved in the study of animal cognition from detailed neurobiological processes to behavioural aspects. In the new project, all teams are focusing on phenotypic plasticity from subcellular/cellular levels to the organism or group level on different models.

Management team

The management team proposed is Prof Mr Martin GIURFA as director and Dr Claire RAMPON (director of research at CNRS) (in replacement of B. FRANCES) as deputy director. They were elected through a vote of all permanent staff members. Each proposed team has one or two identified leader(s): Mr Martin GIURFA and Mr Jean-Marc DEVAUD for the team EXPLAIN ( Experience dependent plasticity in insects), Ms Claire RAMPON for the team REMEMBeR (Revealing memory mechanisms of the brain), Ms Pascale BELENGUER for the team MINDING (Mitochondria and experiencedependent plasticity, neurodegeneration), Mr Vincent FOURCASSIÉ for the team CAB (Collective animal behavior) and Mr Raphael JEANSON and Ms Audrey DUSSUTOUR for the team IVEP (Individual variability and emergent plasticity). The management team as a whole benefits from a strong scientific recognition. The team leaders are involved with the director and deputy director in a "Directory advisory board" whose proposals are then examined by the unit council which helps the director in terms of decisions.

HCERES nomenclature

Principal: SVE1_LS5 Neurobiologie Secondary: SVE2_LS8 Évolution, écologie, biologie des populations 2  Overall assessment of the unit

Unit workforce

Unit workforce

Global assessment of the unit

The Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA) is an extremely competitive research unit in the field of animal cognition, neuroscience, animal behaviour and computational biology. One of its originalities is to have a multilevel approach from the finest neurobiological levels to the integrated level of the organism and its behavior, and even collective behavior, which will still be reinforced in the new scheme, with at short term the integration of a new team who works on the role of mitochondria on plasticity, but also at medium term (2017), with the integration of the unit at the CIB (Center of Integrative Biology). This research federation will be composed of 5 research units where cell and molecular biology will add to the more integrative neurobiological and computational / systems biology.

This project reflects the high scientific dynamism of the group and its high international scientific recognition. The whole group has a high record of publications in high level journals (e.g. 6 PNAS) and has produced more than 200 papers in the last 5 years. It has obtained funding from different sources amongst which 20 ANR grants as well as a number of awards given to several members of the unit, in particular to some of the younger scientists.

The unit is at present amongst the largest and one of the most recognized research groups devoted to animal cognition at the international level. Its important discoveries on perception, learning and memory as well as collective behaviours justify the high level of recognition which has been attained. Training of PhDs is important and ensures the transmission of this high level scientific culture. The project proposed is original and highly promising, focusing on phenotypic and experience-dependent plasticity and being a multilevel approach.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

The CRCA is an extremely well recognized research unit in the fields of animal cognition, neuroscience, animal behaviour and computational biology. Unit members have won a number of prizes and awards that, in addition to numerous invitations to give conferences, responsibilities in international or national collaborative networks, reflect this high level of national and international scientific recognition. It is also very attractive for French and foreign PhD students and postdocs.

This reputation relies of course upon the quality of their scientific production in terms of quantity and quality, which involves some publications in the highest ranking journals. The unit is at the origin of real scientific breakthroughs, in particular thanks to its original multilevel approach, which will still be reinforced by the arrival of a new team that will broach the subcellular level while focusing, with the other teams on plasticity. An originality is the use of a variety of animal species amongst which "non classical" animal models.

The integration of the CRCA at the research federation CIB gives the access to new tools and will enable the extension of the existing multilevel approach still more down towards detailed mechanisms. It already also brings new possibilities in terms of funding, and the access to a new building is an obvious rapid benefit.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context

The threats that can be evoked are precisely related to the integration to the CIB as questions arise in terms of mutualisation of staff, with potential loss of leadership by the CRCA, the risk of a lower visibility for the higher level approaches and hence the future of some teams within this center. Since 4 out of the 5 units composing the federation are at lower levels of integration, the risk exists that the organismic level becomes less visible or supported.

Recommendations

The high visibility of the CRCA should be maintained through a coherent grouping within the future CBI. One step could be to favor still more the collaboration between teams of the CRCA through more interteam publications.

  , CNRS, Brunoy (CoNRS representative) Mr Jérôme ESTAQUIER, Université de Laval, Québec, Canada Ms Heike FELDHAAR, Bayreuth University, Germany Ms Sylvie GRANON, Centre de Neuroscience Paris Sud (CNU representative) Mr Claudio LAZZARI, Université François Rabelais de Tours Mr Gonzalo DE POLAVIEJA, Cajal Institute, Madrid, Spain Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Jean-François HOCQUETTE Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Hervé RÉMIGNON (deputy director of the doctoral school 458 SEVAB « Sciences écologiques, vétérinaires, agronomiques et bioingenieries ») Mr Alexis VALENTIN, Université Toulouse 3 Mr Philippe VALET (director of the doctoral school 151 BSB « Biologie, santé, biotechnologies ») Mr Jean-Louis VERCHER, CNRS, INSB 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit

Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	16	17
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	12	12
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	10	10
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)	2	2
	N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	5	4
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	1
	TOTAL N1 to N6	46	45
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2014	Number as at 01/01/2016
	Doctoral students	24
	Theses defended	34
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	7
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken	5
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	17	18


Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee.

Unit name:

Cerebral Imaging and Neurological Handicaps The unit was open in the early 1980s, and since has been continued through the uninterrupted succession of three Inserm/Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier (UPS) research units (U 230, U 455 and U 825). The unit is located at the Purpan Hospital (Toulouse) and has a long research tradition on the main central nervous system diseases, using neurological, neuropsychological, neuropharmacological and neurosurgical investigations coupled with neuroimaging explorations and brain stimulation/rehabilitation techniques. The research programs of the unit are centered on neurological diseases and handicaps, in particular those occuring in the aging context (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, stroke and other pathologies of the aging brain). In 2011, the unit moved to a new pavillon, pavillon Baudot at the Purpan hospital, with more space available. A full-time research 3T MRI platform operated under the responsibility of the unit was installed. This unit continued to progress during the reference period on its research topics, both at a methodological and theoretical level, and can be considered as an expert in these domains. The unit was composed of three teams in the previous period. Two of them were closely interconnected, and will be grouped together in the next reference period (under the label "DEVIN") while a new "iDREAM" team will be in direct continuation of the former team 3 "Therapeutic innovations in cerebrovascular disease". The objective of team 1 "Clinical and cognitive neuroimaging" was to develop neuroimaging tools that can be used in clinical and cognitive brain research and, ultimately, in clinical practice. The aim of team 2 "Language, memory and action in neurological diseases" was to improve diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases affecting language, memory and action systems, but also to address the cognitive functioning of specific components of these systems in the normal human brain. Team 3 "Therapeutic innovations in cerebrovascular disease" project aimed at developing an experimental approach to therapeutic strategies likely to be transferable to clinical studies of advanced treatments of ischemic, hemorrhagic or traumatic brain lesions.

