General Directorate
for Scientific Research and
Technological Development
(DG-RSDT)
http://www.nasr-dz.org

The General Directorate for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DG-RSDT) came into being in September 2009, it has been setup by the law # 08-05  of February 23, 2008,  which defines  the five-years scientific national research plan (2008-2012), expected to move our national research system to more Excellency for a sustainable development.  By this law, the DG-RSDT is the principal enabler  of National Scientific Research and Development, it has the responsibility to put into action the Law’s directives related to: the planning, the evaluation, the institutional structuring, the development of Human Resources, Academic Research, technology and engineering, social and human sciences Research,  scientific and technical Information systems, scientific collaboration, the valorization of the Research activities, the infrastructure and major equipments, as well as the program’s financing within the five-year plan. In this context, the DG-RSDT must mobilize existing knowledge sources, develop and sustain the creativity which leads to innovation, and point towards a knowledge-based societal model founded on creative knowledge and its diffusion, renewal and absorption within society.

By this mission, the General Directorate takes charge of, and implements the decisions and recommendations issued by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (DNRST), while performing its secretarial functions.

The collegial and intersectorial coordination of the activities related to scientific research and technological development is performed by the General Directorate mainly through its intersectorial commissions and in relation to sectorial permanent committees involved in the activities from the various sectors.

 

Briefly, The responsibility of the General Director is to manage, motivate and coordinate the activities performed by the various structures under its jurisdiction. The central administration of the General Directorate is structured around four Offices:

• The Directorate for Research Programming, Evaluation and Prospective Study;

• The Directorate for Administration and Funding of Scientific Research;

• The Directorate of Development, and Scientific & Technical Services;

• The Directorate of Research Valorization, Innovation and Technology Transfert.

At the operational level,  the Article 10 of the Law # 08-05 defines 34 National Research Programs (NRP) which specify the National policies, goals and priorities for the National Scientific Research and Technological Development. The official launching of the NRPs has been a major task for DG-RSDT; 600 experts of different economic sectors have been identified and involved in the scientific contents of those programs that will soon be put into the national bidding process. Meetings were held in many regional grouping of experts in January 2009, with the local or virtual participation of the national elite established abroad, in order to define themes and policies best fitting the needs of the national development, according to the procedures defined by the law on Research. The main reports are available on line (see www.nasr-dz.org/call_pnr.php). The titles of the various NRPs below summaries those reports:

Simultaneously, the DG-RSDT is making efforts to improve the Research environment with a greater availability of equipment and document resources, and by proposing texts for decrees and legislative bills about the organization and the optimization of the material and human potentials, as well as the financing of the Research equipment and infrastructures. A great emphasis is given to the setup of measures motivating the researcher to valorize his/her results whether of a scientific or an economic nature. In summary, the goal is to create all the statutory conditions and create the logistic environment to end up with the largest possible number of teaching personnel supporting the Research activities. Among those texts that can be viewed on-line (see www/nasr/projets_arretes.php) we suggest the following:

• Doctoral and post-doctoral status ;

• The National Laboratory Notebook ;

• How to create a mixed research team;

• How to get a research activity contract ;

• Short duration traveling course around the Country ;

• The Creation of the National Council for the Evaluation of Research ;

• The rules for the creation, organization and operation of a research mixed laboratory ;

• Creation, organization and operation of a Research Laboratory (modifications to the executive Decree # 99-244 of 31.10.1999) ;

• The scientific excellence indemnity awarded to some members of the certain higher education and research personnel ;

In addition to the 34 NRP, more than one hundred actions are identified. In order to reach the defined goals it is absolutely necessary that all those actions  will be implemented simultaneously.

n  The higher education establishments : The Research policy that will be followed will be geared towards a full participation of the teaching researchers in the national research effort;  with 28000 teaching researchers  targed for 2012. To achieve this goal, actions will be taken, in particular, to make their profession more financially attractive; this can be done by incentives for patent applications, the setup of technological methods for the fabrication of prototypes and pre-production samples within industrial specifications, the teaching in the use of tools for modeling, simulating and computer-assisted manufacturing within the engineering disciplines, mobilizing and valorizing the national expertise and consulting resources in the main domains of technological manufacturing processes for products and equipments.

-       The scientifc and technical information : mastering the production and distribution cycle of Information is of a strategic importance. The steps will include, in particular, the promotion of an observation system, as a tool for the analysis of the main causes affecting the national information system and as decision tools, to speed up the implementation of national scientific and technical information system, the intensive development of national databases, the specification of a strategy for the edition and diffusion of national scientific journals.

-       The national and international scientific cooperation : It is an essential element  of the national research system. Thus, in the globalization era, it is vital that researchers have access to the external world in order to maintain the quality and the performance of their work thanks, especially, to exchanges with their national and international peers performing the same or complementary works.

