Edition 2009

Research MADE IN Aquitaine10 Portraits of research ”“

UNION EUROPEENNE

Cap Sciences publication – Editing: Donatien Garnier – Translation: Emmanual Potts – Photos: Frédéric Desmesure – Graphic design : Lisa Morand

Research in Aquitaine11 000 professionals6 500 researchers

3 300 working for state financed laboratories3 200 researchers working for privately owned laboratories

130 acknowledged research units341 requests for patents in 2008 [Inpi]

5 Univers i t iesPRES - Bordeaux University

University Bordeaux 1 Science and Technology

Victor-Segalen Bordeaux 2 University Science of the living - Science applied to healthcare - Science applied to Man

Michel-de-Montaigne Bordeaux 3 University Humanities – Languages – The Arts – The Media – Social sciences – Science applied to the earth and soil

Montesquieu Bordeaux IV University Law – Economics – Management

Pau and Pays-de l’Adour University

7 Research OrganismsC E A / C E M A G R E F / C N R S / I F R E M E R / I N R A / I N R I A / I N S E R M

FLOWing Epigenetic Robots and Systems

”Robots learning like children““

Human ResourcesTo support the FLOWERS team, theAquitaine Regional Council is finan-cing two Theses with 100,000 € eachover three years.

FLOWERSINRIA Bordeaux Sud-OuestTalence✆ 05 40 00 38 24 http://flowers.inria.fr

Telephone AssistedCuriosityTo help robots learn – and thusmake up for the shortcomings ofcurrent voice and gesture identifi-cation techniques also used in thisfield – the FLOWERS team createdan interface embedded in I-Phone-type telephones able, among otherthings, to identify what the robot islooking at and to designate the saidobject and name it for the robot.

Early SuccessFLOWERS is one of very few Frenchteams working on such questionsas robots’ self-learning and cogni-tive development capacities. Theirunique approach won Pierre-YvesOudeyer a European Research Coun -cil (ERC) as early as 2009, just oneyear after he joined Inria.

At the crossroads between robotics, artificial intelligence,developmental psychology and neurosciences,

researchers in the FLOWERS* team model the learning processes of children and apply them to robots.

Developmental psychologyhelps robots grow

FLOWing EpigeneticRobots and Systems[FLOWERS]

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So far, robots have always been machinesprogrammed for a specific number of

tasks and interactions, yet logically incapableof taking in environments or reactions notplanned by their creators. All this is changing.Pierre-Yves Oudeyer’s team at Inria* seeks to create robots that would develop like humanchildren, progressively acquiring – throughexploration and imitation – a knowledge oftheir organs and their functions, as well as a representation of their physical and livingenvironment. To achieve this, researchers startwith the descriptions of children’s evolution as defined by developmental psychology andneurosciences, with a view to modeling theseprocesses. Their approach has already reapedimpressive results: in a stunning experiment in 2007, an Aibo-type dog programmed withan artificial curiosity system was left alone

on a baby playmat and proved to discover theexistence and some functions of its legs andvoice, in the space of just one day. In time,genuine pet robots capable of sustained inter-actions with humans could be created. Theycould become useful assistants for Alzheimerpatients, or as half inert object – half humanentities, they could prove precious mediatorsbetween autistic patients – whose brain isunable to deal with the complexity of socialrelations and tends to focus on inert objects –and their surroundings.

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MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

* FLOWing Epigenetic Robots and Systems.

* Inria: National Research Institute for Informatics & Automatics.

BIOdiversity, GEnes and COmmunities

”“ Extracting and

recycling polluants with plants

A constant and global supportThe Aquitaine Regional Councilfinances phytoremediation pro-jects on a regular basis, throughlaboratory equipment (150,000 €

from 2004 to 2007; 10,000 € in2009), or thesis grants (40,000 €

in 2006; 44,000 € in 2009).

BIOGECO“Communities Ecology” team INRA - University Bordeaux 1Sciences and TechnologiesTalence - ✆ 05 40 00 31 14 http://w3.pierroton.inra.fr/biogeco/ecologie

ScenariosFor each site, researchers draw upremediation scenarios derived fromthe sampled contaminants and theclient’s priorities. These scenariosuse plant techniques – stabilizationor extraction – applied to soils andmore recently, to the water sourcespresent as well. In certain areas, the-se techniques may be combinedwith older non-vegetal methods.