Management team

The unit was directed by Mr Pierre CELSIS, DR1 Inserm, also responsible of the team 1. Mr Jean-François DEMONET, DR1 Inserm, was responsible of the team 2, but left in 2011. Ms Isabelle LOUBINOUX, DR2 Inserm, was responsible of the team 3. For 2016-2020, Mr Pierre PAYOUX, PUPH UPS, will be responsible of the unit, reorganised in two teams (DEVIN, under the responsibility of Mr Patrice PÉRAN, CR1 Inserm, and iDREAM, under the responsibility of Ms Isabelle LOUBINOUX). The layout of the unit facilitates interactions and collaborations between researchers, as can be seen in common publications. Moreover, interactions between clinicians and researchers are frequent and lead to fruitful research projects. The unit can be considered as really multidisciplinary and fostering the exchange of information between researchers of various specializations. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

HCERES nomenclature

Global assessment of the unit

Pluri and interdisciplinarity is a characteristic of the unit that must be emphasized: the group has long been bringing together specialists of various disciplines, in medecine, applied mathematics, signal proceessing and image analysis.

The main lines of the research effort are to develop imaging markers of brain macro and micro structures, of brain dysfunction and therapeutic efficiency (team 1); to better characterize brain anatomic and functional correlates of developmental language disorders and post-stroke aphasia, of pain and behavioral symptoms in Parkinson's disease, of cortical reorganization related to memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease and of language, orthographic production and writing processes in normal subjects and patients (team 2); to evaluate the impact of drug treatment, rehabilitation programs and brain direct stimulation in stroke recovery, and the feasibility and impact of combining stem cells graft and nanotechnology in post-stroke motor recovery in animal models (team 3). So, the unit elaborates and develops specific tools to improve clinical practice. The scientific production of the unit as a whole is very high with 349 original publications in peer-reviewed journals, and publications in high-level journals occur frequently (Lancet Neurology, Brain, Annals of Neurology). The unit benefits from a high-level technological platform dedicated to research, whose the utility is reinforced by constant interactions with clinical staffs. The unit is organised in an optimal way, that favor efficient development of research programs. Importantly, the departure of the leader of the team 2 "Language, memory and action in neurological diseases" in 2011 did not impede deeply the scientific production of the team. The unit is highly involved in teaching and training, and also in diffusion of scientific information to large audiences. The three teams of the unit have proved their capacity to find the financial support to attain their scientifc objectives.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

The main strength of the Unit is to build on in parallel methodological developments, more particularly in brain imaging, and cognitive and clinical researchs in neuropsychology and cognitive neurosciences. In that context, the relationships established since years between the Unit and clinicians from the Neurology department of the Toulouse University Hospital offers unique opportunities for recruiting carefully selected patients for the research programs. Generally speaking, the unit is well integrated in a clinical settings and develops major thematics in the health domain. The access to neuroimaging and electrophysiological facilities full-time dedicated to research is also an unique opportunuity to the efficient realization of the neuroimaging research projects. Otherwise, the multidisciplinary nature of the research is an incontestable strong point of the unit that brings together specialists from many disciplines: clinical and cognitive neurosciences, medical imaging, as well as specialists in the methodologies and techniques that support these resarch lines. A wide range of competences is thus on hand within the unit to enable it to carry through the project. The multidisciplinarity of the members of the team enables it to rapidly set up effective cooperation with specialists when the project requires specific knowledge or know-how. Importantly, there is large cohesion between the members of the unit, and the directors have a clear overall view of the research objectives and how to develop the unit expertise in the various domains investigated. In that context, it must be stressed the optimal and thoughful way by which the three teams were re-organised in two for the next fiveyear period. The moving of the entire unit, by the mid-2011, to the new office space in the newly renovated pavillon Baudot at CHU Purpan, the opening of the 3T full-research MRI facility and the opening in 2013 of the L2 laboratory are undoubtefully key events that will increase the scientific production of the unit during the next period. Moreover, the proximity of the CERCO Unit in the same building naturally leads to increase the collaboration projects between the two labs. The unit has a great attractivity for master and PhD students. The pluridisciplinarity of the team is also evidenced by their involvement in three doctoral schools (ED n°323 GEET "Génie Électrique, Électronique, Télécommunications", ED n°326 CLESCO "Comportement, Langage, Éducation, Socialisation, Cognition" and ED n°475 MITT "Mathématiques Informatique Télécommunications de Toulouse"). The unit trains a large number of PhD students who actively contribute to the research activity. The PhD students finalize their thesis in 3-4 years, with several scientific publications most of the time, that certify the quality of the supervision. The professional insertion of these students after their thesis is also very good. Finally, the scientific production of the unit is important, and of high quality. In that context, the experts committee must emphasize the quality of the scientific presentations during the visit.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context

The methodological and scientific developpement proposed by the unit are very ambitious by reference to the actual human resources. The departure of Mr Jean-François DEMONET could slightly impact on the scientific production of the Devin team more specifically dedicated to neuropsychological questions. However, the team is aware of this threat and will pay attention to continue the development of these questions in the context of the multimodal neuroimaging studies performed. Two related other weaknesses are (1) the weak recruitment of high-level foreign post-docs that could improve "out-of-the-lab" recruitment of talented young researchers on permanent position in the unit, and (2) the retirement in the next years of several permanent members of the team (two researchers and two research ingeneers), for which no replacements were planned. Consequentlty, the projects proposed by the unit for the next five years could suffer from a lack of human ressources to help for supervision, administration and coordination tasks.

Recommendations

The experts committee recommand to the directors to pursue the development of an active policy to recuit more high-level post-doc staff from other countries. More precisely, the contacts initiated with Standford University and the Fundazione Santa Lucia at Rome must be reinforced. This will lead indirectly to increase the international visibility of the unit. It also seems essential to pursue the development of the preclinical technnological platform, to optimize the use of the cyclotron platform and to update the IRM equipement. In that context, the grouping of all technological tools (humans and non-humans) on a same site will facilitate data acquisition by the unit. To keep the high level of scientific work, it will also be necessary to ensure the continued existence of human resources (both in the scientific, technical and administrative staffs). To note that the current lack of administrative staff could be compensated by a supplementary half-time secretary in 2015. Finally, the unit must pay attention to the risk of dividing its attention and resources too broadly between the various research thematics proposed in the five-years project, and to assure an optimal follow-up these research projects.

