SciTech WatchThe official almost bi-monthly electronic newsletter of the French Embassy in South Africa

No. 4/2012

On the cover

sunset near cherbourg, franceaugust 2009

Photo courtesy of Thibaut Monothttp://www.sxc.hu/photo/1219067

In this issue …

PRESS RELEASE

* France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 * Mobillity, migration and climate change closely related * LandMatrix is now online

HOT TOPIC Everyone’s talking about…

* Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and Tertiary Studies

* Joint PROTEA 2012 Call for Project Proposals * 2012 SAFe Think Programme

NEWS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN FRANCE

* Climate - New French Simulations for the Next IPCC Report * TeRiFiQ - A Project Interweaving Nutrition and Sensory Qualities with Health * France in 2040 - An Exhibition Featuring Different Scenarios * Supméca Meets the Challenge with a 10-hour Event to Address Industrial

Issues !* An Original Partnership in the Fight Against Drug Abuse in Sports * Mapping Evapotranspiration of Vine from Satellite Images * The Cantogether Project Working on the Design of New Farming Systems * Proteins Shining a Bright Light on Inner Cell Processes * What is the Minimum Amount of Energy Required to Write a Bit of

Information ?* Celebrating 10 Years of ENVISAT Satellite's Good and Faithful Service * Soil Study Is Booming * CNES and Sanofi Pasteur Launch Pilot Project to Combat Dengue Fever * MICRO-GEO, the First Geothermal Project selected by the FUI * WISEA, the Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Alliance * Enterome Raises 5 Million Euros for its Unique Bacterial Metagenomic

Technology* How Will Climate Change Affect the Future of French Forests ? * Viewing Glass Formation in Real Time - A First ! * A Plant Phenotyping Platform called PHENOME

RECOMMENDED READING What you should be reading now…

* The History of Agricultural Research in French-speaking Tropical Africa * Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, Special Issue

PRESS RELEASE France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013

On 10 May 2012 the France South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013 were officially announced to the South Africa media in Johannesburg. The project was unveiled and some of the programme highlights were showcased to the assembled guests.

The official opening of the Seasons will take place on the 12 July 2012 at the Standard Bank gallery, where the first event of the programme, an exhibition of 20th Century Masters, will be opened.

For several years France has been engaged in a series of reciprocal Seasons with its key international partners (China, Japan, India, Turkey, Russia and Brazil among others). With South Africa, this will be the first time that a sub-Saharan country is involved in the Seasons with France.

The goal of these Seasons is to improve mutual understanding and contribute to the diversification of France’s image in South Africa and South Africa’s image in France by emphasising the modernity and values that the two countries share.

The French Season in South Africa 2012 is :

• A festive period : a wide range of over 70 different projects, performances and initiatives are planned across South Africa. Cultural events will be combined with a wide array of events in other fields : innovation, science and technology, higher education, business, tourism, sport and languages with the involvement of many different actors.

• A showcase of the numerous links existing between France and South Africa• An opportunity to reinforce a wide range of existing collaborations and to build a lasting legacy for both

nations.

There is so much to look forward to as the French Season in South Africa continues right through until November 2012 in towns and cities around South Africa

The South African Season in France will take place from May to December next year (2013).

To know more : visit the official website of the Seasons : www.france-southafrica.com

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PRESS RELEASE MOMIDEN 2012

Mobillity, migration and climate change closely relatedInternational Symposium on Mobility, Migration, Development and Environment

Pretoria, 31 May 2012 – On the 22nd and 23rd of May 2012, the University of South Africa hosted the 2012 International Symposium on Mobility, Migration, Development and Environment (MOMIDEN) in partnership with Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales, Université de Paris-Sud, Université Jean-Moulin, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and Université Libre de Bruxelles.

The conference, which attracted high-level academia and international public servants from all over the globe, focused on expanding the current debate around migration, particularly within the context of climate change and its relationship to population flows and development obstacles.

Addressing participants at the opening of the conference, UNISA Principal and vice-Chancellor, Prof Mandla Makhanya, remarked that globalisation has led to the internationalisation of people as much as products. He explained that “(p)eople not only travel to where the work is… we find that people who were not able to before, are travelling to where security is, where perceived prosperity is and where the climate offers more conducive prospects of substance”. He further said that “there is an emergence of a growing category of migrants whom we characterise as environmental migrants… people whose living spaces have been rendered unliveable by environmental hazards and disasters, as a result of climate change”.

