Key challenges facing the Occitanie region
Advancing regional research to better preserve biodiversity, combat vector-borne diseases, imagine the viticulture and oenology of tomorrow, and respond to the collective challenges of the water cycle... These are just some of the scientific challenges that Montpellier University and its regional partners intend to tackle by taking on four of the 15 "key challenges" identified and supported by the Occitanie region.
The "key challenges" are initiatives launched by the Occitanie Region to support collective dynamics among research stakeholders in Occitanie. Focusing on strategic issues for our region, they aim to encourage the structuring of scientific communities, thereby making regional research even more collaborative, visible, and attractive, and to produce excellent research in line with the Region's political priorities, in particular the Transformation Plan-Green New Deal adopted by the Plenary Assembly on November 19, 2020. Each key challenge receives €2 million in regional aid to implement its action plan over a period of four years.
Among the 15 challenges supported by the Region, the University of Montpellier is leading the way in "key challenges" on the themes of biodiversity, water, infectious risks, and vines and wine, in collaboration with numerous partners throughout the region.
Key challenge BIODIVOC
Officially launched on April1, 2021, the Biodivoc project aims to develop fundamental research in ecology and evolution around the theme of "Dynamics, resilience, and management of biodiversity and ecosystems under human-induced environmental pressures."
Key challenge RIVOC
Officially launched on March 18, 2021, the objective of the RIVOC (Infectious Risks and Vectors) project is to develop innovative and sustainable approaches to improve understanding, surveillance, and control of these diseases and their vectors.
VINIDOCC Challenge
The project "Innovation for the viticulture and oenology of the future in Occitanie" was launched on September 16, 2022, to conduct multidisciplinary, fundamental, and applied research and to devise new practices for the viticulture and oenology of tomorrow.
BIO’OCC Challenge
Bio’Occ is a project funded by the French government as part of the France 2030 plan. This ambitious regional initiative aims to attract, train, and retain the talent and key players of tomorrow by developing specialized training programs in the fields of biotherapies and bioproduction.
Key challenge "Water Occitanie":
The Water Occitanie project aims to develop expertise in wastewater reuse, design and analyze infrastructure, equipment, and governance to respond to stakeholders' constraints at the local level, produce an assessment of the consequences at the level of large watersheds, and analyze the cumulative capacity to respond to the collective challenges of the large water cycle.