  , La Pitié Salpétrière, Paris (representative of the CCS Inserm) Mr Olivier GODEFROY, Hôpital Roger Salangro, Lille Mr Olivier MUNDLER, Hôpital de la Timone, Aix-Marseille Université (representative of the CNU) Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Jacques NOËL Ms Céline SOUCHAY Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Armelle BARELLI, Inserm Mr Alain CAZARRÉ (représentative of the Doctoral School ED n°323 GEET "Génie, Électrique, Électronique, Télécommunication") Ms Marie-Josèphe LEROY-ZAMIA, Inserm Mr Alexis VALENTIN, Université Paul Sabatier Ms Chantal ZAOUCHE (représentative of the Doctoral School ED n°326 CLESCO "Comportement, Langage, Education, Socialisation, Cognition") 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit


president Didier Houssin

Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee.

Unit name:

Angiogenesis and tumor microenvironment laboratory The Angiogenesis and tumor microenvironment laboratory (LAMC) results from the evolution of a previous single team research unit (Inserm U 1029; now team 1), which was joined by two small teams (team 2 from Inserm unit, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris & team 3 is from "institut de Chimie et Biologie des Membranes et des Nano-objets" Bordeaux). A fourth team is an INRIA team that will be "associated" with the unit, but not "labelized" by Inserm. One Inserm scientist and several PUPH have also joined teams 1 or 2 to participate in the translational aspects of the projects.

The unit is localized at the Pessac site of the Université de Bordeaux in the B2 building. It occupies two floors of about 1500 m 2 . The laboratory is in the process of a complete renovation and possesses state-of-the art installations and equipment for molecular and cellular biology research.

Management team

The LAMC is headed by Mr Andreas BIKFALVI supported by the deputy director Mr Majid KHATIB.

HCERES nomenclature

Principal : SVE1_LS4

Secondaire : SVE1_LS3 and SVE1_LS2 2  Overall assessment of the unit

Global assessment of the unit

The "Laboratoire de l'Angiogénèse et du Microenvironnement des Cancers (LAMC)" is a multidisciplinary research laboratory dedicated to studies of cancer and angiogenesis. It results from the evolution of a previous single team research unit (Inserm U 1029; now team 1) which was joined by two small teams (team 2 Inserm UMR-S 606, Université Paris-Diderot, and Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris & team 3 is from INP Bordeaux). A fourth team is an INRIA team that will be "associated" to the unit but not "labelized" by Inserm. Several fruitful scientific collaborations have been established between the teams during the last years. A main goal of this proposal is to physically associate groups from different and complementary research fields to jointly tackle central problems in cancer and vascular biology research. The LAMC is planned to be organised into four teams:

team 1: Regulatory Networks in Angiogenesis, Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; team 2: Preprotein Convertases in Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; team 3: Biophysics of Vascular Plasticity; team 4: Mathematical Modeling.

The experts committee finds the initiative to organize the new research entity into four teams providing a cross-disciplinary platform from which to tackle outstanding questions in cancer research both exciting and attractive. If the teams work together as outlined, there are clear prospects for synergy and scientific breakthroughs. The experts committee recognizes creativity, methodological strengths and dynamic working conditions but also notes the risks and challenges associated with need to focus on a limited number of scientific problems. If a good balance between technological width and conceptual focus can be obtained, there should be prospects for scientific breakthroughs.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

Prospects of synergy through cross-disciplinary interactions within the unit.

Strong links with clinical research, especially in the kidney cancer area.

Significant outreach activities and networking at national and international levels.

Excellent team spirit and enthusiasm among students, postdocs, staff and associated clinicians.

Extensive collaborations at the national and international level.

Ability to raise research funds through competitive grant applications.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context Risk of spreading thin through the numerous projects and subprojects, some of which are currently underdeveloped.

Possible underestimation of complexity involved in implementing "omics" and big data technologies in cancer research. Some research areas are hugely competitive in an international perspective.

Recommendations

The experts committee recommends that the research team puts priority on those research projects and subprojects where clearcut synergies can be created through inter-team collaborations. Such a focus would allow a more complete integration of the research across the unit and would considerably raise the possibilities of the unit to achieve high impact results and publications. The committe foresees that such prioritization would include a definition of the competitive edge within each subproject and that projects deemed non-competitive at the international frontline are abandoned.

  , Université de Franche-Comté (representative of the CNU) Mr Olivier BERNARD, Génétique des tumeurs, Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris (representative of the CSS Inserm) Mr Holger GERHARDT, Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Ms Maryam MEHRPOUR Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Pierre DOS SANTOS, Université de Bordeaux Ms Karine GIONNET, Inserm Mr Jochen LANG (representative of the Doctoral School "Science de la Vie et de la Santé" n°154) Mr Yoann LUNG, Université de Bordeaux Ms Stéphanie POMMIER, Inserm Ms Monique THONNAT, INRIA 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit

N6 37 Unit workforce Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

	Unit workforce N1: Permanent professors and similar positions Unit workforce N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties) N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.) N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.) N6: Other contractual staff Theses defended Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken TOTAL N1 to Doctoral students Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	Number as at 30/06/2014 8 5 13 7 4 13 13 7 9	Number as at 01/01/2016 11 7 13 9 4 10

signed by their chairman.


Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee.

Unit name:

Cellules Stromales, Homeostasie, Plasticité et Régénération Tissulaire The STROMALab was created in 2011 in Toulouse by the gathering of two teams: team 1 (CNRS) working on adipose stromal/stem cells from Toulouse and team 2, associated with the National French Blood Bank (EFS), which was previously located at Tours and performed research on mesenchymal stem cells. At the start of this contract, the two teams teamed-up in Toulouse to build an integrative unit with the objective to develop basic, translational and clinical science on adipose stem cells (ASC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for tissue homeostasis and repair. Team 2 was initially located in the University of Tours and joined in 2012 the Faculty of Medicine Rangueil where team 1 was already located.

STROMALab is a joint laboratory (Unité Mixte de Recherche under the supervision of several institutions: the Paul Sabatier (UPS)-Toulouse 3 University, CNRS (UMR 5273), EFS and Inserm (U 1031).

STROMALab is currently located at the Rangueil Hospital of Toulouse. In 2016, STROMALab will be housed in a new building located at the site of "Toulouse Oncopole" that will gather the research teams with new GMP compliant EFS laboratories in charge of producing ASC/MSC-derived advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP).

This new location will be close to the Cancer Campus Research Building, on the "Oncopole" campus. It will improve the work conditions of STROMALab by increasing space, but also by facilitating the access to the animal housing and analysis platform CREFRE, and also other platforms such as the ITAV imaging platform.

