Press releases

The Mathematical and Biodiversity Modeling Chair was created on June 17, 2009 by a public-private partnership in which the Museum and École Polytechnique will supply outstanding teams of researchers and teachers, Veolia Environnement will contribute funding and technical expertise, and the École Polytechnique Foundation will provide its experience in industrial relations and assistance in project management. Working from an international perspective, the aim of the chair is to develop a synergy between applied mathematics, ecology, biodiversity and evolution in both research and teaching.

Ultimately, the goal is to put in place and support an innovative, topical project with a strong scientific, social and economic impact. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to modeling ecosystems, such a project will address key environmental issues, such as adaptive evolution, spatial colonization and ecological niches, as well as analyze the dynamics of communities and build biodiversity scenarios.

For this approach, suitable new mathematical tools will have to be created. One of the main objectives is to develop new probabilistic models of evolution along with the relevant statistical tools to better take into account the interactions and diversity of the scales of the different ecosystems and make it possible to predict their dynamics. The impact of spatial or temporal variability in the environment on the growth and survival of a population will be studied, and random models for species abundance and displacement will be developed. Collaboration between the National Natural History Museum and Veolia Environnement will enable these models to be compared with the scientific literature and field data, as well as with more operational situations.

Through this public-private partnership, Veolia Environnement is supporting researchers at the National Natural History Museum, who specialize in biodiversity and have exceptional databases, as well as the applied mathematicians at École Polytechnique, who are experts at formalizing data for mathematical models.

Contact: Sylvie Méléard, professor and vice-chair of the teaching and R&D department of applied mathematics at the École Polytechnique and researcher at the joint École Polytechnique-CNRS research unit at the Applied Mathematics Center, sylvie.meleard@polytechnique.edu

Link to the Chair Web site: www.cmap.polytechnique.fr/chaire-mmb/

France's École Polytechnique is a graduate institute of science and technology with a large international reach (28% of its students and 12% of faculty are drawn from outside France). The school allies R&D, teaching and innovation at the highest scientific and technological level. Its curriculum promotes excellence in science, with a strong emphasis on the humanities. Offering undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees, École Polytechnique produces responsible graduates proficient in the complex, innovative domains that are key to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. The École Polytechnique R&D center consists of 22 laboratories run jointly with the CNRS, France's National Center of Scientific Research, all striving to push back the boundaries of knowledge as they explore major cross-disciplinary scientific, technological and societal issues. Ecole Polytechnique is a member of the ParisTech R&D and higher education cluster, which brings together 12 prestigious Paris area universities and schools to promote excellence worldwide. It is also a driving force behind the Saclay campus project, in which it is teamed with 20 other academic and scientific partners, including ParisTech.
www.polytechnique.fr

Ever since its foundation in 1635, the National Natural History Museum has focused on understanding biodiversity and its conservation, as well as the relations between human beings and nature. It approaches this very topical question in depth and from various perspectives thanks to its five missions—basic and applied research, conservation and enrichment of the collections, teaching, expertise, and dissemination of knowledge. As a public cultural, scientific and professional institution, the National Natural History Museum is overseen by France's Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Environment Ministry.
www.mnhn.fr

Officially recognized as a public interest foundation, the École Polytechnique Foundation was set up in 1987 by over 20 French companies with the support of École Polytechnique alumni in order to propose and encourage the school's adjustment to economic globalization. Its statutes set three objectives: assistance for foreign recruitment, collaboration between École Polytechnique's laboratories and companies that could benefit from the findings, and suggestions on ways of adapting the school's programs to the changing needs of business.
www.fondationx.org