Saclay Plant' Innov' 2015

One of the major objectives of the SPS LabEx is to promote innovation and develop public-private partnerships within the LabEx. In this context, we organized in May 2014, at the Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB, Versailles), the first Saclay Plant'Innov' event in order to develop new interactions between SPS research teams and industry representatives. This event attracted a hundred participants, with about a third coming from the world of business.

On October 15, 2015, we renewed this event at the Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2, Orsay), a new institute created this year  in the context of the SPS LabEx.

In all, 85 participants including about 50 SPS members and 20 company representatives were able to discuss, exchange ideas and get to know each other during this day. Some institutional representatives (Université Paris-Saclay, GIS Plant Biotechnologies, 3BCAR Carnot Institute, INRA and AgroParisTech technology transfer offices) and a dozen second year Master students were also present.

The morning was devoted to interventions by representatives of both the public and private sectors. It began with a presentation of the competence and expertise of the SPS LabEx by Loïc Rajjou, coordinator of the SPS Innovation and Partnerships working group, and Chloé Marchive, SPS/3BCAR Innovation and Partnerships project manager. Then Pierre Gohar, Deputy Head for Innovation and Business Relations of the Université Paris-Saclay, described how the Paris-Saclay Campus has become a fruitful eco-system for innovations. Xavier Apolinarski, President of the Paris-Saclay SATT, explained how project maturation can be very useful in helping to transfer technology to companies. Finally, Ariane Voyatzakis, Head of the Agribusiness sector in the Innovation Department of Bpifrance, presented ways to fund research and innovation partnerships through Bpifrance.

After a buffet lunch, which was an opportunity to interact in small groups, participants were offered the choice of three round tables of about 1h30, each one being co-hosted by a member of the private sector and by a member of SPS:

• Green technologies / bio-productions, led by Jean-François Ginglinger (Plant Advanced Technologies, SA) and Pierre Hilson (IJPB),
• Plant breeding / selection, led by Salima Berkani (Agdia-Biofords) and Adnane Boualem (IPS2)
• Crop protection and environmental adaptation, led by Olivier Besnard (Biophytech) and Jean-Marc Seng (IPS2).

These round tables were rich in ideas which were then summarized during a short conclusion session at the end of the day. A major question arose from these discussions, "How can the public and private actors get to know each other better in order to develop partnerships?"

We hope that the contacts made and the ideas exchanged during this event will materialize in new ambitious and innovative collaborative projects.