Calls for research projects ExposUM 2024: Exposome & major societal challenges

[Call for projects] - Published on November 9, 2023 in Major Programs, Flagship Projects

ExposUM is an initiative of the University of Montpellier and its partners¹ aimed at establishing an open, off-campus institute of reference for research, training, and science-society interfaces on the environmental determinants of human health. Winner of the ExcellenceS (PIA4) call for projects and supported by the Occitanie Region, ExposUM is funded to the tune of €46.4 million over the period 2022-2030.

Context & objective of the call

The exposome refers to the sum of all exposures throughout life to environmental and social factors that affect human health by causing, promoting, modulating, or preventing diseases, whether communicable or not. In this sense, it is the environmental counterpart of the genome, with which it interacts throughout an individual's life.

Research ExposUM Research Division aims to support and accelerate the acquisition of primary knowledge in an interdisciplinary, coordinated, and non-segmented manner in the fields of exposome research relating to the four pillars:

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

Data science forms a bridge linking these pillars, both in terms of methodology and analysis, and in terms of leveraging results. A second bridge, consisting of the study and development of new exposure control strategies, completes this architecture, which is linked to the Interfaces and Training pillars.

It is within this framework that the ExposUM Institute organizes an annual call for research projects (AAP-R), co-financed by the ANR and the Occitanie Region. Each AAP-R focuses on a different, deliberately broad theme relating to contexts, processes, patterns, or methods, and including research relating to the above-mentioned pillars and bridges.

In accordance with the ambitions set out in the call for proposals ExcellenceS, the ExposUM Institute strongly encourages transdisciplinary research projects focused on the Global South, the initiation of new collaborations, and the promotion of local and regional resources (particularly technology platforms). Projects should, as far as possible, be part of the open science approach, making the data produced easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR)².

Theme

The topic chosen by the ExposUM Institute for the 2024 AAP-R is "Exposome & major societal challenges."

Some of the challenges of the^21st century are identified with our actual exposome (e.g. , chemicalpollution ) or potential exposome (e.g. , emergingpathogens ). Our exposome is altered proximally by the causes of certain challenges (e.g., climate change), or collaterally by the solutions that may be deployed (e.g., feeding and housing 9 billion humans in 2040). The spatial, temporal, or inter-individual (health and socioeconomic) heterogeneities of the exposome are an important dimension, both fundamental and applied, of many societal challenges (populations far from healthcare, old age, disability).

With this in mind, the ExposUM Institute wishes to support original transdisciplinary research projects that form part of an approach linking fundamental research on the exposome and public health, in the broad sense of One Health, relating to major societal challenges—whether or not they are mentioned in this text, provided that the choice is explicit and sufficiently justified.

Calendar

• Opening: November 9, 2023
• Closing date: January 31, 2024, 2:00 PM UTC+1
• Release of results: week of June 10
• Project start date: From mid-July and no later than October 30, 2024
• Evaluation feedback: First half of October

Financing terms and conditions

For its 2024 edition, the ExposUM Institute is dividing itsResearch three project categories: standard, support, and exploratory. A specific AAP will also be opened at a later stage for the acquisition of research equipment installed within regional research platforms.

As a guide, it is planned to be able to fund three standard projects, four support projects, and four exploratory projects under this call for proposals, with a total budget of €2 million.

Standard research projects

This category corresponds to the reference project format leading to the production of original results that can be exploited or published.

• Funding and duration: €200K over a maximum of two years
• Eligible expenses: salaries (researchers, engineers, technicians, assistants recruited for the project); operating costs (missions, consumables, internships, services, publication costs, etc.); equipment
• Ineligible expenses: doctoral contracts (funded by the ExposUM Nexus program), management fees.

Support research projects

This category corresponds to the standard research project, with the addition of full coverage of the principal investigator's salary.

• Specific eligibility criteria: the candidate must have defended their thesis (PhD) between 2017 and 2023 and have no more than two years' seniority (fixed-term researcher, ITA or BIATSS contract at IGR level) at the University of Montpellier in September 2024. He or she must be able to quickly take on scientific responsibilities and plan ahead in line with the strategic interests of the ExposUM consortium partners (particularly internationally). The candidate may be off-site at the time of submission but, in this case, undertakes to join the UMR with which he or she is proposing the research project and to which the funds will be allocated.

The candidate commitsto a proactive approach with a view to obtaining a statutory position in a unit of the ExposUM consortium.

The candidate's recruitment file will be reviewed by the Human Resources Department of the University of Montpellier.