International InterestA member of the International So -ciety of Trace Elements Biogeoche-mistry (ISTEB) and of the COST 859European Cooperation (numbering250 researchers in 29 countries),Michel Mench is at the heart of a worldwide active network. TheBor deaux team’s expertise is re -nowned in three phytoremedia -tion areas: genes and plants, lowvegetal canopy and long-term siteplanting.

Up until one started using plants and themicro-organisms present in their roots,

there existed only two ways to depollute a soil:either carry away the contaminated soil to ano-ther site and treat it through a physicochemicalprocess, thus creating new waste, or cover itwith healthy earth sampled elsewhere. The problem was displaced, not solved. Now fullydeveloped, the phytoremediation techniquesdeveloped by the “Communities Ecology” teamprovide “green” solutions for certain soil andwater pollutions. Like for instance a site withexcess amounts of trace elements, whethernon-essential (arsenic, cadmium) or essential(copper). A promising lead consists in selec-ting plant varieties tolerating the targeted pollution and able to root it out from the soil

and stock it in their airborne parts. Techniquessuch as hydrothermal oxidation – explored incollaboration with the ICMCB* – valorize bio-mass, while co-producing energy with no Co2emittance and recycling trace elements as well.Another potential solution tested by MichelMench consists in producing sunflower oil for biofuel while picking up excess metals likecopper in the soil. Short rotation coppices andgraminates also allow to neutralize copper andto prevent its dissemination. While giving newlife to polluted sites, green solutions reducehealth risks and favor bio diversity.

Nature holds no spite. It even proves a precious ally when it comes to treating sites polluted by industry rejects, agricultural or urban activity or waste disposal. Within the BIOGECO* laboratory, researchers in the

“Communities Ecology” team have understood this and they developsolutions based on biodiversity and the tolerance levels of plants.

From the roots up! BIOdiversité, GEnes and COmmunities[BIOGECO]

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* BIOdiversity, GEnes and COmmunities.

* Condensed Matter Chemistry, Bordeaux Institute.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Validation and Identification of New Targets in Oncology Unit

Identifying the genes of breastcancer to inhibit them“ ”

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Viruses as vehiclesRichard Iggo and his team useviruses to insert the genes theywant to test inside healthy cells inculture. It is actually possible torid these viruses of their originalpathogenic genes and to replacethese with other genes suspectedof originating tumors. If a tumordevelops, the inserted gene is responsible.

P53In collaboration with clinicianHervé Bonnefoi, Richard Iggohopes to demonstrate that the status of the P53 gene helps pre-dict whether a tumor will react toone or the other of the two existingchemo-therapies for breast can-cer. But he needs to wait until theclinical study – started 10 yearsago – is finally completed.

Level 3Laboratories are classified on aone to four scale according to theirsa fety level. In order to work withoncogenic genes capable of tur-ning a healthy cell into a tumor,Richard Iggo’s team needs a level3 laboratory which costs 1 M €

to build. The Aquitaine region con tri buted 450,000 € to the con -struc t ion of just such a laboratorywithin the Bergonié Institute: itshall be ac ces sible to the scientificcommunity.

VINCO - Validation andIdentification of New Targetsin Oncology UnitInserm - Bergonié Institut Bordeaux - ✆ 05 56 33 33 33 http://www.bergonie.org

What persuaded Richard Iggo to join theVINCO* group in Bordeaux was the

treasure lying in the basement of the Bergo-nié Institute : thousands of cancerous tumorbiopsies, frozen and classified in a tumorsdatabase. A treasure which may be banalwithout its adjoining clinical study: a follow-up of the impact of the two existing breastcancer treatments on European patients’tumors. For each therapy are associated aresult (success or failure) and a genome (viathe sampled cells’ DNA). Richard Iggo andhis team used this unique data combinationin order to determine four groups of geneticprofiles: those where one, the other or bothtreatments worked and those where no treat-ment worked. The combinatory diversity of

the human genome is so vast that a team ofAmerican mathematicians from the Universi-ty of Duke was called on to complete the job.Richard Iggo now focuses his work on thelast of the four groups and he is setting up amethod to analyze huge chromosome areaswhere those genes responsible for tumorsmay lie. Without such a method, the numberof genes to be tested would be unmana-geable as researchers need to insert eachsuspicious gene into healthy cells in order to validate its effects.