The French Ambassador to South Africa, HE Mr Jacques Lapouge, welcomed conference guests at a cocktail reception on Monday evening in Pretoria. In his address to guests, Ambassador Lapouge expressed the relevance of this topic for France, particularly because the Embassy currently supports both South African government and civil society through police cooperation in the form of migration policy assistance and aid in the fight against human trafficking and the protection of people on the move, as well as through Development Assistance to NGO’s such as ARESTA, who work with refugees and migrants living in South Africa.

Ambassador Lapouge further reiterated the primary importance of university cooperation between French and South African higher education institutions which, he noted, would hopefully benefit from collaboration initiatives such as the MOMIDEN Symposium. In this spirit, the Ambassador expressed his desire to see more research partnerships between UNISA and its French counterparts, reminding them that the Embassy, along with the South African Department of Sciences and Technology, would soon be launching the 2012 PROTEA Call for Project Proposals. Furthermore, he urged guests to take full advantage of the reciprocal Cross Seasons which will commence with the French Season in South Africa during June 2012.

Ambassador Jacques Lapouge addresses conference participants at a cocktail reception held at the French

Residence in Pretoria on the occasion of the 2012 Symposium on Mobility, Migration, Environment and

Development.

The symposium attracted high-level academia from renowned laboratories in internationally acclaimed

universities across the globe. Also among participants, was the director of international relations and partnerships at the United Nations Organisation for Migration (IOM) and

the Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).

The focus of the symposium was to enrich the current debate around migration, climate change and

development and their effects upon one another.

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PRESS RELEASE LandMatrix

LandMatrix is now onlineNew data on large-scale land deals -not a “bubble” – Press release on the occasion of the LandMatrix site launchhttp://www.landportal.info/landmatrix

A new report and website (released with the support of and in partnership with CIRAD – University of Pretoria) provide important insight into the complex, global phenomenon of large-scale acquisition of land. They confirm this is a lasting trend and not a mere “bubble”. While the rush for land may have peaked in 2009, it continues.

Analysis of international land investments for agriculture through over one thousand deals since 2000 suggests that they are geographically concentrated –just 11 countries, many in East Africa and Southeast Asia, account for 70% of the total land area acquired in these deals.

Close examination also reveals that almost half of land in question is already being used for crops, implying competition between investors and small-scale farmers.

“Land acquisition does often take place in areas with considerable population density, not so-called 'idle land'” Says Markus Giger from the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern.

The report “Transnational Land Deals for Agriculture in the Global South” draws on data now made accessible in a new online interface called the Land Matrix. This website will provide unprecedented access to verified data on land deals, allowing people to explore and visualize trends from the global level down to individual deals.

The report and website were launched in Washington on the 26th of April 2012 by the Land Matrix partnership (CDE, CIRAD, GIGA, GIZ, and ILC) during the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty. Professor Jann Lay of GIGA comments, “With a couple of clicks, the Land Matrix provides the urgently needed answers to pressing questions: Who invests where and why? What are the trends?”

The aim of the Land Matrix is to promote transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment through open data, accessible both via maps and visualizations and via download.

“Lack of transparency is a major hindrance to promoting accountability and improved decisions on land and investment. The Land Matrix is a significant step to opening up information and debate on this trend” Madiodio Niasse, the Director of the International Land Coalition secretariat.

The launch of the Land Matrix will encourage researchers, governments, companies to provide more data on land acquisitions. Even citizens can get involved: the innovative interface is designed for the public to crowdsource new information, and also improve the database's quality and reliability. The website is intended to provide a facility for observing trends on land and investment on an ongoing basis. The Land Matrix will periodically publish an analytical report, with this first one of the series focusing specifically on transnational agriculture deals in low and middle income countries of Global South and Eastern Europe.

The report contains information on investors, the drivers for these deals, and their impacts. The main investor countries are classified into three groups: emerging economies, Gulf states, and Europe and North America. Evidence of increasing south-south investment and intraregionalism is another major finding.

As Lay explains, “The report -which supplements the Land Matrix site -explains the facts and figures in more depth and gives vivid examples. Furthermore, it provides extensive background knowledge on the processes behind the deals.”

But as Ward Anseeuw of CIRAD and the University of Pretoria reminds, “There is a need to distinguish different forms of investment in land from land grabs; many areas are in dire need of agricultural investment.”

