Call for Proposals: 2023 Training Program, ExposUM Doctoral Nexus Institute

[Call for Proposals] - Published on March 1, 2023 in Doctoral and HDR Programs, Flagship Projects, University

ExposUM is an initiative of the University of Montpellier and its partners¹ aimed at establishing a leading, cross-disciplinary, off-campus institute for the study, training, and interaction between science and society regarding the environmental determinants of human health. As a recipient of the ExcellenceS (PIA4) call for proposals and supported by the Occitanie Region, ExposUM is receiving €46.4 million in funding for the period 2022–2030.

Background and Objective

The training component of the ExposUM Institute aims to:

1. Breaking down barriers in education (interdisciplinarity).
2. Contribute to skills development.
3. Further strengthen ties with countries in the Global South.

To this end, several initiatives will be organized, including the funding of doctoral contracts as part of a program that organizes them into interdisciplinary networks, hereinafter referred to as Doctoral Nexus.

The Doctoral Nexus are networks of 3 to 4² doctoral researchers from different disciplines (e.g., social sciences, mathematical modeling, biology) and affiliated with at least two different research units. They will be funded based on:

• a joint research project, developed by the principal investigator in collaboration with the participating thesis advisors, encompassing all disciplines, and aimed at studying one or more aspects of the exposome as defined above,
• an individual, discipline-specificdissertation topic for each doctoral student involved.

Each doctoral thesis will be funded from the outset for a period of four years. This additional year is justified by the implementation of specific training initiatives and the time allocated to interdisciplinary work. In particular, collaboration between laboratories will be encouraged.

The doctoral programs at the ExposUM Institute will be strengthened by the implementation of an additional joint educational program focused on methodology and skills development—particularly in interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity—conducted within the framework of the ExposUM Institute, without replacing the training organized by the doctoral schools. As part of this initiative, doctoral students in a network will be tasked, during their third
year, withorganizing a one-dayconference (both scientifically and logistically). To this end, they will receive a grant from the Institute.

The Institute will therefore organize an annual Doctoral Nexus call for proposals (AAP) in collaboration with theUM doctoral schools, using funding from the ANR and the Occitanie Region.

For the 2023 cycle, the Institute plans to award a maximum of 15 grants
(for example, 5 Nexus projects, each consisting of 3 theses).

This funding covers the salaries of the doctoral students (approximately 167 k€ over 4 years) as well as operational expenses. These include the costs of additional training programs organized by the Institute, such as the seminar, and operating expenses. The operating budget is allocated in its entirety to the project leader, who coordinates its distribution within the Nexus; for example, approximately 60 k€ for a Nexus with 3 doctoral students or 80 k€ for a Nexus with 4 doctoral students (approximately 20 k€ per doctoral student).

Eligibility Criteria

• The principal investigator must be affiliated with a UR, UMR, or UMI³ that is part of the ExposUM Institute consortium. UARs, UExp, UPS, and US⁴, in particular,
  are not eligible to apply for this call for proposals⁵.
• The project must involve collaboration between at least two different research units.
• Proposed dissertation projects must be four years in duration.
• Doctoral students must be enrolled at the University of Montpellier, which requires that their thesis advisors be affiliated in advance with one of theUM doctoral schoolsUM in this call⁶.
• The project should aim to generate knowledge related to the exposome —that is, any environmental determinant of human health in the broadest sense.

Selection Criteria (for reference only)

• An original and relevant interdisciplinary approach to the topic: in this regard, the involvement of various doctoral schools within a network will be emphasized,
• Methodological qualities,
• Potential impacts (both fundamental and applied),
• Feasibility (scientific and financial resources already secured to ensure the successful completion of the dissertation),
• Coordination of individual projects,
• Relevance in light of the ExposUM Institute’s strategic priorities (establishing new partnerships, the One Health approach, Global Health and Southern Health, and promoting the involvement of the humanities and social sciences).

Submission Guidelines

The project must be written in French or English based on the simplified application form (see below), following the instructions provided therein.

Applications must be submitted by the principal applicant via the website: https://exposumnexus.sciencesconf.org/
A backup copy must be sent by email with [AAP Doctoral Nexus] in the subject line.
By 4:00 p.m. CET on May 7, 2023.

Program to Support the Integration of the Humanities and Social Sciences

If candidates interested in forming a Nexus would like support in
integrating the humanities and social sciences into their Nexus, Axis 2 of
the ExposUM Institute, and its director, Aurélie Binot, offer support and
incubation services.

You can request this support by sending an email (subject line: [Nexus SHS]).

Selection Process

Since the implementation of a Nexus depends on identifying a doctoral student for each thesis topic that comprises it, the selection of students will be conducted in parallel with the evaluation of the scientific quality of the projects.
In accordance with the University of Montpellier’s HRS4R certification, the selection of doctoral students will be carried out by the doctoral schools, with the proposed topics published in advance. In all cases, we recommend that teams that have identified potential doctoral students for topics related to the Nexus encourage them
to apply through the corresponding doctoral schools.

The procedures for selecting doctoral students by the doctoral schools, as well as their respective schedules, will be specified on the call for applications (AAP) website once they have been internally approved by the doctoral schools, on the page titled“Procedures Specific to Doctoral Schools.” Depending on the doctoral school, selection may take place either through the school’s joint competitive examination—particularly if the scheduled timeline is compatible with this call for applications—or
through a dedicated procedure.