Richard Iggo is a British geneticist who joined the Bergonié Instituteat the end of 2008 to help identify those genes whose part in thedevelopment of breast tumors cannot be neutralized by existing

treatments. This major work will give rise to new therapies.

Cancer meets Genomics

Validation and Identificationof New Targets in Oncology [VINCO]

* Validation and Identification of New Targets in Oncology.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Vine and Wine Sciences Institute, Bordeaux Aquitaine

Better and finer wines“ ”

Two dimensionalPhilippe Darriet’s team is one of thefew in France who can master themultidimensional gaseous phasechromatography technique, whichseparates aroma components andidentifies them through mass spec-trometry. In 2008, a 90,000 € grantfrom the Aquitaine region covered60 % of the purchase of a multi -di mensional gaseous phase chro -ma tograph, coupled with a high-resolution mass spectrometer.

ISVVINRA - University of BordeauxVillenave-d’Ornonwww.isvv.fr

Fig and pruneAmong other works PhilippeDarriet’s team managed in 2008,after several years of efforts, toidentify the 3-methyl 2.4 nona -dione: this component present as a trace in wines is partly res-ponsible for the fig and prunenotes associated with the prema-ture oxidative aging of red wines.

Franco-GermanAs part of its crucial work on iden-tifying varietal aromas in wines,the ISVV laboratory collaborateswith the Geisenhem Institute lo -cated in a German region whosewi ne growing history is similar toBordeaux. The idea is to comparetheir results on the Sauvignonwine type, on the one hand and itsGerman counterpart Riesling, onthe other.

T he chromatograph is a curious tool, a man-machine hybrid which gives a precise

description of a wine aromatic bouquet. It is a white tin box resembling a big microwaveoven, connected to a real flesh and bone œnolo-gist. In the box, a few drops of wine extract arevaporized within a coiled tube, 50 meters inlength yet only one tenth of a millimeter in dia-meter. The length of the tube means that thevolatile components reach its end one by oneand can be identified by the oenologist sepa -rately. When trained to this discipline like ath-letes, men remain more efficient than any auto-mated detection device and can track down ele-ments present at extremely low concentration:these are the ones studied by Philippe Darrietand his team. Their effect on the quality of the

wine can be detrimental or beneficial in equalmeasure. That is why when identified they aremeticulously analyzed to determine what mole-cules are implied and where they originate: in the vineyard? During vinification? Duringwine maturing? With their protocol the ISVVresearchers have toppled some long-heldnotions: for instance they showed that somesulfate derivatives were responsible for nicearomas like grapefruit or boxwood, thus helpingto shape the typicity of some Bordeaux winetypes. Analyzing the precise combination of ascent, a molecule and an origin can take years.

In the brand new ISVV - Bordeaux Aquitaine* building, a team of oenologistsseek the most elusive aromatic components of wine. Once thesemolecules –

whose concentration is sometimes measured in nanograms per liter – are identified, researchers trace back their origins. This lengthy processhelps eliminating defects or identifying better methods for wine growers.

Noses meet high technology

Vine and Wine Institut,Bordeaux Aquitaine[ ISVV]

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* Vine and Wine Sciences Institute, Bordeaux Aquitaine.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Thermal, Energy and Processes Laboratory

”Mathematics

to make biofuelssustainable“ ”

ConsortiumFinanced by a consortium of pri-vate companies and public insti-tutions, including the Aquitaineregion, the budget of PREBIOMis 1.2 M €, with a 200,000 € grantfrom the Aquitaine RegionalCoun cil.

LaTEPPau and Pays-de-l’Adour UniversityPau - ✆ 05 59 40 78 09http://web.univ-pau.fr/latep/

Reactive databaseThanks to a high capacity ther-mobalance developed withinLaTEP, Frédéric Marias is settingup a unique database. This willprovide the content and quan tityfluctuations for the gases, tarsand solid matter produced by awide range of plants and wastessubmitted to heat.

From torrefied biomass to biofuelThe technology used to go fromdried residue to biofuel is well –known: it is called the Fischer –Tropsch chemical process, usedsince the Second World War totransform carbon into syntheticfuel. The residue is first transfor-med into a gaseous mix of car-bon monoxide and hydrogenand then liquefied into a greendiesel.