Investments examined by the Land Matrix, entail a transfer of rights to use, control or own.

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HOT TOPIC Everyone’s talking about…

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

SKA to be shared between SA and Australia, geographically and industriallyhttp://www.polity.org.za/article/ska-radio-telescope-to-be-shared-between-sa-and-australia-geographically-and-industrially-2012-05-25

France, which participates in the SKA through FP7 projects co-funded by the European Union, heartily congratulates the country on this outstanding achievement and look forward to the results of its work.

The SKA Organisation last week announced that the €1.5-billion international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope will be shared between South Africa and Australia. This outcome was supported by the majority of the members of the SKA Organisation, which took into consideration the votes of Canada, China, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK on this matter.

“Today we are a stage closer to achieving our goal of building the SKA,” said SKA board of directors chairperson Professor John Womersely. “This position was reached after very careful consideration of information gathered from extensive investigations at both candidate sites. I would like to thank all those involved in the site selection process for the tremendous work they have put in to enable us to reach this point.”

The SKA Organisation also revealed that the majority of the dishes for Phase 1 of the SKA will be built in South Africa and combined with this country’s own MeerKAT radio telescope array. Additional SKA dishes will be combined with Australia’s ASKAP radio telescope array. Both MeerKAT and ASKAP were designed to be precursors for the SKA.

The SKA will have dish arrays, mid frequency aperture arrays and low frequency aperture arrays. All the dishes and the mid frequency aperture array antennas for Phase 2 of the SKA will be built in “Southern Africa”, while the low frequency aperture array antennas for both Phases 1 and 2 will be built in Australia.

“This hugely important step for the project allows us to progress the design and prepare for the construction phase of the telescope,” stated SKA Organisation interim director-general Dr Michiel van Haarlem. “The SKA will transform our view of the universe; with it we will see back to the moments after the Big Bang and discover previously unexplored parts of the cosmos.”

The SKA is so called because its total receiving area will amount to about a square kilometre. It will be 50 times more sensitive, and have 10 000 times the survey speed, of the best existing telescopes. Construction of Phase 1 is due to start in 2019. The SKA Organisation, established as a not-for-profit company in December 2011, is headquartered in Manchester, in the UK.

Above : Artist’s impression of SKA dishes against the backdrop of the Milky Way (Picture by: SKA Organisation)

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HOT TOPIC Everyone’s talking about…

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)Minister’s statement : Square Kilometre Array Organisation site decision(25 May 2012)

Good afternoon and welcome to this media briefing.

The long and eagerly awaited announcement regarding the site for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope was made following today's meeting of the members of the SKA Organisation at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

After nine-years of work by the South African and Australian SKA site bid teams, the independent SKA Site Advisory Committee (SSAC), composed of world-renowned experts, carried out an objective technical and scientific assessment of the sites in South Africa and Australia, and identified by consensus Africa as the preferred site.

However, in order to be inclusive, the SKA Organisation has agreed to consider constructing one of the three SKA receiver components in Australia. Two will be constructed in Africa. A meeting of the members has decided to split the project which is an unexpected decision given the search for a single site. We had hoped the unambiguous recommendation of the SSAC would be accepted as the most sound scientific outcome. We accept the compromise in the interest of science and as acknowledgement of the sterling work done by our scientists and the excellent SKA project team.

An important aspect of the site decision is the recognition of the MeerKAT telescope, being designed and built in the Northern Cape Karoo by South African scientists and engineers, as a critical step towards the implementation of the SKA. The MeerKAT will supplement the sensitive SKA Phase 1 dish array, providing the majority of the collection area of what will be the most sensitive radio telescope in the world. This recognition is substantive evidence of the great strides made by the local radio astronomy community since South Africa signalled its interest in the SKA.

South Africa, with its eight partner countries - Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia - have been working on the bid to host the SKA since 2003. The final proposal was submitted to the SKA Siting Group on 15 September 2011.

On the basis of its analysis of technical, scientific and other factors, the SSAC unambiguously and by consensus found in favour of the African proposal, as well as the African implementation plans and cost factors. Consequently, the SSAC recommended South Africa and its partner countries as the preferred site for the SKA.

The decision by the SKA Organisation to build the majority of the SKA in Africa coincides with our celebrations for Africa Day today. It also fits in well with the African agenda as we celebrate the 49th anniversary of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity and the 10th anniversary of the African Union. The SKA has been endorsed by the African Union, both in 2010 and earlier this year.

