LabEx Objectif Terre - Bassin Méditerranéen (OT-Med)

OT-Med (Objectif Terre - Bassin Méditerranéen) is a “Laboratoire d’excellence” (LABEX) selected by the French program Investissements d’Avenir. Its was founded in 2012 for the duration of 8 years.

It brings together 10 research laboratories and 1 research federation specialised in different fields : environmental sciences, law, economy and social sciences. The research of OT-Med is focused on global change and natural hazards in the Mediterranean basin. The work is divided into 3 work packages (WP) and 2 transveral work packages.

Our objectives

• coordinate and stimulate interdisciplinary research on human – environment interactions in Mediterranean ecosystems, accounting for ecosystem functioning, biodiversity and socio-economics, and taking into account the various time scales of the ecosystem evolution (paleoclimatology, paleoecology), 
• identify and evaluate innovative strategies to help decision-makers in elaborating public policies and enterprises in treating environmental questions (through data, models and technologies), 
• establish an interdisciplinary center for environment and sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin and arid regions of Sahel (in relation with Earth Institute at Columbia University and Grantham Institute for Climate Change), 
• contribute to the meta-program MISTRALS launched by the French national research structures working on the Mediterranean region (for example: Paleomex, for the study of climate / past societies interactions or Mermex (Marine Ecosystems Response in the Mediterranean Experiment).

Our actions

• financing PhD and postdoctoral fellowships, 
• organisation and (co)financing of summer schools, conferences, workshops and symposia, 
• financing interdisciplinary collaborative projects between partner laboratories and research mobility projects, 
• invitations of internationally renowned scientists (to give talks and participate in research projects), 
• system of student exchange in collaboration with foreign laboratories: southern Mediterranean countries, State University of San Diego, Grantham Institute for Climate Change (Imperial College of London), the Earth Institute (Columbia University), ... 
• participation in international conferences, 
• educating and informing the general public, associations and organisations, 
• reference portal for expertise (for documents, archives, databases…): under construction, 
• cooperation with « Pôles de Compétitivité » and private enterprises.