irstea (IRSTEA), France

With an annual operating budget of about 82 Million € and more than 1,000 research staff, irstea is a leading research institution in environment and natural hazards. The Geomechanics Group at irstea is specialised in fundamental and applied issues related to natural risks.

Competencies and facilities

In the past decades, irstea has acquired considerable competence in managing geohazards. Numerous landslides and debris flows in the French Alps have been documented. These real-world cases can be used to calibrate and validate our numerical models. The Geomechanics Group of the irstea with its 10 researchers, engineers and technicians is involved in both fundamental and applied research on geohazards. We have developed special skills in testing and modelling protective structures. The experimental investigation consists of both laboratory and field tests. Moreover, the multiscale approach based on DEM is also strong competence of the group. In addition, the theoretical investigation on the micromechanical behaviour of granular materials (including instability phenomena) constitutes an important research field.

Key person

Dr. François NICOT is the head of the geomechanics group at irstea, Grenoble. His expertise is mainly concerned with the behaviour of granular geomaterials and their interaction with protective structures, e.g. avalanche and debris flow. Dr. Nicot has published more than 100 publications in peer reviewed journals and proceedings. He is the editor of the series “Natural Hazards” in the HERMES-Lavoisier Collection.