The SKA project is a global scientific enterprise to build one of the largest scientific instruments ever envisaged. It is being designed to answer fundamental questions in physics, astronomy and cosmology in order for us to understand the origin and workings of the Universe better, and to reveal new and unexpected phenomena that will enthral and challenge us. Since 2005, we have awarded nearly 400 grants and bursaries to postdoctoral fellows and PhD and MSc students and undergraduate students.

We remain committed to the SKA project.

I would like to thank my Cabinet colleagues, especially the Interministerial Committee on the SKA, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, scientists and astronomers, the Presidency, officials at the Department of Science and Technology, in particular the Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara, and Dr Bernie Fanaroff and the entire team at the Square Kilometre Array Project Office for their unwavering support.

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BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and Tertiary Studies

JOINT PROTEA 2012 CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS

CLOSING DATE (South Africa) : 23 SEPTEMBER 2012CLOSING DATE (France) : 21 SEPTEMBER 2012

The French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education and Research have just announced the opening of the call for projects for the 2013 edition of the PROTEA programme, in partnership with the South African National Research Foundation (NRF).

PROTEA was created to develop the relationship between the French and South African scientific communities through joint research. The purpose of the co-operative programme is to encourage an exchange between researchers and to develop a synergy between the two scientific communities, thereby developing a durable network.

Research projects funded under this agreement are developed and submitted in both countries by French and South African researchers, working as partner teams and headed by two team leaders, one French and one South African, who bear the main responsibility for the project, including its technical and administrative coordination as well as scientific and financial reporting. In South Africa, this call is open to MSc-holding (preferable PhD) researchers residing in the country and affiliated with a recognised higher education or research institution such as a university, university of technology or science council.

Each collaborative research project will run for a maximum duration of two years and should aim to fulfil well-defined contractual objectives. Projects should dispose of the necessary means to ensure that these objectives are effectively achieved.

Particular emphasis is to be placed on the training of students and young researchers achieved through research and the transfer of knowledge and know-how aimed at socio-economic community development. Industrial and institutional partners involved in the projects or in the communication of its results should be officially mentioned and recognised. The integration of young researchers and students, and the exchange of post-doctoral researchers are encouraged, as is the involvement of students and researchers from previously-disadvantaged communities.

Each project financed will undergo a final evaluation in order to examine its outputs and compare the results achieved with the objectives set out at the beginning of the project.

Download the full announcement >>Visit the NRF website >>

Note that both scientific and financial reporting on the project is an obligatory condition for continued funding

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BURSARIES & SCHOLARSHIPS Research and Tertiary Studies

The SAFe Think programme was launched in 2010 with the view of strengthening the connections between South African academic institutes and Think Tanks and their French counterparts, specifically in the fields of Human and Social Sciences. By assisting research partners in establishing sustainable cooperation, the French government aims at facilitating the integration of South African research and policy-oriented institutions into French, European and francophone African scientific networks.

SAFe Think is both directed at South African students and researchers :

The graduate programme seeks to fund outstanding students wishing to undertake a Master’s degree at a French University. The programme further finances international collaborations of PhD candidates and researchers currently employed by one of our partner Think Tanks.

The bursaries cover tuition fees, living costs, a roundtrip airflight ticket, visa fees and full medical and social insurance.

IMPORTANT iNFO

**Application deadline**

No later than 3 months before the envisioned date of departure for France

Downloads

SAFeThink brochure >>

2012 application forms for Research bursaries

Our Partners

The French government is pleased to launch the 2012’s edition of the SAFe Think Programme !Applications for these funding opportunities are made through our partner research and policy-oriented institutes. Selection is carried out by the French Embassy, together with the South African Think Tanks involved in the project.

Contacts

Ms Cyrielle MAINGRAUD

cyrielle.maingraud@diplomatie.gouv.fr /safethink@ambafrance-rsa.org

Follow SAFeThink on Facebook >>

News in Science and Technology in FranceE-Tech France Number 268 and 269

Climate - New French Simulations for the Next IPCC Reporthttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69619.htm

In the 2013 autumn, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) will be publishing the first part of its fifth assessment report (the four first were published in 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2007, respectively).