Enthusiasm for biofuels has waned. In a glo-bal food crisis context, using food resources

to produce energy has become problematic.This ethical dilemma has led to the creation of asecond generation of biofuels. Frédéric Mariasand his team work on one specific solution:using plant wastes after “extraction” of theirnoble part, like corn husks for example. Howe-ver, the energy potential of these residues is low, while their stocking and transport iscomplex. The concept of the PREBIOM* projectis to use the torrefaction process – a thermochemical treatment at 250° Celsius – whichbreaks certain molecules’ mechanic resistanceand allows plant wastes to be pulverized as particles measuring from 10 to 100 microns,leaving their energy potential intact. To achievethe industrial manufacturing stage, Frédéric

Marias is testing four plants which can begrown in Aquitaine, using a pilot reactor ca pa -ble of processing 2 kilos of biomass per hour.This pilot will provide the specifications for themanufacturing of a semi industrial prototype by the end of 2010. In time, such contraptionscould be scattered all over the country and allowfarm producers to densify the energy contentsof their residues and then export them as bio-fuels or sell them to biofuel plants.

Frédéric Marias specializes in the mathematical modeling of wastevalorization and he set up numerous innovating projects: with the

LaTEP* team in Pau, he developed an industrial process which willtransform agricultural and forest residues into green energy,

in the form of biofuels producing no green house effect.

Optimizing waste valorization

Thermal, Energy and Processes Laboratory[LaTEP]

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* Thermal, Energy and Processes Laboratory.

* PREtreatment of the BIOMass.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Cellular Physiology of Synapses Laboratory

Understanding memory means

understanding synapses first”“

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Fighting DogmaMajor discoveries often provokeskepticism before acceptance.Daniel Choquet has experimentedthis on a few occasions: for exam -ple in 2008, when the “Scien ceReview” delayed for many monthsthe publication of his articledes cribing how, when stabilizingAmpa-type Glutamate receptors,one reduces the speed of thedataflow between neurons.

International AttractivenessIn its current form, foreign re sear -chers already make out one thirdof the IINS team. For example,German Valentin Nagerl, who re -ceived offers from several Euro-pean laboratories, will overseeone of seven research groups. TheAquitaine region awarded him a grant worth nearly 350,000 €.

A pivotal projectThe Aquitaine regional councilis strongly involved in suppor-ting neurosciences: it aims toinvest 60 M € in the constructionof the total laboratories surfaceof 12 km2 required for the newNeurocampus.

Synapses CellularPhysiology UnitResearch Group : Dynamic imaging of membraneprotein organizationInstitut François-MagendieBordeaux - ✆ 05 57 57 40 80http://www.inb.u-bordeaux2.fr

Since Daniel Choquet and Christophe Mulleopened the “Cellular Physiology of Synap -

ses” laboratory back in 1999, they have worked in a very small building. But by the end of 2012,the new 4 000 m2 premises of the IINS – one oftwo new institutes set up on the Neurocampus –will be built. This achievement originates fromtwo complementary intuitions. First, on the fun-damental level: to study the data flows in thebrain, one should focus on the connection pointsbetween neurons, i.e. synapses. Then techno -logy-wise, highly precise visualization tools arerequired. After ten years of work, the results areimpressive. Daniel Choquet set up a high reso -lution imagery platform. Thanks to massiveinvestments, the involvement of industry spe -cialists and the recruiting of engineers, these

tools are used at maximum capacity and areconstantly improved. In collaboration with theCPMOH*, researchers have managed to obser -ve the functioning of a single synaptic receptor(measuring about one tenth of a nanometer) andproved it can move. A technical prowess as wellas a major discovery, which opened new pers-pectives for our understanding of the learningmechanisms of memory and which led to othermajor results. The labo ratory will thus very na -turally move from its premises at the FrançoisMagendie Institute, INSERM to the heart of IINS.

With a Neurocampus opening soon, researchers in Aquitaine aim tomaintain their lead in the study of the nervous system and in particular of theterminals connecting neurons: synapses. The new IINS* Institute will allowan in-depth study of synapses and their workings. Daniel Choquet – whowas awarded the CNRS silver medal in 2009 – is in charge of the project.

A new Institute to study neuron

connections

Synapses CellularPhysiologie Unit

* Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Institute.

