Untitled - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de l'Observatoire de Grenoble

of CNRS for technicians and engineers) to LAOG’s Technical Director P. Kern (2004; the second such award
after E. Le Coarer in 1999), and the “Palmes Académiques” (a Ministry of Education award for professional
excellence) to LAOG’s Head of Administration F. Bouillet (2004). In addition, LAOG has had until recently
the highest concentration of “Institut Universitaire de France” professors (G. Pelletier as senior member, J.-L.
Monin and G. Henri as junior members).
We thereore believe that LAOG is poised for a bright future and exciting science. As the present report aims
at showing, there is no “growth crisis” at LAOG, because of continuous and sometimes radical adaptation to a
constantly changing and challenging environment. We are convinced that this “Spirit of LAOG”, felt across all
personnel categories, has been one of the strongest assets of this laboratory since its creation.
1.1.2 Evolutions: scientific strategy and team synergy
Major evolutions have taken place at LAOG since 2002, with the aim of better fulfilling its major scientific goals
and of making them more prominent and visible to the community and funding agencies, while accommodating
an ever-growing population. In short, LAOG switched from a research structure of nine small thematic teams
(sometimes as small as three individuals), supported by a technical group, and a theoretical team, to a simpler,
more visible structure of four large teams. This evolution took place in two steps.
• Following the recommendation of the previous Evaluation Committee in 2002 to look for a way to regroup
the existing small scientific teams, and strongly encouraged by the new Director, the LAOG researchers,
after many constructive internal discussions, decided to create two new “topical” teams, named “Astromol”
and “FOST”, while keeping the theoretical group (Sherpas) intact. (See details below.)
• After some time, it was however realized that instrumental research activities, central to the building of
new instruments for large telescopes in relation to the scientific goals of LAOG, were not adequately taken
into account. Technological developments are traditionnally strong at LAOG, and were conducted both
by researchers and high-level engineers on a project-by-project basis. It was thus decided in mid-2004 to
create a new, transverse group, the “GRIL”, where researchers and engineers would exchange ideas and
work together globally, both as an official recognition of instrumental developments as a genuine research
activity, and as a strategic and advisory group to the Director while keeping the scientific goals of LAOG
in mind. In this team, most of the researchers also belong to one of the topical teams –in practice today
the FOST team. Last but not least, the existence of such a team provides a correct, visible framework for
PhD students working on instrumental topics.
Figure 1.2 and Figure 1.3 display for comparison the previous organigram (2002) and the new organigram
(2005), which will be discussed in more detail below.
As a result, LAOG today is structured in four roughly balanced research teams (totalling 44 permanent
staff), three topical and one instrumental, and in a technical group which is responsible for conducting the
building of instruments after approval by GRIL (and of course after having been selected by external agencies).
Figure 1.4 displays their respective sizes.
To understand these evolutions, and before proceeding to describe the teams in more detail in the next
section, it is appropriate to start with the main scientific axes developed over the years since the creation of
LAOG a little more than a decade ago. These can be summarized as follows:
• Origins: the physics of low-mass star formation and early evolution, and the path to planet
formation;
• High energies and astrophysical plasmas: the accretion-ejection phenomenon and its implications
for astroparticle physics;
• Instrumental research: high angular resolution and high dynamic range instruments for
large telescopes.
As schematically illustrated by Figure 1.5, these three scientific axes are strongly interrelated: the study
of the conditions for star and planet formation (disks and jets from young stars and protostars; exoplanets), a
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