Abstract.-VON DÄNIKEN I., GUISAN A. & LANE S., 2014. RechAlp.vd. A new support platform
for transdisciplinary research in the Alpine region of the Vaud Canton. Bulletin de la Société vaudoise
des Sciences naturelles 94.2: 175-178.
The RechAlp.vd project, which began in July 2013, is the outcome of the wish of the Faculty of
Geosciences and the Environment at the University of Lausanne to create a priority study area in the
Alps of Canton de Vaud. The project aims to develop a support platform that encourages and maintains
interdisciplinary research in the Alps of Vaud. An online geo-database storing and retrieving what
data and metadata exist on datasets, projects and activities in the study area is available since July
2014. A portal is homed on the UNIL's website at URL: http://rechalpvd.unil.ch and to date contains
more than 3840 metadata in the fields of natural sciences. The promotion and the introduction of the
project are currently in progress. It is now possible using the RechAlp.vd portal to do the inventory
of the data linked to the Alps of Vaud, to identify geographic or environmental gaps in the existing
information and to design complementary data sampling strategies. In this regard, RechAlp.vd should
open new scientific perspectives for research and teaching, especially in transdisciplinary fields of
natural sciences.