The IPCC comprises three groups and a special team. The first part of the report addresses the physical scientific aspects of climate change, i.e. observation, comprehension and future projections. The second part deals with issues involving the

vulnerability of socioeconomic and natural systems to climate change, the consequences of the change and adaptation measures. The third and ...

Read more >>

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TeRiFiQ - A Project Interweaving Nutrition and Sensory Qualities with Healthhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69620.htm

Last February 7 & 8, the official inaugural conference of TeRiFiq was held in Dijon. The four-year European project, which has been accredited by the Vitagora competitive cluster, and that has 16 European partners including

several French partners, is coordinated by Christian Salles, co-leader of the Molecular Interactions, In-mouth Breakdown and Flavor team at the Dijon Center for Taste, Food and Nutrition Sciences (Centre des Sciences du

Goût et de l'Alimentation, CSGA). The purpose of TeRiFiQ is to propose new formulations for 4 types of food products (cheese, meats, cakes and sauces) to ac...

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France in 2040 - An Exhibition Featuring Different Scenarioshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69621.htm

The purpose of the exhibition organized by the monthly Acteurs Publics in the great hall of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council is to outline what France could be in 2040 according to different scenarios,

through ten maps reflecting ten major themes. The exhibition was inaugurated on March 20 this year and will last until May 30. The ten masterful maps installed in the hypostyle hall at the Palais d'Iéna were drawn up based on data from

the Interministerial Delegation for Spatial Planning and Regional Attractiveness (DATAR). The ten major themes of the exhibition are: demography and...

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Supméca Meets the Challenge with a 10-hour Event to Address Industrial Issues !http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69622.htm

On February 14 this year, the first Speed Project Day organized by the Supméca Junior Etudes Association was held at the Supméca school of engineering. The student association (est. 2009) works on issues suggested by companies of all sizes and from all industries. In 2011, the

Association signed eleven contracts worth 20,000 euros, which involved some twenty students. Supméca Juniors Etudes also organizes various events that bring Industry operators and students together and also promote knowledge sharing.

Read more >>

First Speed Project Day at Supméca© Supméca

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News in Science and Technology in France

E-Tech France Number 268 and 269

An Original Partnership in the Fight Against Drug Abuse in Sportshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69623.htm

The partnership is between Paris-Sud University and the French Anti-doping Agency, which have just signed a cooperation agreement, hence formalizing a long-standing cooperation in their fields of common interest,

especially between the Department of Pharmacy at the University and the National Drug Screening Laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry. Their have agreed to work together on actions in in teaching, research

and the dissemination of scientific knowledge in the fight against drug abuse in sports. The agreement commits both partners to pool their resources. Personnel will be made available to cond...

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Mapping Evapotranspiration of Vine from Satellite Imageshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69624.htm

Research conducted for several decades by different teams worldwide (including French teams) has developed methods to map the evapotranspiration of plant covers, using thermal emission and reflection radiometer

imagery. However, until now the method had not been used convincingly on plant cover in vineyards, mainly because of their geometric complexity. So, researchers at the Montpellier INRA Center came up with the idea

launching a research project to map the evapotranspiration of vines in the Languedoc-Roussillon region using satellite images. The region was chosen for this study as vines...

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The Cantogether Project Working on the Design of New Farming Systemshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69625.htm

On February 29 this year, Cantogether (Crops and ANimals Together), a European project with 27 academic and private partners, was launched. The INRA-led project will be developing new farming systems combining animal

and plant production. In a situation where the world population is growing (and slated to reach 9 billion humans by 2040) and eating a greater amount of animal products, the demand for food and food production is steadily

increasing. How can these needs be met while preserving resources and protecting the environment. One solution addressed by research is to limit the extreme spec...

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Proteins Shining a Bright Light on Inner Cell Processeshttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69626.htm

Since the early 1990's, cyan fluorescent proteins (CFP) have been used by researchers to observe the processes unfolding inside a cell and the changing shapes of biological molecules. CFP map the processes in living cells

when they are attached to a protein involved in an interaction or a shape change. Illuminated by a blue light, the fluorescent protein reacts by emitting a typical cyan color so the CDP inside the cell can be located.

However, while CFP have illuminated processes that had not been up to then, such as the development of nervous cells in the brain or the spread of cancer cells...

