Technical facilities
BCDiv aimed to contribute to the improvement of the shared MNHN technical facilities and to stimulate best practices and transdisciplinary collaborations around them. As our financial resources were limited, we restricted our efforts to the technical domains that we already identified in the initial project, but we also seized some new opportunities, on the sites of the Jardin des Plantes and of the Musée de l’Homme, as well. Our means were the appointment of BCDiv technical staff, the acquisition of new machines for replacing the obsolete ones or completing some technical devices, the contribution to maintenance expenses for the new machines and the contribution to best practices. 90% of this part of the BCDiv project was achieved during the first four years, because this was a priority to offer as soon as possible the best cutting edge technical facilities to the BCDiv partners and scientists.
- Rejuvenation of the micro-imaging device :
The main SEM and TEM facilities of the MNHN were obsolete. We supervised the elaboration of the specifications protocol, the selection of the best machines and the competition between the industrial companies. We finally purchased a Hitachi Su3500 SEM (2012, 194K€, 100% BCDiv) and a Hitachi 7700 TEM (2014, 450K€, 50% BCDiv). The technical staff and the renovation of the premises were charged to the MNHN, which granted an additional temporary engineer and will open a permanent position in 2015 for this purpose. The organization, functioning chart and governance of the Electronic Microscopy and Microanalyses Platform (PMEM) were improved. A new system of tariffs has been settled and it covers the functioning expenses of the facility. A website was created.
- CT Scann imaging and shape quantification
Under the umbrella of the UMS 2700, the 3D CT Scann (AST-RX) and the geometric morphometric (GMM) facility devices are of utmost importance for 6 of the 10 BCDiv UMRs. They are potentially or actually used by 40% of the BCDiv projects coming from the AAP (5 Masters, 7 PhD, 6 Post-docs, 9 inventory missions).