GDR REVMICNAT

The international, multidisciplinary GDR REVMICNAT aims to bring together the skills of a wide variety of colleagues from research teams in different disciplines in which the 'microbiome' object is gradually (or suddenly) taking on an increasingly important role, in order to carry out a wide-ranging collective reflection on the extent of the consequences of recent discoveries on microbiomes.

Recognized experts from a wide range of disciplines will examine the consequences of these discoveries on concepts and practices, identifying a "before" and an "after" for the inclusion of microbiomes in their disciplines. Lawyers, philosophers of science and of the environment, biologists, artists, architects and science popularizers will meet, share their points of view and their experiences to assess together the consequences of the discoveries around microbiomes.

This cross-fertilization of perspectives will not only reveal the singular impact of microbiome studies on each of these disciplines, but also identify any shared trends induced by the consideration of microbiomes, while painting an overall picture of the conceptual renovation accompanying the realization that species, including our own, do not live alone, but are always surrounded and shaped by microbiomes.

To achieve its objective, REVMICNAT will use all the means traditionally available to GDRs: student exchanges between participating laboratories, facilitated internal collaborations, proposals for the organization of thematic schools and conferences (Ecole d'été du CNRS, Conférence Jacques Monod), the annual organization of free colloquia, open to the general public and academic colleagues (registration required), and, at regular intervals, the publication of articles and review books.

Annual colloquia will play a structuring role in this GDR, as they will provide an opportunity to expand the list of GDR participants and experts, based on the approaches already identified as foundational (legal, philosophical, ethical, scientific, artistic and popularization approaches). To this end, each contributor to the first year's colloquium will be invited to identify and nominate a colleague from his or her own speciality, motivated by the challenges of this GDR. This colleague will in turn be invited to speak at the second-year symposium, and so on. Each year, speakers from previous years will also be invited to take part in the current year's symposium, and to send members of their laboratories and students.

More specifically, these recurring participants will act as chairpersons and scientific referees during the upcoming symposium. The arrival of these scientific respondents will be facilitated in part by REVMICNAT funding. However, for those scientific sponsors who wish to do so, additional funding will be sought to facilitate their presence throughout the symposium. On the other hand, each year's guests, selected by the GDR REVMICNAT scientific committee, will be fully financed for the duration of the project by the REVMICNAT annual funding. Naturally, each of these symposia will be open to the public (with free registration), and in particular to doctoral and post-doctoral students in the disciplines concerned. The colloquia will also be publicized via the mainstream media (radio, scientific journals), as several GDR members are in regular contact with the media. Recordings of the presentations will also be publicly available on the web.

This aggregative and open approach will thus help to identify teams and researchers working in a research sector where the consideration of microbes and knowledge about microbes is likely to transform established knowledge. The objectives of this research protocol will therefore be twofold. On the one hand, to ensure the development of the network thanks to contributions from a renewed set of contributors, in a format that encourages discussion and meetings between researchers, doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, thus anchoring multi-disciplinary cooperation. The 2nd, 4th and 5th years will also see the completion of a large-scale synthesis. For the first two years, this synthesis work will take the form of at least one multidisciplinary journal article (published in line with CNRS open science policies), followed by a collective published work. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations between at least two members of the GDR will be encouraged and supported to the extent of available financial resources (in particular by enabling working meetings).

https://evol-net.fr/2021/02/19/international-interdisciplinary-colloquium-new-challenges-induced-by-microbiomes/

https://evol-net.fr/2021/10/07/new-challenges-induced-by-microbiomes-conference-2-october-4th-2021-paris/

https://evol-net.fr/2022/10/06/new-challenges-induced-by-microbiomes-conference-3-october-4th-2022-paris/

https://evol-net.fr/2023/10/02/new-challenges-induced-by-microbiomes-conference-4-september-15th-2023-paris/