Read more >>

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News in Science and Technology in France

E-Tech France Number 268 and 269

What is the Minimum Amount of Energy Required to Write a Bit of Information ?http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69627.htm

Writing or erasing a bit of information typically expends energy where minimum possible value is given by Landauer's principle, after the US physicist who in 1961 remarked that whenever a bit of information is

created, the computer binary memory is reduced to only one of two possible states. Landauer argued that for the decrease in disorder to occur, a minimum amount of energy is required. Its value is today known as the

Landauer limit. The extremely low amount of energy (a billion times smaller than the energy required to heat a cubic micron of water by one degree) has been verified by using ...

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Celebrating 10 Years of ENVISAT Satellite's Good and Faithful Servicehttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69923.htm

ENVISAT, the largest environmental observation satellite ever built© ESA/Denmann production

Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico observed by ENVISAT on 28 April ‘10

© ESA

SENTINEL 1, scheduled to take over for for ENVISAT in 2013

© ESA - P. Carril

On March 1, the European Space Agency (ESA) lofted ENVISAT, the largest Earth observation satellite ever built, into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana. The original scheduled lifetime of the eight-ton

giant was only five years. However last March marked its eleventh birthday, after having completed more than 50,000 orbits and covered a total distance of 2.25 billion kilometers. With ten cutting

edge optical and radar sensors aboard the satellite, its mission is the continuous observation and monitoring of Earth's land, atmosphere, oceans and ice caps. Thanks to its instruments more than 1,000 t... Read more >>

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Soil Study Is Boominghttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69924.htm

Whereas most of us look at the ground and only see soil, Lionel Ranjard sees extraordinary teeming microbial biodiversity. Why is this important? Because it could eventually clear the way

for healthier, thus sustainable agriculture. This is why in 2007 as part of of a Soil Scientific Interest Group, serving to set up a soil monitoring network throughout France, the INRA researcher and soil microbiology

specialist and his colleagues worked on designing the first maps of the abundance and microbial diversity of French soil. This is a first!

Read more >>

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News in Science and Technology in France

E-Tech France Number 268 and 269

CNES and Sanofi Pasteur Launch Pilot Project to Combat Dengue Feverhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69925.htm

The dengue virus, borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is rampant in some one hundred countries where 2.5 billion people live. Today more than 220 million people worldwide are infected by

the disease, of which 2 million are afflicted by hemorrhagic fevers that are the severest forms of the pathology. Although no dengue treatment currently exists, Sanofi Pasteur, which has been R&D to

develop a vaccine for more than twenty years, has announced that it is now in the final phase of the research. "It is a very sophisticated vaccine as it involves 4 vaccines in one, which should be produ...

Read more >>

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MICRO-GEO, the First Geothermal Project selected by the FUIhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69926.htm

Sponsored by CIAT, the MICRO-GEO project, accredited by the TENERRDIS competitive cluster, was selected by the thirteenth call for projects of the FUI (government agency funding industrial R&D projects). The

flagship project will be working on engineering an integrated heat pump/geothermal probe system for the low energy consumption home market. MICRO-GEO originally took off under a work group on the development of the

low energy geothermal sector in Rhone-Alps, set up by the cluster in 2010. The project is important for the region as it brings together 80% of the...

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WISEA, the Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Alliancehttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69927.htm

With global climate warming, which seems to be confirmed, lowering CO2 emissions has now become a necessity. This involves the development of new 'green' energy sources, such as wind or solar energy, as well as the

substantial reduction of global energy consumption. Lowering CO2 emissions also involves gradually replacing conventional gasoline engines by electric engines or at least, by hybrid engines.

For all applications involving the transport of energy from power plants to users, automotive power management and conversion of energy, power electronic devices play an essential role. Power de...

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Enterome Raises 5 Million Euros for its Unique Bacterial Metagenomic Technologyhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69928.htm

Human intestines harbor billions of bacteria. The gut microbiota, as it is called, encodes 150-fold more genes than the human genome. Each individual has his or her own unique microbiota, with a large

diversity between individuals. Over the past years, researchers and physicians have proved the undisputed role of gut microbiota in the development of numerous diseases, mainly metabolic disorders and inflammatory bowel

diseases, affecting from 25% to 40% of the western population. For instance, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), the severest form of one of the diseases, is diagnosed in 2 ...