The primary carrier is therefore asked to:

• Submit an application ( see Submission Guidelines) to the ExposUM Institute to apply for the Nexus program,
• Submit each individual thesis proposal to the doctoral school to which it belongs, briefly indicating whether the thesis could be part of the Nexus program.

The Nexus Project Evaluation Committee will consist of representatives from the COSS at the ExposUM Institute and representatives from the EDs, who will evaluate the scientific quality of the overall projects (see Selection Criteria). This evaluation will be a single-stage process based on the application previously submitted to the ExposUM Institute.

In a second step, provided that candidates are ranked by the EDs on at least two thesis topics within a Nexus project, the final selection for funding will then be made by the COSS, taking into account the Institute’s strategic priorities, the comprehensiveness of the Nexus, and the qualifications of the selected doctoral students.

Commitments

The project leaders agree to hold regular meetings (at least three times a year) with doctoral researchers thesis advisors and doctoral researchers , and to provide an annual report on the activities carried out at the Institute.

The leaders of the selected projects agree to include the France 2030, University of Montpellier, and Occitanie Region logos in all communications related to the project, and to comply with the University of Montpellier’s guidelines for publication branding.

Research organizations that are part of the ExposUM Institute consortium⁷

ABSYS, AGAP, AIDA, ALYENA, AMAP, ANALYSES, ART-Dev, ASTRE, BC2M, BCM, BioWooEB, BPMP, CBGP, CBS, CDE, CEE-M, CEFE, CEMIPAI, CEPEL, CERCOP, ChimEco, CRBM, CREAM, DEFE, DGIMI, DIADE, DIASCOPE, DMEM, ECO&SOLS, ECOTRON, EDSM, EDPFM, ESPACE-DEV, EuroMov DHM, Forêts et Sociétés, G-EAU, GECO, Génopolys, GM, HortSys, HSM, IATE, IBMM, ICGM, ICSM, IDEDH, IDESP, IEM, IES, IGF, IGH, IGMM, IHD, IHPE, IMAG, IMAGINE, INM, INNOVATION, INTERTRYP, IRCM, IRIM, IRMB, ISDM, ISEM,
ITAP, L2C, LBE, LBN, LDP, LEPSE, LICeM, LIRDEF, LIRMM, LISAH, LMGC, LPHI, LSTM, LUPM, MARBEC, MISTEA, MIVEGEC, MMDN, MOISA, MRE, MRM, MSH Sud, OREME, PCCEI, Pech Rouge, PHIM, PhyMedExp, QualiSud, Recycling and Risk, SantESiH, SELMET, SENS, SPO, Sys2Diag, TETIS, TransVIHMI, Vassal, VBIC

Contacts

For any information regarding this call for proposals, please send an email (subject line: [Contact Nexus]).

Governance of the ExposUM Institute

• Executive Committee (CoDir): Éric Delaporte (Chair), Aurélie Binot, Charlotte Boullé, Mircea Sofonea.
• Project Manager: Élodie Suttling
• Scientific and Strategic Steering Committee (COSS): Jacques Mercier (Chair), Amaria Baghdadli, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Pascal Demoly, Delphine Destoumieux-Garzon, Didier Fontenille, Sylvain Gandon, Julie Pannequin, Denis Pesche, Éric Servat, Coumba Toure Kane, Muriel Vayssier-Taussat, Laurent Visier.
• Research Guidance and Evaluation Committee Research COER): Charlotte Boullé, Anca Mirela Chiriac, Constance Delaby, Jacques Gardon, Alexandre Hobeika, Clément Jonquet, Antonio Maraver, Mircea Sofonea, Annelise Tran.

Results

Winners of the 2023 Nexus Call for Proposals:

1. CIRAD, CNRS, Ifremer, INRAE, INRIA, Inserm, IRD, ENSCM, Institut Agro, Montpellier University Hospital, ICM, Occitanie Region. ↩︎
2. As an exception for this first edition of the call for proposals, and provided that it is duly justified by the particularly innovative nature of a collaboration, the network may consist of only two thesis candidates. ↩︎
3. Research Unit, Joint Research Unit, International Joint Unit. ↩︎
4. Research Support Unit, Experimental Unit, Internal Service Unit, Service Unit. ↩︎
5. The research units [UR, UMR, UMI, UAR, UExp, UPS, and US] of the ExposUM Institute consortium are listed on page 5 of this document. ↩︎
6. U ED 166 Information, Structures, and Systems [I2S], ED 168 Chemical and Biological Sciences for Health [CBS2], ED 231 Economics and Management [EDEG], ED 459 Chemical Sciences at Balard [SCB], ED 461 Law and Political Science [DSP], ED 463 Human Movement Sciences [SMH], ED 584 GAIA (Biodiversity, Agriculture, Food, Environment, Earth, Water). ↩︎
7. As a reminder, only UR, UMR, and UMI units may apply for this call for proposals.
   UAR, UExp, US, and UPS units are not eligible. ↩︎

Keywords: Call for Proposals, Doctorate, Training, I-SITE, Research