The BioEcoAgro Joint Cross-Border Research Unit is a new structure which brings together around 400 researchers, technicians and PhD students from both sides of the Franco-Belgian border. Its ambition is to develop an international center of excellence in the field of biological engineering applied to agriculture, biotechnology, agri-food and the environment. Designed like a laboratory without walls bringing together researchers from INRAE, the University of Liège, the University of Lille and the University of Picardie Jules Verne, it focuses on the combination of (eco) systemic approaches and molecular for

• understanding the functioning of plants and ecosystems in natural or controlled environments and in the context of climate change
• decryption and control of the synthesis or the bioproduction of active biomolecules (specialized metabolites and polymers of plant origin, enzymes and secondary metabolites of microbial origin, active peptides from the hydrolysis of food proteins)
• biopreservation and food formulation.

The complementary multidisciplinary skills of the BioEcoAgro transboundary UMR also allow it to develop cross-disciplinary research such as the development of new biocontrol agents for plant diseases: from high throughput screening to their evaluation in the field through the understanding of their mode of action and the development of bioprocesses to obtain them.

The UMR is closely involved in the development of platforms of excellence such as the Realcat equipex, the FoodIsLife, AgricultureIsLife and EnvironmentIsLife (Ecotron) platforms and the national long-term observation and experimentation system on the ACBB environment (Agroecosystems, Biogeochemical Cycles and Biodiversity) in its field crops component. It manages two measurement stations labeled with the European infrastructure ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observatory System).

Invested in upstream research on an international scale, the cross-border BioEcoAgro UMR is also distinguished by its numerous collaborations with companies and actors from the agricultural world of the cross-border region.