* Center for Physical and Hertzian Molecular Physics.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Integration of Material to System laboratory

“”

Solar panelswill print like newspapers

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A unique site in FranceBecause they are so vulnerable tooxidation, polymers need to behandled in a controlled atmos-phere devoid of oxygen and water.The Aquitaine region has alreadyfinanced the construction of theELORGA platform, a receptorsproduction facility with control-led atmosphere and it currentlyfinances its extensions with a220,000 € grant. The region alsopartly finances a PhD grant.

IMS CNRS - University Bordeaux 1Sciences and TechnologiesPolytechnique institut of BordeauxPessac - ✆ 05 40 00 66 30www.ims-bordeaux.eu

Slow down pleaseWhen the IMS chemicists identifypolymers with interesting proper-ties, these are handed on to thephysicists who analyze them andidentify their limits. To achievethis, researchers use a cryostaticchamber which slows down elec-trons at very low temperature andallows a precise observation oftheir movements.

Multiple ExchangesThe IMS has developed sustainedcollaboration with Canadian uni-versities such as Queen’s Univer-sity, UDM or UQAM and with thePrinceton University in the USA,as well as with research centers inTaiwan and Mexico. Within theregional “Aquitaine-Euskadi” callfor tender, IMS will also work withthe University of San Sebastian in Spain.

A ccording to Guillaume Wantz – a resear-cher at the IMS – to make a solar captor

with organic material is the easiest thing in the world: take a conducting transparent film serving as electrode, just paste a thing layer of organic matter made of a polymer and onecarbonated molecule – allowing for a goodflow of the electrons that have been dislodgedby the photons collision – then cover with analuminum film serving as second electrode.Ready ! The result is a thin and flexible cell which could be produced in vast quantities –and over huge surfaces – using newspaperprinting techni ques. This is a far cry from thecomplex, costly and energy-greedy fabrica-tion of silicon captors. Yet the plastic versussilicon match is still undecided as organiccaptors also have their weaknesses: their

energy yield is two to three times inferior tosilicon and their lifespan in much shorter dueto their vulnerability to oxidation. The biggestchallenge for Guillaume Wantz and his team istherefore to select, among an infinite numberof chemical combinations, those polymersthat will last at least three years, while main-taining an attractive cost and yield. Althoughcovering whole roofs with plastic photovol-taic film is not viable yet, numerous mobileobjects like clothes, tents, backpacks or para-sols could soon sport them thanks to the IMSefforts.

Although they joined the race only recently, the IMS* physicists andchemicists are now leaders in the field of plastic film photovoltaic cells.

These can be produced at a very low cost and could compete withsilicon receptors which are costly and energy-greedy.

Plastic versus silicon Integration of Material to System laboratory[ IMS]

* Integration of Material to System laboratory.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Political Sciences International Relations and Territory

All about Deputies”“

Significant SupportWith its financing of the DEPAS-TRA project (Deputies in Parisand Strasbourg), the AquitaineRegional Council helped to set upthe necessary tools for setting theANR-financed LEGIPAR project inmotion. These make of Bordeauxthe main centre for parliamentaryresearch in France.

Spirit Sciences Po Bordeaux CNRS - University of BordeauxPessac - ✆ 05 56 84 42 81http://spirit.sciencespobordeaux.fr

European ComparisonsSo as to come up with precisecomparison of French Europeandeputies with their foreign coun-terparts, the Bordeaux resear-chers persuaded laboratories inBelgium, Portugal and Romaniato adopt their data collection andtreatment protocol.

The end of the “Delors Myth”Thanks to its database, Olivier Cos-ta’s team showed that this notionderived from Jacques Delors’ state-ment that 80% of French bills origi-nated in European Law was false.Since 1958, only 15% of bills havecome from Europe. The figure hasrisen in the last few years, yet it doesnot exceed 20%.

