1st Joint Retreat of the PhD Students
in Experimental Plant Sciences
The French PhD programme
"Sciences du Végétale" (SDV)
SDV/145 (Sciences du Végétal or Plant Sciences) is a graduate programme joining most of the institutes devoted to Plant Biology and Ecology in the area of Paris/France. It associates 50 research units of INRA (National Institute of Agronomical Research) Versailles-Grignon-Paris and Evry, of CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) in Gif sur Yvette, and units mixing CNRS and Universities in Paris 6, 7, 11, Evry, Versailles Saint Quentin ENS-Ulm and AgroParisTech Paris, which altogether involve around 1000 personnel (300 Research end University teaching staff members, 400 technicians and engineers, 300 PhD fellows (140)-postdocs (80) and undergrads (80).
The objectives of the PhD programme are to care about PhD students both in terms of the progress of the PhD project and of adapted training to favour professional insertion as PhDs (courses on various requested skills, discovery of putative professional careers, networking). Members of the different associated labs in the PhD programme are involved in various duties of the PhD programme.

The SDV/145 PhD student council

The SDV/145 PhD programme joins various plant research institutes in different places around Paris. In each Institute, 2 to 4 PhD fellows represent the PhD programme and thus assemble in a PhD student council which meets around 8 times per year on mondays, generally before the PhD council in which the PhD student council is represented by 3 elected fellows.
The PhD student council is involved in many different aspects of the PhD programme which include survey of needs for courses, organisation of lab seminars, PhD student "Chapitres choisis", organisation of some training sessions, PhD student days, go up and more generally all aspects of PhD life in each Institute.

SDV research themes

Research units involved in SDV/145 PhD programme do cover the same themes as Experimental Plant Sciences in the Netherlands and in addition does extend to Plant Ecology and its mathematical modelling.

SDV/145 associates the following large Research units:

Institut Jean Pierre Bourgin (IJPB INRA Versailles)

  • Plant Cell Biology and Development
  • Physiology of Plant Nutrition
  • Genetics and Plant Breeding
  • Seed Biology
  • Plant reproduction Biology
Institut des Sciences Végétales (ISV CNRS Gif sur Yvette)

  • Plant Cell Physiology
  • Plant Cell Biology and Development
  • Root Biology and Physiology
  • Plant responses to salt stress and dehydration
  • Plant soil microbiological responses
Unité de Recherche en Génomique Végétale
(URGV INRA/Univ Evry/CNRS Evry)

  • Plant genomics
  • Plant genome bio-computing
  • Developmental of tools for Plant genomics
  • Genomics and plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses
Plant Biology (ENS/Ecole Normale Supérieure/-Ulm CNRS Paris)

  • Plant biological responses to light
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  • Genomics and adaptation of diatoms
Institut de Biologie Physico-chimique (IBPC CNRS Paris)

  • Genetics, Biochemistry and Biophysics of photosynthesis
Station Amélioration des Plantes Moulon
(INRA-Paris sud 11-AgroParisTech-Cnrs) Moulon Gif sur Yvette
  • Plant Evo-Devo approaches on flower symmetry
  • Corn and wheat breeding genetics
  • Proteomics and improvement of Carbon assimilation in corn
Institut de Biologie et Gestion des Bio-agresseurs des Plantes
(BIOGER INRA-AgroParisTech Versailles-Grignon)

  • Models in Epidemiology (aerial diseases of cereals)
  • Evolutionary strengths and epidemiological dynamics
  • Constraints and evolution of plant pathogen populations
  • Comparative genomics of plant fungal parasites
  • Genetic and molecular bases of pathogenic mechanisms of plant fungal pathogens
  • Processes of co-evolution between plant and pathogens, between fungal pathogens and fungicides
  • Genetics and biochemistry of fungicide resistance
Lab. Pathologie Végétale (INRA AgroParisTech Paris)

  • Genetics and Molecular Biology of plant pathogenic bacteria and of their induced plant defence responses
go up Lab. Photosynthèse
(CEA/Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique/ Saclay)
  • Dissection of photochemical processes during photosynthesis
Institut Biotechnologies des Plantes
(IBP, Université Paris sud 11-CNRS Orsay)

  • Genetics and comparative genomics of plant disease resistance genes
  • Metabolomics of plant defence responses
  • Plant development, plant genomics and Cell Biology
  • Regulation of the cell cycle in Plants
  • Physiology of redox and abiotic stress responses
Ecologie-Systématique-Evolution
(ESE, Université Paris sud 11-AgroParisTech-CNRS Orsay)

  • Ecology of the rhizosphere
  • Gas exchanges (CO2) and global Ecology
  • C, N, O isotopic discrimination to study C assimilation efficiency in various situations
  • Theoretical Ecology and modelling
  • Pollen biology and evolution, systematic botany
  • Plant/fungal co-adaptation and population dynamics
  • Dynamics at differential geographical scales of pollen and seed dissemination
  • Ecotoxicology of pollutants in freshwater trophic chains
  • Demography of tortoises, turtles and birds at various geographical scales
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