Montpellier SupAgro it’s 1669 students, 88 teacher-researchers and 321 staff members. It offers a full range of training courses from Bachelor (professional) degree to PhD, as well as several excellent engineer training curricula.
Its main purpose is initial and continuing training, research, international scientific and technical cooperation, and development represent the main missions.
Agriculture, food, environment and rural territories are at the heart of its concerns
Our ambition is to train actors who will participate in designing and implementing the new agricultural revolution in order to Feed the planet and to Manage sustainable resources and territories. The institute is deliberately open to international education: 25 % of the students are foreigners (50% out of PhD students). The institute offers training courses specifically dedicated to Mediterranean and Tropical issues.
Our Strategy : Thanks to this attractiveness, Montpellier SupAgro has recorded a significant growth over these recent years (the number of students has doubled in ten years). The Institute’s project conceived in 2011 focuses the future development on much more qualitative than quantitative targets. It intends To reorganize the training courses offer and to make it more comprehensible to increase the international process, Extend socio-economic partnerships, Widen the quality approach to all training courses, Launch a sustainable and deliberate approach
An outstanding environment : Montpellier SupAgro is located in the heart of the most dynamic town in France. It benefits from a prominent and worldwide scientific environment in agricultural sciences, federated by Agropolis International. This association gathers more than 2000 scientific executives within 112 research units. It is the first cluster of this kind in Europe. The headquarters of the Consortium Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is also located in Montpellier. The CGIAR with fifteen specialized research institutes set up in most developing countries, and with its 8500 researchers is the worldwide leader in agricultural sciences.
Our History & Heritage
Montpellier SupAgro is the result of the merger of four institutes in 2007:
The Montpellier National Institute of Higher Education in Agricultural sciences, the National Center for tropical and sub-tropical environments (CNEARC), the Experimental Teaching Center CEP in Florac and the National Institute of Higher Education in Agro food for tropical and subtropical regions (SIARC)
The particular history of each of these four founding members is chronologically related here:
1842-Setting up of the Institute at la Saulssaie (located in the east of France) that will become the Regional Institute in Agricultural Sciences in 1848.
1870-Transfer to Montpellier of la Saulsaie Imperial Institute in Agricultural Sciences.
Louis Pasteur arrived in the Institute thanks to his scientific works on silkworm breeding, and hedelivered his lectures in the lecture hall that bears his name nowadays.
1876– Phylloxera devastated all French and European vineyard.
1902-Ensac, (later Cnearc), the National Higher school for colonial agriculture is set up in Nogent-sur-Marne.
1946 –The National Institute for Agronomic research, is founded. It is the French research body for the agricultural and food processing sector It is set up in the campus of La Gaillarde, Montpellier’s INRA center is one of the first and most important INRA centers.
1948-The Abram family bequeaths its stock-breeding farm of Merle in Salon-de-Provence (Bouches du Rhône) to the Institute
1960-The Institute becomes the « Ecole nationale supérieure agronomique », and is allowed to deliver agricultural engineer degree.
1968-The Sabatier d’Espeyran family transfers their wine– growing domain (Le Chapitre, in Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone (Hérault) to the School
1970-Creation of the educational experimentation center in Florac
1976– Création of Ensia-Siarc (Section des Ingénieurs Agroalimentaires pour les Régions Chaudes)
1981-The national agronomic Center of studies for hot countries settles in Montpellier (Cnearc)
1985– L’Ecole nationale supérieure agronomique de Montpellier is one of the founding members of Agropolis : an association specialized in research and Higher Education in the field of Mediterranean and tropical agronomy. .
Louis MALASSIS, one of the school’s professors is its first president.
1988-« Agro Montpellier » is accredited to, deliver PhDs in agronomic studies
2006– ‘Agro Montpellier, the national agronomic Center of studies for hot countries (Cnearc), the department of food processing in hot areas (Siarc) of the Ensia (CEP) and Florac are merged into one single institute under the name of Montpellier SupAgro. (january 2007)
2009 – Creation of Agreenium : consortium Higher Education schools and research centers for agronomy in France. (CGIAR)
2010 – This consortium settles in Paris.
2011 – Montpellier SupAgro chair « Wolrd Food System » is accredited by UNESCO Chair
2012 – ISO 9001 certification of the Engineering in Agricultural Sciences (IA) common core
2013 – ISO 9001 certification of the Engineering in Sustainable Agricultural and Agri-food Systems for the South (SAADS) common core
2014 – Creation of Montpellier SupAgro first Business Chair
« AgroSYS: Engineering for Sustainable AgroecoSYStems »
