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Under certain conditions, in particular when optimization is sought, bioprocesses present risks of destabilization which require the implementation of control laws. The scientific problem is defined as the (potentially "optimal") control of dynamic systems - sometimes large - uncertain, partially observed, non-linear, non-stationary and / or subject to perturbations. One of the original features of LBE's work in this field is to take advantage of the fine knowledge of the process and the microbial ecosystem it hosts in order to propose innovative and effective solutions.

The implementation of these control laws requires information via – if possible online - sensors to know the state of the system at the present moment. If the sensors to characterize the environment of the reaction medium (temperature, pH, liquid and gaseous flows, pressures, etc.) are easily implemented and available (including on a small scale), information on the reaction state of the medium and on Microorganisms, (types of organisms present, activities, concentrations of metabolites, etc.) are much more difficult to obtain. This is why a large part of our activities is aimed at developing sensors, in particular for anaerobic systems. Note that if the bioprocesses are still lacking appropriate and inexpensive sensors, the problem related to the search for means of actions - the actuators - is also pregnant. One way to improve the situation is to conduct research on microbial ecosystems, the true functional cores of bioprocesses. By associating microbial ecologists and theorists, modelers and automaticians, new levers of action are sought to optimize the functioning of bioprocesses in order to move from a situation in which the state of the ecosystems is undergone to a situation in which its Main metabolic pathways can be oriented...

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Jean-Philippe Steyer