Management team

STROMALab is headed by a director that is assisted by a co-director. It consists of two research teams assisted by common facilities. All members of the unit seem satisfied by the unit management, the organisation of the lab, the lab meetings and the lab's life. Nevertheless it would be useful to more formally set up a laboratory council with elected members of the unit. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

HCERES nomenclature

Global assessment of the unit

During this contract, STROMALab has consolidated its international notoriety on mesenchymal/adipose stem cells and has acquired a leading position in translational programs at the European level and beyond. Specifically, they have made major breakthroughs on MSC/ASC research: for example, they characterized the hematopoietic function of the white adipose tissue and the role of ASC as a support for this activity, they have been able to reverse aging effects by acting on metabolism and they have improved our understanding of MSC phenotypical and functional heterogeneity. In the perspective to develop translational research, the research unit has strong interactions with a cell processing facility, with small and bigger industries and is part of the "Infrastructure Nationale de Biologie Santé" platform ECELL France. STROMALab succeeded in fruitful translation of basic science results to bedside, which is exemplified by their involvement in several clinical trials. Owing to its development of GMP cell products, the research unit is involved in numerous networks for the use of MSC in regenerative medicine.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

STROMALab is formed by two internationally recognized research teams that clearly benefited from their fusion as reflected by their scientific output. It has an excellent capacity to obtain external funding both from National and European agencies and attracts external researchers. It is integrated in numerous national and international networks and is strongly supported at the regional level. In addition to basic science, the research unit puts a strong accent on translational research, which represents one of its major original forces.

In 2016, the research unit will join the new research site "Oncopole", which will provide the research unit with new buildings and should help them to attract new teams, as well as provide new opportunities to develop research project related to cancer. Given their leader position in the field and the GMP production facilities, the research unit has the opportunity to strengthen translational research and to develop collaborations with industries.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context

Although the track record is very good with papers published in excellent journals of the domain, publishing in high impact general journals could further improve visibility of their work. This may be attained in the future, in particular by the use of a newly developed transgenic mouse to track MSC and their derivatives in the mouse tissues, an original technological challenge that will allow to tackle fundamental issues in the field of MSC.

Relative to the number of HDR researchers, the number of PhD students working in STROMALab was relatively low.

  , London Research Institute, London, UK Ms Valérie CORONAS, University of Poitiers (representative of the CoNRS CNRS) Ms Els VERHOEYEN, Centre Méditéranéen de Médecine Moléculaire, Nice (representative of the CSS Inserm) Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Jean GIRARD Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Pierre CELSIS, University Paul Sabatier Ms Isabelle HENRY, Inserm Ms Armelle LETURQUE, CNRS Mr Pierre TIBERGHIEN, EFS Mr Philippe VALET (représentative of the Doctoral School ED 151 "Biologie Santé Biotechnologie") 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit

Unit workforce Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

	SVE1 Biologie, santé
	Unit workforce
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	3	4
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	10.8	13.8
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	6.4	6.4
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)
	N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	5	5
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	10	10
	TOTAL N1 to N6	35.2	39.2

Unit workforce Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

	Doctoral students	6
	Theses defended	3
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	9
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken	2
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	5	7

Recommendations

STROMALab is a highly performing research unit, which combines excellent basic and translational research. It should keep its leader position in the future. With the relocation of the unit and the increase in laboratory space, the recruitment of external leaders working on tissue development, new imaging techniques and/or translational research/cellular therapy would strengthen the output of the most important lines of research of the laboratory.

The active recruitment of PhD students is recommended and could be accompanied for instance by the "CIFFRE" program in link with the industry as well as international post-doctoral fellows.


Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee. The visit took place over three days, the 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th December 2014. The chairman of the visiting committee previously asked the national and international experts to write a brief report on each team which was used as a basis of the minutes report and general evaluation. The visit was very well organized on 3 days, with a first presentation of the director of the Centre I2MC (Mr Angelo PARINI) on the past and future of the Centre (40 min) followed by 20 min of questions by the experts. Then each of the 16 teams was allocated to a 50 min session (30 min presentation + 20 min questions). The atmosphere was very professional, opened and friendly. All documents of the presentations were given and all was done to facilitate the evaluation of the centre. The morning of the 3 rd day was dedicated to the visits of the platforms, to parallel meetings with personnel, discussions with the representatives of the managing bodies, the Doctoral school director and the Head of the Centre (director Mr Angelo PARINI and the vicedirector Mr Dominique LANGIN). The final afternoon was dedicated to the evaluation of Team 16, to revisit the evaluation of each team and the overall Centre by the experts committee.

Unit name:

Institute of Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases

History and geographical location of the unit

The "Institut des maladies métaboliques et cardiovasculaires", "I2MC", is located on the site "Rangueil" of University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse. It is established mainly on 2 buildings owned by Inserm and UPS respectively allowing a surface of research of 6838 m 2 . It was created in 2011, and the current project corresponds to its first renewal for the period (2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020). It is interesting to observe the extension of this centre within the last period with initially 12 teams and 1 Inserm Avenir teams compared now to the proposition of 16 research teams. This dynamism is also attested by the evolution of the research personnel (254 in 2011, 279 in 2014).

Management team

The center is unique in Toulouse, bringing together researchers, lecturers/researchers, Engineers and technicians, working in the field of metabolic (obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia) and cardiovascular diseases (thrombosis, atherosclerosis, heart and kidney). The research teams are working on the cardiovascular risk factors and their consequences using multidisciplinary approaches from basic science to clinical protocols. An extension to ageing has been recently taken.

The Centre is headed by the director Mr Angelo PARINI and the vice-director Mr Dominique LANGIN. The 13 research teams are organized in three Departments, with also common services and several technological platforms. The policy of recruitment of new research teams and researchers as well as the external and internal mobility of the personnel is adequate and efficient, the highest priority for the technicians and engineers being given to common services and platforms.

The connections with the hospital and the university are very strong. A willingness for in house collaborative projects (n=28) has been pursued but still represent a minority of the scientific outputs (n=63 / 829 original publications). For the next period, the I2MC proposes the remodelling of 4 research teams, and the creation of 3 new research teams to a total of 16 teams. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

HCERES nomenclature Unit workforce

Unit workforce

Global assessment of the unit

This I2MC research center dedicated to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases created in 2011 by Inserm and the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, is undeniably a success. In the last 5 years, the center has grown and is now presented as a set of 13 research teams with more than 270 persons (n=44 permanent Inserm/CNRS researchers; n=55 lecturers/researchers, n=87 engineers and technicians with a permanent (n=53) or temporary (n=34) position). The organization in three topic-specific departments allows better coordination and definition of scientific strategies. Publication level is excellent (>800 original publications on the relevant period), although I2MC should aim for more publications in very high quality top-ranked journals. The center has a strong national and international reputation, leading or participating to many national and international networks and programs. The visiting committee has strongly appreciated the dynamism and vision of the translational research proposed by the management as well as his recruitment policy and the strong effort put on the development of technical platforms and the organization of common services. The collaboration with the industry (n=18 R&D contracts) and the policy of creation of start-up companies (n=8) is extremely dynamic. The committee also appreciated the strong involvement of I2MC in education and training (n=729 ranging in background from high school students to post-doctoral fellows).

