7 International Joint Units (UMIs) created in 2011 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UMIs—joint laboratories with the same status as CNRS’s French research units—are a cornerstone of the organization’s international strategy. In late 2011, CNRS had 30 active UMIs The CNRS representative offices abroad worldwide. also support the organization’s actions with foreign partners. CNRS and the IRD share international agencies in Pretoria, South Africa (which replaced the Johannesburg Coordinating initiatives office in 2011), and Santiago, Chile. Another example of this coordi- nation effort is CNRS’s collaboration with research allliances such as The coordination policy was initiated in response to the scattering Aviesan, AllEnvi, and Athena for the development of joint proposals of decision-making bodies concerning international activities. ‘Minis- aimed at financing bodies. tries, the ANR, regions, organizations, universities, PRES, competi- tiveness clusters... each has its priorities and takes its own initiatives. As CNRS has very strong interfaces with these entities, it is difficult Enhancing visibility and attractiveness for foreign partners to understand our organization,’ observes Minh- Hà Pham-Delègue. ‘We therefore initiated a coordination program These coordination and organizational efforts improve the international to share information and meet our international partners together. visibility of CNRS and of French research as a whole. They are supple- This was the case for the November 2011 mission to Singapore: the mented by specific actions to promote interdisciplinary work—such CNRS delegation included representatives from the Pierre and Marie as the MISTRALS program on climate change in the Mediterranean Curie University and from the Thales group.’ (see below)—and to set up networks of researchers. The Alma Mater La Valette, in Malta. The Mediterranean: a key area for science and CNRS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interview with Arnaud Lalo, Director of the new CNRS representative office for the Mediterranean, which opened in March 2011 in Malta. Why set up a CNRS office in Malta? countries to make the most of their scientific and technological The Mediterranean represents almost half of CNRS’s European potential. partnerships as well as most of its exchanges with Africa and the Middle East, hence the need to open an office in the region. In 2011 Malta hosted the first international MISTRALS* Malta was selected for its central geographical location in the symposium. What were its goals? Mediterranean: halfway between Europe and Africa, Gibraltar and MISTRALS is a multidisciplinary research and observation the Orient. The country is also a link for all Mediterraneans, what meta-program of organizations dedicated to understanding the with its Semitic-Latin language mixed with Arabic and Sicilian. environment in the Mediterranean Basin and its evolution under anthropic pressure and global change. The symposium held in the What is its scope? spring of 2011 in La Valette was attended by over 1,000 scientists The office supports CNRS actions in all countries around the from the region. It reinforced the program’s international dimension Mediterranean. We act as a relay for institutes in their exchanges and opened the way for setting up a pan-Mediterranean governance with international partners; we monitor scientific, technological in 2012. and institutional activities in the region; we promote balanced cooperation between Europe and the Mediterranean; and we * Mediterranean Integrated STudies at Regional And Local Scales. strengthen bilateral cooperation with certain Mediterranean 64 A year at CNRS 2011
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