Recently, a delegation of four researchers, Zhan Xiangjiang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Zoology), Zhu Chaodong, Liu Shanlin and Cheng Rui, went to France to participate in the first academic seminar of the Sino French International Research Network on Biodiversity and the series of research meetings of the French branch center.

In June this year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the French National Science Center signed a cooperation agreement in Beijing to jointly build the Sino French International Research Network on Biodiversity (SF-IRN-B, hereinafter referred to as the Research Network). Zhu Chaodong, a researcher from the Institute of Zoology, served as the executive director of China (North), and more than 10 people, including researchers Zhan Xiangjiang and Liu Shanlin, joined the research network.

From November 14th to November 23rd, 2024, the first specialized academic seminar and series of research meetings of the French branch center were successfully held in France after the signing of the research network cooperation agreement. Wu Yan, Deputy Director of the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Francis Andr é Wollman, Deputy Dean of the French Academy of Sciences, and Director of the Bureau of Ecology and Environment Research of the French National Center for Scientific Research, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Wu Yan, Deputy Director, read out President Hou Jianguo's congratulatory letter. Nearly 50 representatives from China and France, including the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, South China Botanical Garden, Hainan University, the Hubert Curie Interdisciplinary Institute of the French National Science Center, the Center for Ecological and Functional Evolution, the University of Strasbourg, the University of Montpellier, the Chinese Embassy in France and the Chinese Consulate General in Strasbourg, attended the meeting.

The theme of this seminar is "Biodiversity, Global Change, and Ecological Health". Participants shared the latest research progress on four topics: biological interactions and global change, biodiversity dynamics and global change, chemical diversity and ecosystem service functions, and ecological health. Members of the animal research delegation gave academic presentations.

After the meeting, the participants visited the Botany and Plant Structure and Vegetation Modeling Laboratory of the French Academy of Sciences, the Hubert Curie Interdisciplinary Institute of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the University of Strasbourg, the CNRS Ecological and Functional Evolution Research Center, the Sustainable Development Agricultural Research Center, the European Ecological Experiment Platform, and the Population Biology and Management Center of the French National Institute of Agricultural Food and Environment in Pellier, and carried out discussions and deployment on the next cooperation priorities, directions and work plans of the research network. The attending representatives unanimously expressed that the research network provides a broader platform for scientists from both countries to communicate and further promotes interdisciplinary integration.

Through this meeting, both China and France deepened their understanding of each other's disciplinary development and current situation, expanded the space and dimensions of their collaborative research, shared their vision for the development of research networks, and laid a solid foundation for future collaborative research in the fields of biodiversity and ecological health in the context of global climate change. As the main co building and supporting unit of the Sino French International Biodiversity Research Network, the Institute of Zoology will continue to strive to maintain the openness, inclusiveness, and excellence of the research network platform, and help Sino French cooperation produce forward-looking ideas and high-quality scientific research results.

Identification of the Sino French International Biodiversity Research Network

Group photo of the French Executive Director and Academic Advisor in the Research Network

Group photo of Chinese Academy of Sciences delegation

Representative group photo at the venue

Visit the French Academy of Sciences

Visit the Natural History Museum in Paris

Research Network: A Group Photo of the French Northern Center

Group photo of European ecological experimental platform research

Research Network French Southern Center