How many amendments were submitted foreach bill voted in Parliament ? Who wrote

them? Unless one leafs through the thousandsof pages of each quarterly edition of the OfficialJournal, it remains impossible to get this kindof information. It has also been impossible toget reliable statistics on the deputies’ profiles or the Parliament’s daily agenda, until OlivierCosta and his team at the SPIRIT* laboratory in Sciences Po., Bordeaux created a new data-base including thorough quantitative (such aslegislative agenda, elected representatives’biographies), as well as qualitative information(in-depth interviews analysed thematically:personal motives, time management, ideasregarding representation, etc). This new toolwas completed in 2007 with promising earlyresults and, as new data pours in, it will initiate

numerous research studies on French politics,especially on amendments. It is also destinedto integrate data about the Senate – an entity as obscure as the Parliament – or the EuropeanParliament: the LEGIPAR project, financed bythe ANR (National Research Agency) since2008, develops specific research on its Frenchrepresentatives. The elements already avai-lable show that, since the voting system wasregionalised in 2004, the profile of FrenchEuropean Deputies has lost some diversity and is now closer to the more traditional whitemale in his fifties, working as a civil servant oran independent professional, with a stronglocal grounding.

Little known of the public, Deputies at the French National Assemblyand the European Parliament have also been mostly ignored by

Political Sciences researchers. Recently, a Bordeaux team got involved in this strangely vacant field. Their method, both global and

descriptive spawned a new analysis of French politics.

Those unknowns governing us

Political SciencesInternational Relations and Territory[Spirit ]

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*Political Sciences International Relations and Territory.

*Parliamentary Legitimacy and Democratic Governance in France and the EU.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Center for Intense Lasers and their Applications

Power laser as

knowledge tool“ ”

Plasma projectionIn 2008, Valentin Tikhonchuk’steam studied a mysterious plasmasquirt on a laser built in Prague.They showed that this eruptionpossessed characteristics similarto those re cor ded in the vicinity ofactive ga la xies and young stars.This discovery opens new perspec-tives for our under standing of theevolution of the universe and ourown sun.

A Master degree In FusionThanks to their international lea-dership in the field of laser-trigge-red fusion, researchers and pro-fessors at the University of Bor-deaux 1 proved the ideal team toset up the first national masterdegree in fusion sciences. The firstof its kind worldwide, it trains pro-motions of around 40 students(with 20% foreign nationals) des-tined to work in the future magne-tic and inertial fusion plants.

Sustained SupportBeyond the conception andconstruction of PETAL (54.3 M €),the construction of the CELIA pre-mises and their laser equipment(12 M €), the Aquitaine region re -gu larly supports research projectsled by the laboratory scientists(320,000 € in 2008).

Center for Intense Lasers and their ApplicationsCNRS - CEA University Bordeaux 1Sciences and TechnologiesTalence - ✆ 05 40 00 28 90www.celia.u-bordeaux1.fr

The magnetic confinement of plasma leadsthe way in the field of nuclear fusion re -

search. ITER – which will be completed inProvence in 2018 – will integrate this tech-nology. Yet, it may well be superseded by the so-called Inertial Confinement Methoddeveloped in France and in the USA. Highenergy (or megajoules) lasers built in bothcountries have mainly military applications.For the production of energy, high power – orpetawatt – lasers like PETAL* are preferred.When completed in Gironde in 2012, PETALwill come close to this fusion “Grail”, thanksto the fast ignition techniques favored byValentin Tikhonchuk’s team. The race is alsoon in other fields of science and industry. For instance, the CELIA researchers suggest to replace the current cumbersome charged

particles accelerator used in medicine withcompact laser – accelerator – powered devi -ces. These would be used to destroy cance-rous cells by striking them with charged par-ticles. Ions are of great interest too, as theyallow for greater striking precision and the -refore reduce the damage to surroundingheal thy tissues. There is still a long way to go, but the experiments planned with the PETALlaser should enable researchers to test theo-ry models and to define the most favorableconditions for charged particles accelera-tors. Then a new track for cancer treatmentwill be open.

Physicists at the CELIA* laboratory have capitalized on the know-how acquired inthe race for nuclear fusion and have now diversified the application fields of theirdiscoveries. Vladimir Tikhonchuk – a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France – and his team work on such diverse subjects as ignition solutions for the power-laser fusion process, astrophysics, laser processes or medicine.

Particles Accelerator versus Laser

Center for Intenses Lasersand their Applications [ CELIA ]

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*Center for Intense Lasers and their Applications.

*PETawatt Aquitaine Laser.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

Centre for Optical and Hertzian Molecular Physics

“ ”When sand behaves

like water and water like honey

5000 pictures per secondFor a precise analysis, the some-times very brief granular flow mustbe filmed with ultra fast cameras.The acquisition of such a costlytool was made possible through a 65,000 € aid to Yacine Amarou-chene’s team from the Aquitaineregion. It also finances a thesissoon to be started on the subject.

