Presentation

The Laboratory of Excellence LabEx OSUG has been extended for a period of 8 years under the French government’s Investissements d’Avenir program, implemented by the French National Research Agency (ANR). This third phase of the project, on the theme “Habitability in Changing Worlds”, will further strengthen the expertise and know-how of the OSUG community in observing, understanding, and modeling natural systems. It will address a wide range of topics including exoplanets, the Earth system, natural resources, and risks.

Launched in September 2011, the project OSUG@2020: Innovative strategies for the observation and modeling of natural systems was selected as a Laboratory of Excellence (LabEx), funded until 2020 with a budget of €11 million. This project, led by the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), was built around three major scientific challenges: – observing and modeling natural systems with new instruments – improving prediction and advisory capabilities – better connecting and processing collected data for modeling purposes.

Over the decade, OSUG@2020 helped structure and invigorate research within its units, spanning Research, Observation, Training, International cooperation, and Knowledge transfer.

In January 2020, the project OSUG@2020 was extended for an additional five years, recognizing the successes achieved and the collective commitment of its partners: CNRS, UGA, IRD, INRAE, Météo France, IFSTTAR, G-INP, and USMB. This extension marked a new stage, with a particular focus on the theme “Habitability in Changing Worlds”. It was structured around four scientific axes:
– the formation of habitable planets
– habitability on Earth
– resources required to sustain habitability
– natural hazards that threaten habitability.

Building on the legacy of OSUG@2020, a new project, officially approved in July 2023 by the UGA IdEx, was launched in January 2025 for a period of eight years, with additional support from USMB, INRAE, and CNRS-INEE. This ever more ambitious project, rooted within OSUG, will continue to explore the central theme “Habitability in Changing Worlds”, paving the way for in-depth research on the conditions for the emergence and maintenance of life on Earth and beyond, as well as on today’s environmental and societal challenges.