Thierry Mandon, French Minister of State for Higher Education and Research, and François Houllier, President of INRA opened the INRA Awards ceremony hosted by David Lowe and Agathe Lecaron at the Grand Palais in Paris. Along with Frédéric Dardel, President of INRA's Scientific Advisory Board and of the international INRA Awards jury, Olivier Le Gall, Deputy Director General for Scientific Affairs at INRA, and Claude Ronceray, Deputy Director General for Research Support Services at INRA, they presented the awards to the six winners for their commitment and results in various areas of agricultural research.