CPMOH“Interfacial Instabilities and LowDimension Turbulences” team CNRS - University Bordeaux 1Sciences and technologyTalence - ✆ 05 40 00 28 90http://www.cpmoh.cnrs.fr

FameWith no less than 5 publicationsin the Physical Review Letters –the physicists’ bible – the year2008 was one to be rememberedfor the “Interfacial Instabilitiesand Low Dimension Turbulen ces”three-hander team: Jean-Fran-çois Boudet, Hamid Kellay andYacine Amarouchene. The latterwas also awarded the CNRS bron-ze medal.

Gulliver travelsStudying complex fluids as wellas turbulences or granular sys-tems, the three CPMOH resear-chers constantly travel up anddown the scales, from the mole-cular to the macroscopic and evenbeyond, when for instance theycompare the evolution of turbu-lences on the surface of a soapbubble with that of cyclones in theearth’s atmosphere.

How can one describe sand? Yacine Ama-rouchene toys with our perception of this

material: he works in the “Interfacial Instabilitiesand Low Dimension Turbulences” team at theCPMOH. When studying sand grains separate-ly, there is no doubt: they are solid corpusclesobeying the elementary laws of physics. When a small amount of sand is placed in a shakenglass, the grains seem to act like gas molecules.But when sufficiently increasing the amount ofsand in the glass, it looks more like a liquid. Likefor molecular systems, a variation in the distan-ce between grains seems to entail a change ofstate. Yet, the comparison ends once the glassis emptied: without energy, sand loses its li quid- like cohesion and lies in a heap. However, theCPMOH team has reproduced this “capillary”

cohesion, so as to theorize it. They analyzed aflow of sand falling down vertically: as it falls,the sand drags down the air more rapidly in the centre of the flow than on its edges, whichmay produce a depression pulling the grains in -wards. Studying the impact of such flows upona flat surface also revealed shockwaves and theprecise speed of sound within the sand flow.This double discovery soon proved to outreachthe strict boundaries of research. Industrialsgrasped its potential for developing solutionsfor the production, stocking and transport ofpowders, balls and grains.

A small CPMOH* team usually working on complex systems came upwith major discoveries in the field of physics, through a series of simple

experiments. They demonstrated that in certain conditions, granularsystems like sand could surprisingly take on properties akin to those of

liquids, and flows of complex fluids could display unexpected properties.

From fundamental physics to the

naked eye

Centre of Opticaland Hertzian MolecularPhysics[CPMOH]

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* Centre for Optical and Hertzian Molecular Physics.MADE IN Aquitaine research 10 portraits of research - Édition 2009 UNION EUROPEENNE

ince 1998, the Aquitaine region has favouredintelligence and innovation with pro-activepolicies taking on three challenges: research,

employment in industry and equal opportunities.

With 9% of its budget, it stands as the leading region in France for the financing of research, post-graduatestudies and technology transfer.

In 2007, the structuring of universities and research led to the setting up of a Research and Post-graduateStudies Pole, the “University of Bordeaux PRES”,thanks to the combined efforts of its eight foundingmembers, four Bordeaux universities and fourengineering schools.

A dynamic regional policy and the reorganisation of research in specialised sectors and centres of excellence have turned Aquitaine into an attractivelocation for scientific and technological development,as the arrivals of both INRIA and Sup Optique on the Bordeaux Campus bear witness.

This dynamics is certainly partly responsible for the “Towards a New University Model” project to havemade it in the final 10 in the national Campus operation.

It is precisely by encouraging a campus spirit that the University of Bordeaux aims to strengthen itsposition in Aquitaine, to develop interactions betweenSciences and Society, and finally to increase itsexposure both nationally and internationally.

These portraits illustrate the wealth and diversity ofscientific projects developed in our region and revealthe unending creativity of these devoted researchers,all leaders in their field.

Alain Rousset, president of the Regional Council

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Conseil régional d’Aquitaine

Direction de la recherche et du transfert de technologie14, rue François-de-Sourdis – 33077 Bordeaux

www.aquitaine.fr

Cap Sciences

Hangar 20 – Quai de Bacalan - 33300 Bordeaux

www.cap-sciences.net