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

Scientific quality: a unique research centre devoted to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in Toulouse with a strong critical mass of talented researchers. In the last five years, the centre demonstrated its capacity to assemble teams in the field, but also to attract new ones. Excellent research with multidisciplinary approaches from basic science to clinical trials. Publication level is excellent (>800 original publications on the relevant period) but I2MC should seek for more publications in very high quality top-ranked journals.

Academic reputation and appeal: national and international reputation. Capacity to attract new researchers, and a new research team with an excellent foreign leader (team 16) has just applied to join the I2MC.

Social, economical interaction: The I2MC centre also developed strong interactions with the hospital and university. Numerous structured collaborations with private companies and outstanding dynamism in terms of creation of start-up companies (n=8) and patents deposits.

Unit organization and life: very good general organization and governance. Remarkable efficiency of the administrative platform. Excellent policy in terms of development of technical platforms and common services.

Training: Importance of the implication in training research. The "training" strategy has been particularly efficient and successful as a total of 15 researchers has been recruited by either the Inserm (n=8) or the University (n=7) with permanent positions since 2011.

Strategy: Excellent overall scientific strategy for a centre dedicated to a large but focused research area on cardiovascular metabolism with a smart progressive move to the pathophysiological aspects of ageing process within the various topics of the teams.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context

Scientific quality and outputs: taken into account the quality of most of the teams, more publication in topranked generalists journals should be targeted.

Academic reputation and appeal: researchers and research teams should apply more to European funding and programs. No ERC or H2020 fund was obtained at the last call. Team leaders should have a stronger dynamism in the organization and participation to international meetings Unit organization and life: despite a very positive appreciation of the overall organization, even stronger interactions between teams should be encouraged and the role of the Departments more visible. Although efficient, the small platform of bioinformatics has to be developed. The governance could be improved, especially the relations and communication with some technicians and engineers.

Training: All teams are involved in training research, but only few of them are strongly involved in or coordinating Master and PhDs programs. The policy for attracting young MDs in research as well as foreign postdocs should be more dynamic. Taken into account the size of I2MC, internal seminars should be more frequent (1/week) to help a better diffusion of knowledge between teams and also with technological platforms.

Scientific strategy: The interactions with the Hospital and University allow applications through IDEX, LabEx and FHU. An interesting trend has been presented to orientate part of some research teams on "ageing process". Although this strategic turn seems appropriate with more space labs available and probably more grants to apply for, this thematic has to mature in the coming years.

Recommendations

The general evaluation of the I2MC centre is very positive. The I2MC centre conducts an excellent transversal research using multidisciplinary approaches from basic science to clinical trials on cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, a major health challenge. The visiting committee was strongly impressed by the organisation, attractiveness, scientific quality, training activity and the general policy of the centre together with its links with the local institutions (university and hospital). A remarkable and unique dynamism of creation of start-up companies demonstrates the insertion of the I2MC in the city. The development of technological platforms is also excellent and should be encouraged by Inserm and University Paul Sabatier by the creation of further permanent positions of technicians and engineers. The "training" strategy has also been particularly efficient and successful as a total of 15 researchers has been recruited since 2011. This increased critical mass of researchers should help to reach even higher scientific objectives for the next 5 years.

Even though the centre is very dynamic in terms of scientific publications, it should aim to get more publications in top-ranked generalists journals taken into account the quality of most of the teams. Also, team leaders should apply more to European funding and programs and have a stronger dynamism in the organization and participation to international meetings. Finally, the remodeling and/or creation of new research teams is a proof of the dynamism of the governance policy of the direction of I2MC, but a few of them did not seem mature enough yet to be at the level of excellence required for such a center.

  , Cardiovascular Research Center, Spain Ms Elisabetta CERBAI, University of Florence, Italy Mr Christos CHATZIANTONIOU (representative of the CSS Inserm) Mr Paul HOLVOET, KU Leuven university, Belgium Mr Folkert KUIPERS, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Mr Philippe LESNIK, Inserm, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris Mr Assaf RUDICH, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israël Ms Jane-Lise SAMUEL, Inserm, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris Mr David SAVAGE, University of Cambridge, UK Mr Mauro TORTI, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Italy Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Patrick LACOLLEY Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Armelle BARELLI, Inserm Mr Raymond BAZIN, AVIESAN ITMO CMN Mr Jonathan BELCASTRO, CHU Toulouse Ms Chantal LASSERRE, Inserm Mr Alexis VALENTIN, University Toulouse 3 1  Introduction

Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	57 (22,5 FTE)	66 (25,3)
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	36 (34,6 FTE)	43 (42,6)
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	62 (52,4 FTE)	54 (49,4)
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)
	N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)	36 (29,4 FTE)	34
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	23	20
	TOTAL N1 to N6	214 (161,9) 217 (171,3)
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2014	Number as at 01/01/2016
	Doctoral students	41
	Theses defended	49
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	20
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	73	73


The Committee visited the Centre de Biologie du Développement (CBD) the 4 th and 5 th November 2014, in the building of the CBD. The visit was well organized, and took place in very good working conditions. The present and future directors and their collaborators should be complimented for having render life of the Committee easier and having facilitated the work of the Committee during the visit. The time reserved for listening at the group's project and interviewing the group leaders was appropriate and the Committee had the feeling that most of the important aspects of the research projects, as well as of the unit's present and future organization were discussed in a frank and open manner. The report on the CBD past activities and project, provided prior to the visit was adequate, and the team oral presentation was a very useful complement. The discussions with the director alone and together with the three department directors, as well as the discussion with the funding bodies occurred in front of the entire experts committee. For the discussions involving the technical staff, the PhD students/postdocs and the staff researchers, the experts committee splits into three separate groups. The unit presentation by present and future directors was open to all unit members. Each team was given one hour of presentation and questions with the entire experts committee in presence of all team members, who were all free to answer both scientific and organizational questions. The committee had also interviews with the present and future director alone, for about one hour. The final report presented here is based on the reports that were sent in and was approved by all the experts of the committee.

History and geographical location of the unit

The Centre of Developmental Biology is a Research entity (UMR 5547) affiliated to both the CNRS and the University Paul Sabatier -Toulouse 3. It has already a long history for such a research unit, having been created in 1992 and headed successively by three directors, Ms Anne-Marie DUPRAT (1992-1998), Mr Alain VINCENT (1999-2006) and Mr Marc HAENLIN (2007HAENLIN ( -2015)). The proposed director for the next five years is Ms Fabienne PITUELLO.

The Research unit is located in a building of the University Paul Sabatier, on the campus at the South end of the city of Toulouse, where many scientific and medical institutions are gathered. The building where the CBD is located also houses two other Research units, the Research Centre for Animal Cognition (Centre de Recherche sur la Cognition Animale, UMR 5169, Dir. Martin GIURFA) and the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology of the Cell Division (Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire de la Division Cellulaire; UMR5088, dir. Didier TROUCHE). With other closely located research units, they constitute a federation of research units in Biology (the Fédération de Recherche en Biologie de Toulouse). In this respect, the scientific environment of the CBD is rich, both in its close vicinity and in its surroundings, making a significant critical mass of researchers. This is clearly a factor of vitality and attractiveness for the CBD. On this strong basis, a new research center is proposed for creation, the Center for Integrative Biology (CBI) fostered by a new building expected for the end of 2018.