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News in Science and Technology in France

E-Tech France Number 268 and 269

How Will Climate Change Affect the Future of French Forests ?http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69929.htmEcology Letters has just published the results of a study by a group of researchers from Paris-Sud University, INRA, CNRS, CEA, AgroParisTech and Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble. The research was conducted under the QDIV project and backed by ANR (French National Research Agency) and the Climate-Environment, Society Scientific Interest group. Based on eight latest generation ecological models, the research assessed forest response, with a focus on the five dominant forest species in France, to climate change and underscored the prevailing uncertainties of the forecasts. Actually, it is har...

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Right : Modifications of the distribution areas forecast for Norway pines by 2055, due to climate change. The bioclimatic regions with a virtual total loss of favorable climate are in red on the map; with moderate loss are in light brown; with weak loss are in light green; areas without Norway pines are in beige. Loss percentages for each region indicate the average of the five models. Loss forecasts by individual models can be found in the inserts for each region. © Ecology Letters

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Viewing Glass Formation in Real Time - A First !http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69930.htm

Although glass is one of the oldest man-made materials ever since the ancient Egyptians, its formation from granular powders heated at over 1000°C still has gray areas. This explains why the research by a team at the

Glass Surface laboratory and Interfaces (CNRS-Saint Gobain) working with the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (CNRS/Toulouse II University-Paul Sabatier), the Laboratory of Science and

Material Engineering and Processes (CNRS/Polytechnic of Grenoble-Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble) and the Saclay INRIA (Parietal) is so important. Research results have bee... Read more >>

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A Plant Phenotyping Platform called PHENOMEhttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69931.htm

PHENOME, the laureate of the second round of the call for projects issued by Investissement d'Avenir, to which the Vitagora competitive cluster and its regional partners are fully committed, is a far-reaching

project for the scientific and industrial stakeholders in Burgundy and Franche-Comté. "The project is the backbone for all French skills and expertise in plant phenotyping," summed up INRA

Research Director Christophe Salon, who heads the GEAPSI Platform at the Dijon INRA Center and the High Throughput Phenotyping Platform of the Agro-ecology Joint Research Unit. A total of seven French p...

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RECOMMENDED READING What you should be reading now…

The History of Agricultural Research in French-speaking Tropical Africahttp://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/69933.htm

What does the average French citizen know about the history of Africa, let alone the history of agriculture in the continent? Very little, due to an education that too long focused on Europe. Accordingly, it is hard to imagine that 'people down there' living south of the Sahara - peasants to boot - showed extraordinary creativity for centuries, especially in agriculture. French agriculturist René Tourte takes us on a journey that lasted 10,000 years, giving us a brand new, unbiased look on Africa the way it is and was. Readers will discover a creative and innovative Africa, which did not wait ...

Read more >>

Where to get it

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome, Italy

http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0217f/a0217f00.htm

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Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, Special Issue :Reconciling Production and Conservation at the Landscape Scale

Guest editor : Emmanuel Torquebiau (CIRAD)

Journal of Sustainable Agriculture is devoted to the rapidly emerging fields of agroecology and sustainable agriculture. The journal focuses on the changes that need to occur in the design and management of our food systems in order to balance natural resource use and environmental protection with the needs of production, economic viability, and social well-being.

It examines our current food systems from production to consumption, and the urgent need to transition to long-term sustainability. The journal promotes the study and application of sustainable agriculture for solutions to the complex problems of resource depletion, environmental degradation, a narrowing of agrobiodiversity, continued world hunger, climate change, and the loss of farm land. Rather than focus on separate disciplinary components of agriculture and food systems, this journal uses an interdisciplinary approach to food production as one process in a complex landscape of agricultural production, conservation, and human interaction.

Journal of Sustainable Agriculture is intended for research scientists who work for international, national, and state agricultural research stations and centers, educators, extension workers, farmers, food and fiber processors, students, as well as civic-minded citizens, planners and policymakers, those involved in environmental or ecological activities, and anyone concerned with the health and welfare of food systems and farming communities around the world.

Published By: Taylor & FrancisVolume Number: 36Frequency: 8 issues per yearPrint ISSN: 1044-0046Online ISSN: 1540-7578

For more information on Scientific and University Cooperation between France and South Africa, kindly contact :

Dr Pierre Lemonde, Attaché for Science and Technology at the French Embassy in Pretoria 012 425 1713 pierre.lemonde@diplomatie.gouv.fr

or Ms Bianca Naudé, Assistant to the Department for Cooperation 012 425 1710 bianca.naude@diplomatie.gouv.fr

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