IRD’s European advocacy work, co-ordinated by the European affairs service and facilitated by the presence of a representative based in Brussels, has strengthened IRD’s visibility and its influence in the European institutions.
IRD actively participates in calls for projects under European programmes, primarily the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and the EuropeAid programme for co-operation and development. Thus, since 2014, IRD has won 39 research projects from Horizon 2020 calls, and 18 projects funded by the EuropeAid programme.
Moreover, IRD is the coordinator for the European Expert Network on International Cooperation and Development, a network founded by the European Commission, aiming to provide academic, strategic and targeted insights about the major co-operation and development issues.
After several negotiation stages with the Delegation of the European Union in Bamako, the KEY Programme Evaluation project on Nutrition in northern Mali was launched, coordinated by IRD and with local partners in Mali (IRD budget €1.2 million).
The IRD teams have been selected in an H2020 project Tropical and South Atlantic climate-based marine ecosystem prediction for sustainable management therefore adding value to the work of the preceding H2020 ATLANTOS project (IRD budget €1.1 million).
IRD won a coordinating role for an H2020 RISE project Collaborative consortium for the early detection of liver cancer bringing together teams from Europe, South America and Asia (IRD budget €174 K).
In 2018, the PRIMA research and innovation programme on water, nutrition and agriculture in the Mediterranean was launched. An IRD coordination project was selected in the first call for projects. This was the ALTOS project, Managing water resources within Mediterranean agrosystems by accounting for spatial structures and connectivities, with partners in Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Spain and Italy (IRD budget €300 K).
On the Europe-Africa Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP2), IRD won four new research projects in 2018, focusing on the development of diagnostic tools, vaccines, and public health protocols to combat neglected infectious diseases (Tuberculosis, Malaria, Ebola).
During the European Development Days in Brussels in June, IRD showcased the QUARITE project for infant health in Senegal and Mali.
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In December 2018, IRD researcher Xavier Oudin, coordinator for the major H2020 project NOPOOR, received the Stars of Europe prize in Paris, an award given to researchers for their European commitment.