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A large array of technics and methodologies are used and developed in the lab for a comprehensive quantification of lake biodiversity ranging from advanced molecular approaches for the identification of microscopic species to sonar detection for fish stock assessment. Field monitoring surveys as well as microcosm to mesocosm experiments are at the basis of ecological data supporting the acquisition of knowledge and the development of ecological models. Trophic and non-trophic interactions are scrutinized as potential drivers of ecological dynamics possibly constraining biodiversity patterns and sustainable conservation of lake ecosystems. Different facets of lake biodiversity are studied from inter and intra specific variability within and among lakes to functional and phylogenetic biodiversities. Specific research goals currently at work can be summed up as follows:

> Characterizing functional diversity of benthic prokaryotes and role in the methane cycle (in relation to local and global pressures)
> Estimating the role of a variety of microbes including microbial parasites (viruses, bacteria, chytrids and protists) on the dynamics of ecological groups such as primary producers, zooplankton and fish
> Replacing microbial communities in trophic network models and assessing their influence on the carbon fate especially within the pelagic compartment
> Assessing the diversity and influence of the secondary metabolites produced by primary producers (chemical ecology) on the ecological communities and trophic functioning in biotic interactions
> Addressing the impacts of invasive non-native species on lake food webs and quantifying their direct and indirect ecological consequences