-       The economic valorization of activities related to the scientific Research and the technological development  : It is the ultimate phase resulting from the transfer of products and knowledge within the research endeavors towards an economic world. To succeed, a number of actions must be realized including the establishment of a strategic management to lead our researchers’ creativity towards themes that have a real economic pertinence, to setup structures to support valorization, to strengthen the valorization methods with the creation of a priming foundation by introducing modern innovation management techniques.

The Financing of Scientific Research and Technologic Development over the 2008-2012 period will be linked to the scientific objectives and will cover all planned actions with respect to the programming, evaluation, economic valorization, strengthening of the Research environment and its organization, the implementation of the Research infrastructures and major equipments,  the scientific cooperation as well as the aspects linked to the scientific and technical information.

The main socio-economic and Research domains for the 2008-2012 five-year plan are defined below.

MAJOR RISKS. In order to reduce the catastrophic effects of natural phenomena, the scientific objectives are to develop a better understanding of those phenomena thanks to a constant monitoring, the evaluation of the randomness of those phenomena so as to know their amplitude, their spatial distribution but as well their repetition throughout time.

ENERGY AND MINING. The scientific objectives are the introduction, application and even the development of new technologies in the energy and mining sector, namely the hydrocarbons, the mines and the electric production.

NUCLEAR ENERGY AND TECHNIQUES. Within the context of renewable development, the nuclear technology and techniques are considered as the approach best able to contribute to the availability of energy in the short and long term. The scientific objectives are to acquire the knowledge and the ability to develop the methods related to the fuel cycle and to the application of nuclear techniques.

RENEWABLE ENERGIES. The main objectives assigned to each of the programs are to do an evaluation of the pools of renewable energy,  to know and optimize the conversion processes, to transform and store those energies and develop the needed know-how, from the study to the implementation of on-site production plants.

TERRITORY PLANNING. The Research objectives target the know-how of Public Works and Urban Development. With respect to the arid and semi-arid regions, the scientific objectives are related to the regional climate assessment, a precise inventory of the current natural resources, the frequent monitoring of the areas, the evaluation of the erosion process and the degradation of the arid and semi-arid regions, the evaluation of the environment’s potentials, the evaluation of the surface conditions,  the development of treatment and analysis methods in arid and semi-arid environments, the use of new satellite Earth observation systems, the creation of structured databases, the valorization and finally, the multiplication of the Saharan plant species.

ENVIRONNEMENT. The program to be setup must target : the knowledge of modeling and the development of decision tools,  the implementation of monitoring diagnostic methods, especially the design of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), weather and climate watch, ecosystem monitoring, risk prevention and detection of pollutants, reduction of tensions with the natural resources and the limitation of environmental challenges.

TRANSPORT. The scientific objectives in the Transport domain are focused on the implementation of integrated surveillance systems and maritime traffic security, the use and maintenance of transport equipments, the measurement and analysis of noise and atmospheric pollution created by the ground vehicles, the education and formation systems for highway security and the prevention of traffic accidents and finally the information and telecommunication systems.

NATIONAL EDUCATION. The scientific and Research objectives in the Education and Training domains have been formulated by taking into account on the one hand, the difficulties faced in the Education sector, especially with respect to the current quality of the formation-employment relationship; and on the other hand, the rapid mutations occurring within the Algerian society, the demographic pressure and finally the opening to the modern world.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD. The scientific and Research objectives in this domain are focused on improving the productivity of the production systems, the development of adapted technologies for the intensification of the production systems and of the agri-food channels, the genetic improvement and the protection of plant and animal health, the mastery of drought through the rationalization of irrigation practices and the genetic approach for the adaptation of plant species to drought conditions.

BIOTECHNOLOGIES. The scientific and Research objectives in the domain of Biotechnogies will occur with the mobilization of the accumulated competences, especially in the areas of biomass valorization, multiplication and improvement of the species and, finally, in the domain of human and animal health.

PUBLIC WORKS. The Research themes to be developed cover the study of the fundamental properties of materials, their optimal use, the behavior of structures in difficult environments, the specifications of new local materials, recycled products or the design and development of new construction and maintenance techniques for the protection of the environment with a constant effort to reduce major risks and natural catastrophes.

HEALTH. The Research effort will be focused on the following main areas : prevention and screening, treatment of prevalent diseases, reproductive health, development of human resources, organization, management and evaluation of the health systems, health costs, clinical tests, health information, education and communication, applied clinical and therapeutic research, confirmed fundamental Research, as well as medical engineering and pharmaceutical products.

WATER RESOURCES. The scientific and Research objectives cover the development of techniques for gathering water resources (dam and hydraulic construction), the maintenance and operations of dams, the integrated management of the water resources for each water basin, the gathering of the water resource by non-conventional means such as sea water desalinization, the promotion of water resource protection techniques, the artificial re-supplying of the aquifers, irrigation techniques and the re-use of purified used waters.

SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES, CULTURE ET COMMUNICATION. Society is the object of those Research activities; their aim is to understand and hopefully avoid serious societal crises or at least to reduce their consequences. Social balance, stability and prosperity are therefore the main objectives pursued by this Research within the domains of social and human sciences. The Research’s scientific objectives must include an understanding of the areas of rapid societal changes, so as to be able to apply that knowledge within the available or requested means, in order to cover the needs of our society as it currently goes through rapid mutations.

FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCES. Fundamental Sciences research includes such domains as mathematics, physics, chemistry, fundamental informatics, natural sciences, Earth sciences, and Universe sciences. It deals with “fundamental” sciences even though some of its work involve aspects of « applied » research. It is mostly done in academic Research laboratories.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES. The Research program targets main objectives in order to (a) establish a strategy for the acquisition, mastering and technical development in the favorite software domain ;(b) accelerate the start of a R&D process that would promote a knowledge-based economy ; and (c) gather the know-how resulting from the accumulation and mastering of technological knowledge in order to increase the opportunities for innovation and the creation of value-added components within the new economy.

SPACE TECHNOLOGIES. Based on its scientific and technological domains, this program covers advanced issues (space physics, robotics, space telecommunications, space geodesy, software engineering, energetics, small satellites technology.). It will be organized around a technological spectrum related to the development of nano- and micro-satellite techniques, to the launching assets and on-board instruments ; separately there will be a panel for the Earth-bound observations needed for the assessment  and management of natural resources, the protection of the environment, the prevention and management of natural risks and for space telecommunications

Housing, Construction and Urban Planning. The scientific and Research objectives are centered on the need to master the techniques and technologies related (a) to housing with respect to thermal comfort, acoustical comfort, energy saving, bioclimatic housing, architecture, restoration ; (b)  to the urbanism with respect of restoration, rehabilitation and urban design ; (c) to seismic construction engineering with respect to the recommendation and promotion of materials best suited for seismic protection, the writing construction codes, reduction of vulnerability and disaster readiness.

Manufacturing. The scientific objective are centered around Research areas dealing with industrial activities that are prioritized in the five-year plan and considered to have development potentials according to recent studies. In addition and with the intention of speeding up the reconstruction (rebuilding) process and technological restructuration of the national manufacturing, it is proposed to setup a program in industrial technologies in the different domains of integrated production, electrical engineering, automation, process engineering and mechanical engineering.

FISHING AND HALIEUTIC RESOURCES. The scientific and Research objectives in the fishing and aquaculture domains are based on the knowledge of the biological resources through a periodic scientific evaluation, on setting up a follow-up of the fishing effort, on the conservation and valorization of the halieutic resources, on improvements of the production systems productivity, on the development of technologies need to increase production in high yield maritime areas or in natural or artificial water sites that are well adapted to fishing and aquaculture, having a rational exploitation of the natural resources while protecting the environment.

YOUTH AND SPORTS. The purpose of scientific Research in this domain is to spread the knowledge and the use of technical and technological procedures in sport and leisure ; it helps in defining the Youth and Sports policies, the social integration and involvement of young people and thus promote a durable development within society.

Points of reference of the Planning and Development Strategy during  2009-2013.

Elaborating a Plan to develop Research is an endeavour of particular importance because its realism as well as the scope of its vision has major consequences on the specified national objectives.

The choices described in this Plan are aimed to define the domains that the General Directorate intend to strengthen and to prioritize in order to face the challenges appearing on the horizon, such as the construction of new Research Center, the recruitment of new permanent researchers, the integration of a large number of educators in the Research activity, with contractual arrangements.

Thus the themes selected for the 2009-2013 plans are: Culture, Society and Education, Environment and sustainable development,   Organizational Sciences, Materials Sciences, Life and Health, Major Risks, Information and Communication Technologies, nanotechnologies, fundamental sciences.

in order to consolidate these strategic actions it is important to plan the creation of specialized Research Center, and in particular :

·         A Center for Social and Human Sciences, in order to support initiatives working for the enrichment of the Algerian reality in all its social and cultural dimensions.

·         A Research Center for a sustainable development of the environment, in order to promote a global vision about the environmental questions within society. This Center will be called the Center for Research on Green Chemistry.

·         In order to strengthen innovation and development of Knowledge, the General Directorate intends to setup three Regional Centers for Technology Transfer (CTT).

·         A National Center for nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, given the fact that the Algerian University has a long tradition of excellence in Materials Sciences.

·         Genomics and proteomics are important and promising facets, not only for the prevention and treatment of health problems, but as well for pharmacology, nutrition and rehabilitation. It is therefore important to include in the 2010-2014 plan, major equipments for the National Center for Biotechnology Research in Constantine. This center will thus become a major contributor for the development of the Algerian biotechnology.

·         Setting up in Bejaia, a National Center for agri-food Technology (CNTA) since this domain is a strategic priority for our country.

·         Setting up an observatory against major risks with a cyber-infrastructure whose mission will be to identify, using the required instrumentation, the different measurements that might be related to the evolution of specific risks.

·         Setting up of an pilot station for the fight against Desertification and Sand Invasion.

·         Setting up in Setif, of a Research Center on materials and electronic methods for micro- and nano- photonics.

·         supercomputing center for advanced studies in science and technology.

First Version