2026 Call for Research Proposals – Exposum Institute: The Exposome and Behavior

[Call for Proposals] - Published on October 15, 2025 in Major Programs, Flagship Projects

ExposUM is an initiative of the University of Montpellier and its partners¹ aimed at establishing a leading, off-campus, and interdisciplinary institute for the study, education, and science-society interaction regarding the environmental determinants of human health. ExposUM is a recipient of the ExcellenceS (PIA4) call for proposals and is supported by the Occitanie Region for the period 2022–2030.

Background and Objective

The exposome refers to the totality of lifelong exposures to environmental and social factors whose effects influence human health by causing, promoting, modulating, or preventing diseases, whether communicable or not. In this sense, it is the environmental counterpart to the genome, with which it interacts throughout an individual’s lifetime.

The “ Research ” research area at the ExposUM Institute aims to support and accelerate the acquisition of new knowledge through an interdisciplinary, coordinated, and integrated approach to the fields of exposome research within the four pillars:

1. Strengthen the monitoring of environmental exposures,
2. To deepen our understanding of the ecology of hosts, pathogens, reservoirs, and vectors ( One Health approach),
3. To improve our fundamental understanding of the biological mechanisms that may be modulated by the exposome,
4. Study the consequences for human health.

Data science serves as a bridge connecting these pillars—both in terms of methodology and analysis, as well as in the application of results. A second bridge—comprising the study and development of new strategies for exposure control—complements this framework, which is linked to the “Interfaces” and “Training” pillars.

It is within this framework that the ExposUM Institute organizes an annual call for research proposals (AAP-R) co-funded by the ANR and the Occitanie Region. Each AAP-R focuses on a different theme—one that is intentionally broad—relating to contexts, processes, patterns, or methods, and includes research falling under the aforementioned pillars and bridges.

In accordance with the objectives set forth in the call for proposals ExcellenceScall, the ExposUM Institute strongly encourages transdisciplinary research projects with a focus on the Global South, the initiation of new collaborations, and the promotion of local and regional resources (particularly technology platforms). Projects should, as much as possible, adhere to the open science approach by ensuring that the data produced is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR); see below.

Topic

As it does every year, the AAPR focuses on a priority theme² chosen collectively by the Institute’s three councils. For the year 2026, this theme is“Exposome and Behavior.”

Human Behavior³ —both individual and collective—shape and influence our exposome. They determine its nature and intensity, which vary over the course of a lifetime, whether through daily practices (e.g., diet, physical activity, digital habits), risky behaviors (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, addictions), or interactions that influence psychosocial and biological exposures, including those related to pathogens. Conversely, the exposome influences our behaviors through somatic and psychological pathways—both physiological and pathological—as well as socioeconomic pathways, which give rise to significant feedback loops.

Understanding these dynamic interactions is essential for identifying effective prevention strategies, reducing exposure inequalities, and supporting major societal transitions (e.g., in response to climate change, lifestyle shifts, and emerging diseases). With this in mind, the ExposUM Institute seeks to support original, transdisciplinary research projects that explore the interface between human behavior and the exposome—whether, for example, by better characterizing exposure mechanisms, analyzing their behavioral determinants, or proposing public health interventions that incorporate this bidirectional relationship.

Financing Terms

For its 2026 edition, the ExposUM Institute has divided its AAP-R into two categories.

Standard Research Projects

This category corresponds to the standard project format that qualifies for personnel funding⁴ and the operating funds needed to produce original results that can be utilized or published.

Amount and duration limits: 250 k€ over 2 years.

Non-tenured researchers may submit a project in this category, provided they are already affiliated with the research institution under which the project is being submitted. The funds allocated may then be used to cover the project leader’s salary⁵, if necessary, until the project’s scheduled completion.

Exploratory Research Projects

These projects are intended to spark a wave of exploratory and original research, to test hypotheses and approaches that are not typically favored in standard calls for proposals, and to produce preliminary results with a view to applying for ambitious grants at a later stage.

Amount and duration limits: 50,000 euros over 2 years.

Non-tenured researchers may submit a project in this category, provided they are already affiliated with the research institution under which the project is being submitted; however, the funds awarded may not be used to cover the principal investigator’s salary, whose contract must span the duration of the project.

Eligible Expenses and Total Amount of the Call for Proposals

Eligible expenses include salaries for non-tenured staff (researchers, engineers, technicians, and assistants—but not doctoral fellowships), as well as operating expenses and small equipment. Staff funded by the project may only be recruited from within the consortium’s research units⁶.

For all eligible institutions—whether or not the “UM ” is a co-sponsoring institution—the employer of the recruited staff will be the “UM.” In the case of institutions without a co-sponsoring institution UM, the funds necessary for recruitment will be retained by the “UM ” to cover recruitment costs (with some exceptions). The principal investigator must designate one of the co-supervising institutions of their organization as the administrator of non-personnel funds, after obtaining its agreement in principle.

The ExposUM Institute’s projected total budget for this call for proposals is set at 2 million euros, with the goal of funding 7 standard projects and 7 exploratory projects⁷.

