Philippe C. NICOT

Philippe Nicot received the diploma of Engineer in Agronomy from AgroParisTech (France) in 1980. In 1985, he completed a PhD degree in Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. He then went to China as a postdoctoral fellow of the US National Academy of Sciences and worked in the Plant Protection and Microbiology departments of China Agricultural University for four years, conducting research and teaching. In 1989, he joined the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) as a research scientist at the Plant Pathology Unit in Avignon, conducting research on diseases of fruits and vegetables. He became head of the research group on fungal diseases, and later served as director of the Plant Pathology Unit from 2003 to 2008.

Until his retirement in 2024 as a senior scientist of INRAE, his research focused on the epidemiology of fruit and vegetable diseases and the development of non-chemical control methods. He was involved in numerous EU-funded research projects on biological control and/or IPM and he has evaluated many national and international research projects as an independent expert. He taught plant pathology and IPM in undergraduate and postgraduate programs at various French and international institutions.

During his career, he regularly attended IOBC-WPRS WG meetings and participated in the organization of several conferences. He served as General Secretary of IOBC-WPRS from 2005 to 2013, as President from 2014 to 2021, and later as a member of the Audit Committee. In 2022, he was awarded Honorary Membership by IOBC-Global.