Management team

The CBD comprised about 120 researchers, a well-balanced combination of engineers/technicians and postdoctoral fellows/students grouped in 13 teams. Mr Marc HAENLIN headed the CBD for these last 8 years, with a board made of all the group leaders and which meet once a month. The mandatory Council of the unit, comprising elected representative of the different categories of personal, met 3-4 times a year to discuss the main organizational and strategic issues of the research unit. The future director of the CBD, appointed with a general agreement of the personal, will essentially repeat this simple and efficient organization in the renewed unit. Reorganization of the unit has been helped and fostered by an international Scientific Advisory Board, leading to propose 11 teams to be part of the new version of the CBD, including an entirely new group recruited in 2012 by an International Hiring Committee.

The administration of the CBD has been supported by a financial advisor and an administrative manager shared with the unit LBCMCP (dir. Mr Didier TROUCHE, UMR 5088). The number of administrative and financial officers remains really low (3, 6 Full Time Equivalent), which clearly does not allow properly managing an ensemble of about 200 people. The administrative manager is also taking care of some of the technical facilities of the Centre. Such facilities include a lab store and a delivery service, facilities for terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates but also insects, an imaging platform (TRI) and a single-channel recording facility. 2  Overall assessment of the unit Global assessment of the unit CBD is committed to decipher the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the elaboration of proper tissue architecture and corresponding functions in animal development and evolution. Research at CBD combines concepts and approaches from genetics and from molecular and cellular biology to analyze fundamental mechanisms regulating the development of bilaterian animals, how dysregulation of such mechanisms can lead to cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. Techniques range from structural biology and molecular biology to sophisticated live imaging and bioinformatics and theoretical modeling. Animal models are also diverse, including mouse, zebrafish, xenopus, chicken and a strong emphasis on Drosophila. As a whole, the scientific outcome of the CBD is excellent and internationally recognized. It has produced a wealth of firm data, published in more than 90 publications for the last 5 years, including some remarkable discoveries, which reflect the originality of works, generally carried out in "scientific niches" outside the scientific mainstream. Although there is some heterogeneity in the quality and efficiency of team efforts, going from outstanding to very good, the research entity is following on a positive slope and is encouraged to move forward with the new director. This is reflected in the active scientific life of the CBD, and even more, in the "common culture" of most of the CBD researchers who are able to share means and personal in a very efficient fashion. Involvement of the CBD members into University education and research training is strong and highly significant, as it is in outreach activities. They also significantly contribute to develop scientific platforms including imaging and animal facilities, which are mandatory to carry-out the renewed, well-elaborated research program. The CBD teams have developed strong partnerships with other groups in the Toulouse University campus. Overall, the CBD constitutes a solid nucleus on which the future Centre of Integrative Biology could continue to be build, a strongly encouraged endeavor.

HCERES

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

-an excellent ensemble of research groups, with strong skills, developing a well-balanced diversity of scientific topics, committed to make an attractive project; -CBD is very well considered and supported by the funding bodies, within the limits of the current economic crisis;

-highly dedicated and well organized engineer and technical staff; -a common culture of mutual support and sharing means and personal;

-CBD is able to attract very good PhD students, certainly owing to a strong involvement in teaching and training; -a quite remarkable scientific environment, which set the ground to more ambitious plan such as the CBI;

-the construction of a new building in which most of the units of the future CBI will be gathered.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context -some heterogeneity in the scientific outcome of the teams, going from outstanding to very good; -some teams are very small, which is a threat to the development of more ambitious projects; -lack of financial support from national and european grant agencies in many groups; -the technical platforms are efficient and of high quality, but they are very fragile, relying on too few dedicated personal; -administration and accounting is really not of the size expected for such a good and large research entity, and hardly support the research teams, which could be a threat for the best of them.

Recommendations

-most research groups have found their niche in otherwise competitive topics, and this should be pushed a step forward in the next future; -many teams could certainly be more ambitious in their research program and scientific outcome, which could be reached through collaborations and team management; -many groups should increase their international visibility through more international collaborations and attending international meetings; -development of multidisciplinary approaches, including interfaces with mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering is strongly encouraged and should be even better structured and formalized in a next future; -maintaining a mix of young and more experienced teams, and a certain degree of diversity in the research themes, in order to foster the interactions and synergies among groups; 7 -continue professionalizing the technical platforms and facilities, which need stronger support and manpower. In particular, the development of the fish facility, and its opening to other teams, the development of new techniques in the mice facility (CrispR) requires a new organization and permanent staff; -it is mandatory to strengthen the administration and financial services, and this will become even more important in the context of the creation of the CBI; -the transition between the current and future directors in heading the unit should be speed up or tighten up to avoid any gap and uncertainty in the management of the research entity; -it is wise mentoring the group leaders, especially the youngest ones, who are less successful in getting large grants;

-the construction of a new building should be the opportunity for hiring new groups and developing imaginative plan of research management, with the help of the SAB.

  Ms Anarosa ARCANGELI, University of Florence, Italy Ms Paola BOVOLENTA, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain Ms Sarah BRAY, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Mr Michel GHO, IBPS Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Mr Bernard MIGNOTTE, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin (representative of the CNU) Ms Michèle STUDER, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis Mr Pascal THEROND, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis (representative of the CoNRS) Mr Jean-Paul VINCENT, National Institute of Medical Research, United Kingdom Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Pierre COUBLE Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Laurent KODJABACHIAN, CNRS Mr Alexis VALENTIN, University Toulouse 3 Mr Philippe VALET (representative of the Doctoral School "Biologie Santé, Biotechnologies" N°151) 1  Introduction

  nomenclature SVE1-LS3 Cell biology, Animal developmental biology; SVE1-LS3 Genetics, genomics, bioinformatics; SVE1-LS1 Molecular and structural biology, biochemistry;

	Unit workforce
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2014	Number as at 01/01/2016
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	12	7
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	36	34
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	33	31
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)	1	1
	N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral students, visitors, etc.)		4
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	7
	TOTAL N1 to N6	89	77
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2014	Number as at 01/01/2016
	Doctoral students	19
	Theses defended	29
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	8
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken	6
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	29	26


Roland Mr

Liblau

Roland Mr

Renato Mr

Monteiro

Ms Laurence Ardouin-Bataille

Jean-Daniel Mr

Lelievre

Salah Mr

Mecheri

Ms Sophie Ezine

History and geographical location of the unit

The CPTP was created in 2002 and constitutes one of the major Biomedical Research Centers in Toulouse, which also includes the Cancer Center located at Langlade (CRCT, Inserm UMR 1037) and an Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Center (I2MR, Inserm UMR 1048) located in Rangueil hospital campus.