Submission Process

The submission of projects to the ExposUM Institute’s AAP-R will take place in two selection phases: first, a brief letter of intent (1 scientific page); and second, the complete project proposal (5 scientific pages), similar to the ANR’s general calls for proposals.

An individual may submit only one letter of intent in response to this call for proposals (but may be involved in other submitted projects without serving as the principal investigator). Note: Submissions by a principal investigator who was a recipient of a grant in a previous ExposUM Institute call for research proposals are not encouraged.  Furthermore, members of the three ExposUM Institute councils (CoDir, COER, COSS) are not permitted to submit a project as principal investigator.

No internal pre-selection by research units is required prior to the submission of letters of intent; therefore, there is no limit on the number of letters of intent that each research unit may submit (provided that each applicant submits only one).

However, research units are still required to authorize the submission on behalf of the unit (by signing the letter of intent), which constitutes a commitment to carry out the project if funding is granted.

However, to ensure balance, the ExposUM Institute reserves the right to set a limit on the number of letters of intent from a single research unit that may advance to the second phase.

Because the ExposUM Institute’s internal evaluation capacity is limited, a rigorous selection process will be conducted at this stage: a maximum of 14 letters of intent will be selected per project category.

If the project includes a clinical research component, a signed agreement from the DRCI of the relevant university hospital must be submitted at the time the final project proposal is submitted, authorizing the project to proceed within the budgetary, medical-scientific, and ethical parameters defined in the final proposal. Given the time required to obtain this agreement, we ask the relevant principal investigators to please plan ahead for this step. Otherwise, the final proposal may not be accepted by the ExposUM Institute.

Letters of intent should be drafted starting on downloadable template in French or English. Any deviation from the instructions provided therein will render the project ineligible, with no possibility of correction. Submissions must be made exclusively by sending the letter in PDF format (to be titled ResearchOrganizationName_PrincipalInvestigatorName.pdf) to the address , by November 30, 2025 (2:00 p.m. UTC+1), specifying [AAPR] in the email subject line and copying the management of the sponsoring research institution).

The authors of the selected letters of intent will be notified in early January regarding the next steps in the process.

As a general guideline, drafting the complete proposal in English for review by international experts will take a month and a half, and the process will be similar to that ofthe AAPR 2025 in terms of the matrix.

Calendar

Eligibility of Letters of Intent

To be eligible, letters of intent—and the projects they represent—must meet the following criteria:

1. The letter of intent must be submitted by the date, time, and specific time specified above. It must be drafted in strict accordance with the guidelines provided in the template (all fields must be filled out, and the document must not exceed 2 pages).
2. The project must have as its principal investigator a staff member affiliated with a research institution that is part of the consortium⁸. Members of Support and Research s Units (UAR) may not apply as principal investigators but may participate as project partners.
3. The project’s primary objective must be to generate knowledge regarding an environmental (including social) determinant of human health and must fall within the thematic scope of the Call for Proposals (see introductory paragraphs at). This alignment must be evident from the first four sections of the project’s scientific description.
4. Compliance with the PIA4 project funding rules as defined by the ANR and those set forth in this call for proposals (see above).

The eligibility of the letters of intent will be reviewed collectively by the three councils of the ExposUM Institute, its project team, and the Structural Programs Division of theUM.

Pre-selection of Letters of Intent

The evaluation of letters of intent will focus on the nature of the exhibition (or, more precisely, exhibitions) under study, the originality of the research question, the spatial and temporal scope of the study, and methodological relevance. Preference will be given to projects whose results have the potential to impact human behavior.

Letters of intent will be evaluated and ranked collectively by all members of the three councils of the ExposUM Institute. The preselection process will then focus on the 14 highest-ranked standard projects and the 14 highest-ranked exploratory projects (this is the initial target, but it may be adjusted by the COSS based on the relative quality of the projects actually received in each category).

Evaluation and Selection of Complete Projects

All projects will be evaluated based solely on the complete proposal submitted⁹.

The scientific quality of research projects will be evaluated by the Research ’s Steering and Evaluation Committee (COER), which will endeavor to solicit, for each project, two anonymous reviewers from outside the institution, based on the following criteria:

• Its scientific value and originality, within the scope of the ExposUM Initiative,
• Its methodological strengths,
• Its potential for impact (both fundamental and applied),
• Its feasibility (in terms of the partners, timeline, and budget presented).

The 14 projects in each category will thus be ranked based solely on the aggregate score from the scientific evaluations. The 7 winning projects in each category will then be selected by the Scientific and Strategic Steering Committee (COSS), which will also evaluate—in the strategic interest of the Institute, the site, and the partners, and only when scientific quality is equivalent—the non-scientific strengths of the projects, namely:

• Transdisciplinarity, the establishment of new partnerships,
• The Exposomic Approach¹⁰,
• The One Health and Global Health Dimensions¹¹, a focus on the Global South, and consideration of vulnerable populations¹²,
• The project's potential to serve as a tool for behavioral prevention,
• Interaction with the training and science-society interface tracks¹³,
• Leveraging Local Resources¹⁴, regional¹⁵, as well as other projects already funded by ExposUM¹⁶,
• The University of Montpellier's commitment to the open science approach,
• The sustainability (environmental impact) of research.