• Funding and duration: €200K + salary for the project leader, for a maximum of two years
• Eligible expenses: salaries (researchers, engineers, technicians, assistants recruited for the project); operating costs (missions, consumables, internships, services, publication costs, etc.); equipment
• Ineligible expenses: doctoral contracts (funded by the ExposUM Nexus program), salaries of statutory staff, management fees.

Exploratory research projects

These projects are designed to initiate exploratory and original research, test hypotheses and approaches, and produce preliminary results with a view to responding to larger-scale calls for tenders in the future.

• Specific eligibility criterion: exploratory and original nature of the project.
• Funding and duration: €50K over a maximum of two years.
• Eligible expenses: operating costs (missions, consumables, internships, services, publication costs, etc.); equipment.
• Ineligible expenses: salaries, doctoral contracts (funded by the ExposUM Nexus program), management fees.

Eligibility criteria applicable to all three categories

Research projects must meet the following criteria:

The project must be led by a permanent or contract staff member affiliated with a research organization belonging to^{the consortium} and employed by one of the consortium partners.  He or she must already be an official member of the organization in question—or become one by October 2024 at the latest—and, in the case of contract staff, their contract with that organization must run until the planned end of the project. The project may have one or more partner organizations. However, only organizations included in the list of eligible organizations in this call for proposals will be eligible to receive funding for the project.

The project must aim to generate knowledge relating to the exposome —i.e., any environmental (including social) determinant of human health —and fall within the thematic scope of the current call for proposals. This relevance must be evident from the project summary.

Recruitment

• Funded staff may only be recruited from within the consortium's research structures.
• Contract researchers will be recruited by the UM.

Submission deadline and submission procedures

Given the Institute's evaluation capabilities, the number of applications authorized is limited at the research structure level as follows (maximum number of projects submitted as a lead structure, submitted per unit/university hospital federation (FHU)*, as lead applicant per unit/FHU:

*Application for FHU status is reserved for members who are not affiliated with a consortium research structure. FHUs will in fact be considered as structures with fewer than 60 full-time faculty members. In general, a faculty member may only apply under their primary affiliation.

Professors researchers (EC/C), including hospital practitioners (PH) and permanent university hospital staff (MCU-PH, PU-PH).

The project should preferably be written in English, based on the template and provisional budget, following the instructions provided in these documents, according to the chosen project category.

Submissions must be made exclusively by emailing the project in PDF format and the provisional budget in Excel format before January 31, 2024 (2:00 p.m. UTC+1).

• Name the PDF and Excel files as follows: Last Name First Name Project Leader_Name Research Structure_Project Research.pdf,
• Specify in the subject line of the email: [AAP-R 2024] – Last name, First name, Project leader_Name of Research, and copy in the management of the research organization leading the project.

Evaluation & selection

All projects will be evaluated based solely on the file submitted.⁴.

The scientific quality of research projects will be assessed by the Research Orientation and Evaluation Council Research COER), which will also request an anonymous external reviewer (French outside Occitanie or foreign) for each project, according to the following criteria:

• its scientific interest and originality, within the scope of the ExposUM Initiative,
• its methodological qualities,
• its potential impact (both fundamental and applied),
• its feasibility (in terms of partners, schedule, and budget presented).

The scientific quality will be assessed by the Executive Committee (CoDir) in the strategic interest of the Institute, the site, and the partners, according to the following criteria:

• transdisciplinarity, the initiation of new partnerships,
• One Health and global health dimensions⁵,
• south-facing,
• the potential for health translation,
• Interaction with the areas of training and interfaces (science–society)⁶,
• capitalizing on local (Montpellier) and regional (Occitanie) resources, as well as other projects⁷ within the ExposUM scope, whether funded or submitted,
• compliance with the open science approach implemented by the University of Montpellier.

For each category of research project, a ranking will be established by combining the two scores, weighted two-thirds for scientific quality and one-third for non-scientific quality.

The independent rankings of the three categories will then be submitted for project selection by the Scientific and Strategic Advisory Board (COSS), within the budgetary limits set by the Institute for its 2024 calls for proposals.

In the event that the number of projects submitted exceeds the Institute's normal evaluation capacity, the Research Orientation and Evaluation Council Research COER) and the ExposUM Management Committee (CoDir) reserve the right to carry out a pre-selection process based on the suitability of the summary in relation to the scope of the call for proposals.