From 2009-2014, the CPTP had 14 teams. Four teams were not included in the CPTP structure for the next five years. Mr Philippe LE BOUTEILLER is retiring by the end of 2014 and his team will be closed. The teams headed by Ms Nathalie VERGNOLLE, Mr Eric OSWALD and Ms Marie-Paule ROTH / Ms Hélène COPPIN have decided to leave and constitute a new research Laboratory focusing on digestive health. Pr Antoine BLANCHER and the immunologists working at the University hospital propose to create a University research Team that will be hosted within the Center. Thus, the CPTP remains with 10 teams and is in the process of recruiting a senior French scientist currently working in the USA.

The CPTP is localized on the Purpan University hospital site in 3 adjacent and interconnected buildings. The CPTP has a remarkable activity in creating several research core facilities. Of note, a building totalizing 800 m2 was inaugurated in November 2012 and is devoted essentially for core facilities (imaging and flow cytometry). The total surface including laboratory spaces and offices, research facilities and the central administration is 3600 m2.

Management team

The CPTP will be composed of more than 180 members including scientists, teaching scientists, clinicians, research assistants, technicians, post-docs and students. The management of the center is presented as follows. The center will be managed by a Director and a deputy Director assisted by a Board of team leaders (one per team). The administrative and financial manager is well established in the CPTP and is in charge of the daily administrative and financial running of the center and of supervising the staff dedicated to common-use services. The CPTP council composed of 12 elected representatives, 4 for each of the 3 staff groups (research scientists, research and administrative assistants, PhD students and post-docs), is the body that makes suggestions and discusses organizational issues of the research unit with the Director and the administrative and financial manager. An 'internal rules' document has been established and is available. The Director and the board of team leaders are responsible for the strategic decisions, management and more generally the scientific life of the center and meet at least every three months. Decisions are made by consensus and, in rare occasions, by vote. The responsibility of the financial and administrative management of each team rests on the team leaders, who are assisted by the centralized administrative structure. Each team will keep financial control of their individual research grants except for a 5% tax (salaries and equipment excluded) that will also be used for strategic scientific initiatives. The Inserm, CNRS, and University yearly budget is allocated to 3 main sectors: 1) general common expenses (roughly 25% of the yearly budget), 2) research budget given to each team based on the number of researchers, post-docs and PhD students (ETP); 3) strategic scientific initiatives.

Concerning scientific animation, in addition to the internal laboratory meetings organized by each individual team, different mechanisms have been established and are actively pursued to guaranty scientific exchanges between the members of the center. These include journal clubs, seminars delivered by students and post-docs to all scientists of the center, weekly seminars organized in the campus with invited speakers from other institutes in France, meetings held every two months in which senior scientists present their projects to the other teams for open discussion.

An International Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) composed of seven prestigious scientists from different countries (3 from France and 4 from The United States, Italy, United Kingdom and Switzerland) has evaluated the CPTP in March 2014 and has approved the team compositions and research topics. The SAB is invited on site every four years to make recommendations on scientific directions. The last SAB site-visit was organized on March 27-28, 2014. A report is available with an excellent appreciation of the CPTP science. Whenever it is necessary, members of the SAB can be consulted to give their advice. The next SAB meeting is scheduled for the beginning of 2019.

Global assessment of the unit

The leader of the CPTP project has shown his remarkable dynamism and expertise in federating local research forces and establishing a strong network with regional economical forces. The CPTP has had a remarkable achievement with a very impressive rate of recruitments since 2009. The CPTP regroups approximately 127 staff members including 20 Scientists and 34 Teaching Scientists or Physician-Scientists (professors/associate-professors), 21 Post-docs, 32 PhD students. Six engineers or research assistants with permanent positions are in charge of common platforms including Imaging, Flow cytometry and Immunomonitoring facilities. Despite of a medium size center, the CPTP provides scientific critical mass and technological know-how and a highly stimulating work environment.

Broad but complementary research themes are developed by the CPTP which includes fondamental aspects of T lymphocyte and dendritic cell biology and signaling (Team 1, Team 2, Team 4 and Team10), role of gender differences in immunity (Team 3), immunopathology (Team 5), viral and parasitic infections (Team 6, Team 7 and Team 8), as well as a team establishing crosstalks between immune and bone systems (Team 9).

The proximity of the CPTP with the patient's bedside in the Purpan Hospital and the strong involvement of clinician scientists within the teams favored translational research projects. These projects involve internal medicine, rheumatology, neurology, tropical and infectious diseases, and pediatrics. Several physician-scientists (n=23) from the hospital are involved in the teams. During the 2010-2014 period, 10 public translational grants (PHRC, DHOS, Inserm) were awarded to the CPTP teams.

The three ATIP-Avenir recruitments of the CPTP demonstrate the strong attractivity of the structure. Moreover, 3 teams from the CRCT (Cancer Center) that were hosted in the CPTP will move to a new research building. This will allow free laboratory space in Purpan in order to sustain the recruitment objectives of the CPTP. They have already announced international calls for junior or senior team leader positions. Among 54 applications received, they performed 8 on-site interviews between Nov. 2013 and Feb. 2014, and have selected one senior and one junior candidate, who are in the process of being evaluated. Moreover, a teaching scientist was also recruited in 2013 on 'Excellence Chair' of Toulouse 3 University and Inserm. He was awarded a prestigious FRM 'emerging team' grant to study the role of epigenetic factors in T cell biology. In addition, four dynamic young scientists have succeeded the competitive national evaluation program for permanent position at Inserm or CNRS.

More recently, the CPTP has obtained an attractivity chair from an IdEx grant and recruited an outstanding professor, Ms Ellen ROBEY (Berkeley University), with a 5 year budget of 750 keuros.

Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context

Strong forces in fundamental and clinical research based on large cohorts of patients with a spectrum of immune-mediated disorders, inflammatory or infectious diseases.

Strong activity in recruiting young scientists resulting in three ATIP-Avenir groups created during the last period. These ATIP-Avenir laureates are now proposed as team leaders for the next period (2016-2020), which illustrates the ability of young scientists to emerge as team leaders within the CPTP. Attractiveness for PhD and postdoc students can be appreciated by a number of these scientists coming from cities outside Toulouse and from abroad (USA, Italy, Spain, and Austria).

A very dynamic, sightful and federative unit leader able to drive fostering interactions between the teams of the Center as well as between academic and non academic partners of the Center.

Strong efforts for the different CPTP teams to combine expertise and develop interactive translational projects with already effective and efficient interactions. A human immunomonitoring platform composed of 2 research associates has been set up to help scientists from the Center to develop translational projects.

Strong support from Toulouse University to federate a large center around the theme of immunology, inflammation and infection with regional, national and international visibility.

