UCO
The Université Catholique de l’Ouest of Angers is a private university in west France. It was founded in 1876. UCO’s Faculty and specialised Institutes and Schools cover a wide area of studies: Theology and Religious Studies, Modern languages, Humanities and Literature, Arts, Education,Biological and Environmental sciences, Mathematical sciences, Chemistry, Electronics,and Business. All these institutions provided a well rounded education embracing ethical and spiritual dimensions as well as vocational training.Students benefit from the University’s quality and diversity through the rich educational environment and the many choices available to them in each field of study from bachelor to doctorate. 5 campus representing over than 11,500 students and 1,150 lecturers. Every year 1,500students from 60 different countries learn French at UCO.
The Institute of Biology and Applied Ecology, established in 1995, promotes research and training activities in Biology and Environmental and sustainable development. IBEA offers undergraduate and graduate programs that include state-of-the-art educational facilities and equipment. Through a combination of academic and vocational training, IBEA prepares students for careers in biologyand the environment, in the fields of waste, soil, water, earth, renewable energies, urban ecology, and the management of natural resources. Its professional Bachelor degree in “Environmental Protection” was recently(December 2009) ranked third at the national level by the SMBG ranking.
Research activities, headed by Prof Catherine Mouneyrac, are conducted at the Centre d’Etude et de Recherche sur les Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (CEREA). The CEREA has a long experience on the study of aquatic ecosystems at different biological integration levels takinginto account the concept of sustainable development and the biodiversity conservation (use of bioindicators and biomarkers for pollution assessment and anthropogenic impact, genetic variability of populations, management ofinvasive or protected plants). Moreover, the CEREA is associated to the research group MMS (Mer Molécules, Santé, EA 2160) from the Nantes University.This latter group is recognized since 1996 as consolidated research group by the French Ministry of Research and Education. This group develops research within the marine field. One of field expertise concerns marine ecology and ecotoxicology and is composed by 10 university lecturers and researchers, 2researchers (CNRS), 4 PhD students, 1 Post-Doc and 2 technicians. This group is specialized in the response of aquatic organisms to natural and chemical stress(metals in particularly): acquired tolerance in organisms exposed to sub-lethal contaminants, pollution biomarkers, bioaccumulation and bioavailability of chemical contaminants in marine food webs, cellular mechanisms implicated in detoxification processes. This group has been implicated in numerous national (French National Program in Marine Ecotoxicology, French National Program in Ecotoxicology: PNETOX, FrenchNational Program on Endocrine Disruptors: PNRPE, with the French Ministry of the Ecology and Sustainable Development) and international (PICS CNRS, EUConcerted Action BIOMARE 5th ECFWP…) programs in ecotoxicology. With its strong expertise in the ecotoxicology and the aquatic ecosystems fields,the laboratory is leader, manager and adviser to many programs.
http://www.uco.fr