Commitments of the sponsor

• Respect, in the design and implementation of the project submitted under this call for proposals, the values and principles of scientific integrity intended to guarantee the honesty and scientific rigor of all research work, as referred to in Article L.211-2 of the Research Code and set out in the National Charter of Ethics for Research Professions and the Charter on Scientific Integrity of the University of Montpellier.
• Comply with the Nagoya Protocol, where applicable.
• Include the logos of the University of Montpellier, France 2030, the ExposUM Institute, and the Occitanie Region in all documents related to the project (publications, communication materials, etc.).

• Send to the Institute (rf.re1769567781illep1769567781tnomu1769567781@paa-1769567781musop1769567781xe1769567781), an annual report, and a final report no later than two months after the end of the project (financial statement and summary report), which may be used in the University's communications materials in accordance with a template provided. A project guide detailing management procedures and reporting requirements will be sent to successful applicants.
• Apply the UM publication signature charter in force to all scientific output; comply with provisions relating to open science and the Law for a Digital Republic ( open access publication). Heads of UM-affiliated laboratories shall deposit the full text of publications in the open archive (https://hal.umontpellier.fr).
• take the necessary steps to obtain the required research authorizations/approvals in regulated sectors (genetically modified organisms, use of animals for scientific purposes, health data, use of genetic resources and sharing of the resulting benefits, bioethics, etc.).

List of research organizations eligible for this call

ABSYS, AGAP, AIDA, AMAP, ANALYSES, ART-Dev, ASTRE, BC2M, BCM, BioWooEB, BRM, CBGP, CBS, CDE, CEE-M, CEFE, CEMIPAI, CEPEL, CERCOP, ChimEco, CRBM, CREAM, DEFE, DGIMI, DIADE, DiaScope, DMEM, ECO&SOLS, ECOTRON, EDPFM, EDSM, ESPACE-DEV, EuroMov, DHM, FHU Evocan 2, FHU Neurexpo, FHU Regenhab 2, FHU TIE, 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, IPSiM, IRCM, IRIM, IRMB, ISDM, ISEM, ITAP, L2C, LBE, LBN, LDP, LEPSE, LICeM, LIRDEF, LIRMM, LISAH, LMGC, LPHI, LSTM, LUPM, Maraîchage, 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

Governance of the ExposUM Institute

Executive Committee (CoDir): Éric Delaporte (director), Aurélie Binot (interfaces), Charlotte Boullé (training), Mircea Sofonea (research).

Operational team: Morgane Cottin, Camille Couralet, Noémie Moret, Elodie Suttling.

Scientific andStrategic Advisory Board(COSS): Jacques Mercier (chair),Amaria Baghdadli, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Pascal Demoly, Delphine Destoumieux-Garzon, Hélène Fenet, Didier Fontenille, Sylvain Gandon, Julie Pannequin, Denis Pesche, Coumba Toure Kane, Muriel Vayssier-Tarissat, Laurent Visier.

Research Guidance and Evaluation Council Research COER): Manouk Abkarian, Anne-Muriel Arigon, Charlotte Boullé, Anca-Mirela Chiriac, Constance Delaby, Gauthier Dobigny, Elena Gomez, Christelle Gramaglia, Antoine Gross, Alexandre Hobeika, Nadine Laguette, Georges Lutfalla, Antonio Maraver, Anatja Samouelian, Mircea Sofonea (chair), Jérôme Thireau, Annelise Tran.

Results

Scope of the call

The ExposUM Institute's 2024 call for research projects (AAP-R) on the theme of Exposome & major societal challenges was open from November 9, 2023, to January 31, 2024. Approved by the COER and COSS, this call aims to support transdisciplinary projects related to public health and major societal challenges.

Selected projects

1. CIRAD, CNRS, IFREMER, INRAe, INRIA, INSERM, IRD, ENSCM, Institut Agro, Montpellier University Hospital, ICM, Occitanie Region. ↩︎
2. The list of commitments made by the bearers is detailed at the end of this document. ↩︎
3. See list of eligible structures on the last page. ↩︎
4. The procedure for this AAP does not provide for responses to rapporteurs or interviews. ↩︎
5. To benefit from this bonus, simply mentioning the One Health approach is not enough: the simultaneous study of human, animal, and environmental health must be explicitly justified and central to the project. ↩︎
6. The inclusion of students on internships or writing theses in the project, or standard scientific dissemination, are insufficient to qualify for this bonus, which is intended for projects linked to the actions specific to the Institute's two other areas of focus. ↩︎
7. This point is particularly valuable if the auxiliary project in question does not involve the same members and structures. ↩︎

Keywords: ExposUM, Research