Weaknesses and threats related to the context

The relative infrequency of transversal interactions between team leaders and concerns regarding specific questions (ex: authorship by technicians if their own work deserves it).

Lack of balance between scientists and clinicians among the teams.

Students suffer from a lack of communication and information regarding decisions taken by the central administration.

Recommendations

The committee recognizes the efforts of the CPTP to create outstanding common facilities and to increase its scientific output by recruiting young scientists, technicians and students/post-docs. There is a need to foster communication between all member categories of the CPTP and the direction committee.

There is a crucial need for more proximity with the human resource administration: for instance via a dedicated person for that task.

As the director and the deputy director are both PU-PH with half-time at the hospital, the committee suggests the addition of a full-time scientist as a second deputy director to become fully available on a daily basis for the administrative duties within the CPTP.

  Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Ms Armelle BARELLI, Déléguée Régionale INSERM MPL Ms Christelle GUEGAN, INSERM Mr Bruno LUCAS, CNRS Mr Alexis VALENTIN, Toulouse University Mr Philippe VALLET (director of the Doctoral School n°151 "Biologie, Santé, Biotechnologie") 1  Introduction Mr Roland LIBLAU proposes the reconduction of the CPTP, 'Centre de Physiopathologie Toulouse-Purpan' (CPTP, Inserm UMR 1043 -CNRS 5282), a center resulting from merging of different Inserm laboratories working in the fields of Immunology, Inflammation and Infection within the Purpan hospital campus.

Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions

signed by their chairman." (Article 8, paragraph 5) 2 The evaluation reports "are signed by the chairman of the expert committee".


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Evaluation report

This report is the result of the evaluation by the experts committee, the composition of which is specified below.

The assessments contained herein are the expression of an independent and collegial deliberation of the committee.

Unit name:

Génomique et Biotechnologie des Fruits

Management team

The unit is managed by a director and a deputy-director. They are assisted by a laboratory council, which because of the unit's small size includes all the staff, and meets at least four times a year. 2  Overall assessment of the unit

HCERES nomenclature

Sous

Global assessment of the unit

The GBF is a unit devoted to research on the control of fruit development and ripening, using tomato as the model system and using molecular biology, physiology, genomics and bioinformatics approaches. The team is a leading laboratory in the field and has an excellent record of publications in high level scientific journals. They have been strongly involved in international initiatives and have collaborations with the leading research laboratories in the field. In addition to their excellent research activity, the members of the GBF unit are strongly involved in teaching and they participate in the coordination of several Masters and Doctoral Schools. The GBF has also a some interactions with industrial parters, although considering the subject of study, these interactions could be stronger. The proposed research project is original and has to be considered as excellent. However, the small size of the unit may make it particularly sensitive to possible losses of staff and, therefore, a particular effort has to be made to attract young staff researchers. The management of the unit has been very successful as judged by the excellent quality of the research done in spite of the small size of the unit. However, considering that the transition to a new director needs to be prepared during this 5 years term, it would be interesting to start involving more people in the decision-making process.

  , Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Spain Experts: Mr Jordi GARCIA-MAS, Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Spain Mr Jean-Pierre RENOU, INRA Angers Mr Pierre-Louis TEISSEDRE, Université de Bordeaux (representative of the CNU) Scientific delegate representing the HCERES: Mr Steven BALL Representatives of the unit's supervising institutions and bodies: Mr Grégory DECHAMP-GUILLAUME, ENSAT Mr Frédéric GAYMARD, INRA, Department BAP Mr Hervé REMIGNON, ENSAT (representative of Doctoral School n°458) 1  Introduction History and geographical location of the unit The laboratoire de Génomique et Biotechnologie des Fruits is a small UMR between INRA and the INP-ENSAT, with a research focus on the control of fruit development and ripening, using tomato as the model system and using molecular biology, physiology, genomics and bioinformatics approaches. The previous evaluation took place in May 2010, and the unit was reconducted for the last reporting period (2010-2014). The unit is located in Toulouse, on the Auzeville campus, and depends on the BAP department of INRA. The UMR 990 belongs to the FR 40 Agrosciences, Interactions et Biodiversité, and uses the FR commun facilities and has access to the equipments and facilities of the Toulouse Génopole and the CNRGV (Centre National de Ressources Génomiques Végétales).

  Strengths and opportunities in relation to the context -The research unit displays a productive combination of confirmed knowledge over the hormonal control of fruit set and fruit ripening together with both new and established tools and resources; -They have acquired a strong publication record; -The GBF has finalized a well defined and scientifically sound scientific project; -The unit has managed to obtain a very well established network of international contacts and collaborations recognized through the coordination of an EU network; -GBF has developed efficient transgenics and bioinformatics platforms; -The unit displays a strong involvement in training through research.

Unit workforce Number as at 30/06/2014 Number as at 01/01/2016

  -domaine: AEE (Agronomie Environnement Écologie)

	Doctoral students	6
	Theses defended	5
	Postdoctoral students having spent at least 12 months in the unit	2
	Number of Research Supervisor Qualifications (HDR) taken	2
	Qualified research supervisors (with an HDR) or similar positions	5
	Sous-domaine principal: LS9
	Sous-domaines secondaires: LS2, LS3
	Unit workforce
	Unit workforce	Number as at 30/06/2014	Number as at 01/01/2016
	N1: Permanent professors and similar positions	8	9
	N2: Permanent researchers from Institutions and similar positions	1	1
	N3: Other permanent staff (without research duties)	8	8
	N4: Other professors (Emeritus Professor, on-contract Professor, etc.)	1	1
	N5: Other researchers (Emeritus Research Director, Postdoctoral
	students, visitors, etc.)
	N6: Other contractual staff (without research duties)	1	1
	TOTAL N1 to N6	19	20

The president of HCERES "countersigns the evaluation reports set up by the experts committees and signed by their chairman." (Article 8, paragraph 5)

The evaluation reports "are signed by the chairman of the expert committee". (Article 11, paragraph 2)

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Weaknesses and threats related to the context -Considering the small size of the unit the possibility of losing permanent research staff could be seen as a serious threat; -The budget has been decreasing over the last few years and increased efforts should be made to compensate this decrease; -Considering the very well suited topic and the fact that they work on economically relevant crops, efforts should be made to increase interactions with the private sector through a much more aggressive contract policy.

Recommendations

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The unit should make efforts to attract additional permanent staff to ensure its viability on the short term and maintain the excellent research level;

-Efforts need to be made to increase the funding and to diversify the funding sources, including contracts with the private sector; -The number of students is considered as suboptimal. The unit could be more active in exploring alternative ways to incorporate PhD and Master students and postdocs; -Given that the transition to a new director needs to start to be prepared during this 5 years term, it would be interesting to start involving more people in the decision-making process;

-The excellent project of the unit could be complemented by including additional aspects on natural variation and fruit quality.