Commitment by the carrier

• To adhere, in the design and implementation of the project submitted in response to this Call for Proposals, the values and principles of scientific integrity intended to ensure the honesty and scientific rigor of all research work, as referred to in Article L.211-2 of the Research Code and set forth in the National Code of Ethics for Research Professions and the University of Montpellier’s Charter on Scientific Integrity;

• Comply with the Nagoya Protocol, if applicable;

• Include the logos of the University of Montpellier, France 2030, and the ExposUM Institute in all documents related to the project’s implementation;

• Please send to the Institute (), an annual report (financial statements and summary report) that may be used in the University’s communications materials;

• Apply the currentUM publication guidelines to all scientific outputs; comply with provisions related to open science and the Law for a Digital Republic ( open-access publication). The directors of laboratories under the supervision of UM will deposit the full text of publications in the HAL-UM open archive;

• Take the necessary steps to obtain the required research authorizations and approvals in regulated areas (genetically modified organisms, the use of animals for scientific purposes, health data, the use of genetic resources and the resulting benefit-sharing, bioethics, etc.).

List of research institutions eligible for this call for proposals

ABSys, AGAP Institute, AIDA, AMAP, Analyses, ART-Dev, ASTRE, BC2M, BCM, BIOLuM, BioWooEB, CBGP, CBS, CDE, CEFE, CEE-M, CEMIPAI, CEPEL, CERCOP, ChimEco, CREAM, CRBM, CSUM, DEFE, DGIMI, DIADE, DIASCOPE, DMEM, ECO&SOLS, ECOTRON, EDPFM, EDSM, ESPACE-DEV, EuroMov DHM, F&S, FHU Evocan 2, FHU Neurexpo, FHU Regenhab 2, FHU TIE, G-EAU, GECO, Génopolys, GM, HortSys, HSM, IATE, IBMM, ICGM, ICS, ICSM, IDEDH, IDESP, IEM, IES, IGF, IGH, IGMM, IHD, IHPE, IMAG, IMAGINE, INM, INNOVATION, INTERTRYP, IPSiM, IRCM, IRIM, IRMB, ISDM, ISEM, ITAP, L2C, LBE, LBN, LDP, LEPSE, LICeM, LIRDEF, LIRMM, LISAH, LMGC, LPHI, LUPM, Maraîchage, MARBEC, MEEB, MISTEA, MIVEGEC, MMDN, MOISA, MRE, MRM, MSH Sud, OREME, PAC Chimie Balard, PCCEI, Pech Rouge, PHIM, PhyMedExp, QualiSud, R&R, SantESiH, SELMET, SENS, SPO, Sys2diag, TETIS, TransVIHMI, VASSAL, VBIC

1. CIRAD, CNRS, Ifremer, INRAe, Inria, Inserm, IRD, ENSCM, Institut Agro, Montpellier University Hospital, ICM, Occitanie Region. ↩︎
2. It should be noted, however, that all research proposals submitted that include an environmental human health component will be carefully reviewed. ↩︎
3. Projects that focus exclusively on non-human behavior or behavior attributed to sub-individual entities (e.g., the behavior of a cell or a receptor) are not encouraged. ↩︎
4. Excluding doctoral contracts, which are funded through the dedicated Nexus program. ↩︎
5. Regardless of the duration of this funding from ExposUM and the applicant’s employment history, recruitment will be conducted through the University of Montpellier—barring exceptions—under a project-based contract, with compensation capped at the “new increased index” (INM) 596, corresponding approximately to a net monthly salary of €2,300. Prior approval from the Human Resources Department will be required.    ↩︎
6. Partners outside the consortium will be eligible for funding only through invoicing for services rendered (with the funds continuing to be managed by the lead institution’s research unit). ↩︎
7. The ExposUM Institute reserves the right to adjust this allocation based on the relative quality of the projects within each category. ↩︎
8. See the list of institutions within the ExposUM scope on the last page. The applicant must already be an official member of the institution in question as of November 30, 2025, and their contract (permanent or temporary, potentially funded by this grant) with that institution must remain in effect until the project’s scheduled completion at the end of 2028. Members affiliated with research institutions within the ExposUM network who are employed by a university other than the University of Montpellier are not eligible to apply. ↩︎
9. The procedure for this call for proposals does not include feedback to applicants or interviews. ↩︎
10. See, for example, the article from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ↩︎
11. A mere mention of the “One Health approach”will be deemed insufficient: the simultaneous study of human, animal, and environmental health must be explicitly justified and central to the project. ↩︎
12. See the definitions provided by the National Consultative Ethics Committee and the Dictionary of the Academy of Medicine. ↩︎
13. The involvement of students in the project or routine scientific dissemination are not considered sufficient inter-axis linkages. Please refer to the specific actions associated with the Institute’s other two axes. ↩︎
14. From the Montpellier website. ↩︎
15. Occitanie Region. ↩︎
16. This point is only awarded if the auxiliary project in question does not involve the same members and structures. ↩︎

Keywords: Call for Proposals, ExposUM