ExposUM 2025 Call for Research Proposals: Anticipating Exposomic Health Risks

[Call for Proposals] - Published on October 16, 2024 under Major Programs, Flagship Projects

ExposUM is an initiative of the University of Montpellier and its partners¹ aimed at establishing a leading, open, and interdisciplinary institute for the study, training, and science-society interfaces related to the environmental determinants of human health. ExposUM is a recipient of the ExcellenceS (PIA4) call for projects and is supported by the Occitanie Region for the period 2022–2030.

Background & Objective

The exposome refers to the sum of all 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 of the genome, with which it interacts throughout an individual’s lifetime.

The Research Division Research the ExposUM Institute aims to support and accelerate the generation of foundational knowledge through an interdisciplinary, coordinated, and integrated approach across 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, consisting of the study and development of new exposure control strategies, completes this framework, which is integrated with the Interfaces and Training pillars.

It is in this context 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—deliberately broad in scope—relating to contexts, processes, patterns, or methods, and encompassing research falling under the aforementioned pillars and bridges.

In accordance with the objectives set forth in the call 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 much as possible, adhere to the open science approach by making the data produced easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), see below.

Topic

The topic selected by the ExposUM Institute for the 2025 Call for Proposals is: Anticipating exposomic health risks.

While life expectancy at birth doubled for the human race during the 20th century, human health continues to be regularly threatened by new physical, chemical, biological, and social exposures —or bythe intensification of these factors. As a result of population growth and human impact on the environment, health crises (in the broadest sense) have multiplied over the past two decades. Varying in intensity, duration, geographic scope, and the vulnerability of affected populations, exceptional health situations are likely to become more frequent in the coming decade. With a view to scientific, technical, and organizational preparedness for these future collective challenges, the Committee for Monitoring and Anticipating Health Risks (COVARS) issued, on April 3, 2024, an opinion regardingthe assessment of risks posed by major exceptional health situations to human health in France during the years 2025–2030². This opinion is based in particular on an exposomic approach to human health, and it was in this capacity that the ExposUM Institute was consulted during the work leading up to its drafting. Following this collaboration, the ExposUM Institute wishes to align its 2025 call for research projects with the COVARS framework and specifically support research aligned with this advisory opinion—that is, research addressing both the nature of exposures deemed a priority and the challenge of anticipating the risks they pose to human health by 2035.

Funding Terms

For its 2025 edition, the ExposUM Institute is offering its AAP-R in two categories:

Standard research projects

This category corresponds to the standard project format that qualifies for personnel funding³ and the operating funds necessary to produce original results that can be utilized or published.

Amount and duration limits: €250,000 over two years.

This year, 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 awarded may then be used to cover the principal investigator’s salary⁴, if necessary, until the project’s scheduled completion.

Exploratory research projects

These projects are designed to foster exploratory and innovative research, to test hypotheses and approaches that are not typically supported by standard calls for proposals, and to generate preliminary results that can be used to apply for more ambitious grants in the future.

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

Eligible expenses and total amount of the call for proposals

Eligible expenses include salaries for non-tenured staff (researchers, engineers, technicians, and assistants, but excluding doctoral fellowships), as well as operating costs and minor equipment. Project-funded staff may only be recruited from within the consortium’s research units⁵. For eligible institutions where the UM is a co-sponsor, the employer of staff recruited through this program must be the UM. For others, it is up to the project leader to designate one of the co-sponsors of their institution as the employer (and, more broadly, as the manager of ExposUM funding for the entire project), after obtaining their agreement in principle.

The total projected budget for the ExposUM Institute for this call is set at €2 million, with the goal of funding 7 standard projects and 7 exploratory projects⁶.

Submission Process

This year, project submissions to the ExposUM Institute’s AAP-R will take place in two selective stages: a brief letter of intent, followed by the final project proposal (similar to the ANR’s general calls for proposals). In addition, the cap on submissions per research unit will be lifted on an experimental basis for this edition. Consequently, research unit directors will no longer be required to conduct an internal selection of project proposals. However, they will still be asked 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 awarded.

Each applicant may submit only one letter of intent in response to this call for proposals. Applicants who were principal investigators in a previous ExposUM Institute research call for proposals are discouraged from applying. Finally, members of the three ExposUM Institute councils (CoDir, COER, COSS) are not permitted to submit a project as a principal investigator.

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.

Letters of intent must be drafted using the provided template, in French or English. Any deviation from the instructions contained therein will render the project ineligible, with no possibility of correction. Submissions must be made exclusively by emailing the letter in PDF format (to be titled ResearchOrganizationName_PrincipalInvestigatorName.pdf) before December 2, 2024 (2:00 PM UTC+1), specifying [AAPR_PrincipalInvestigatorName] in the email subject line and copying the management of the host research organization.

Applicants whose letters of intent have been selected will be notified in early January regarding the next steps in the process. As a general guideline, the preparation of the full project proposal—to be submitted in English for evaluation by international experts—will take about a month and a half, and the requirements will be similar to those ofthe 2024 Call for Proposals in terms of the project matrix and the projected budget table.

Calendar

Eligibility of Letters of Intent

To be eligible, letters of intent—and the projects they describe—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 instructions provided in the template (all fields must be completed and the document must not exceed two pages in length).
2. The project must be led by a staff member affiliated with a research institution that is part of the consortium⁷. Members of Research Support Units Research UAR) may not apply as principal investigators, but may participate as project partners.
3. The project must have as its primary objective the generation of knowledge regarding an environmental (including social) determinant of human health and must fall within the thematic scope of the call for proposals (see the introductory paragraphs and the related COVARS advisory opinion ). This alignment must be evident from the first four sections of the project’s scientific description.
4. Compliance with the funding rules for PIA4 projects as defined by the ANR (see https://anr.fr/fr/rf/) 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 UM’s Structural Programs Directorate.

Pre-selection of letters of intent

The evaluation of letters of intent will focus on the nature of the focal exhibition (or, more accurately, exhibitions), the originality of the research question, the spatial and temporal scope of the study, the methodological relevance, and the potential impact of the project’s results in terms of anticipating health risks.

Letters of intent will be evaluated and ranked collectively by all members of the three councils of the ExposUM Institute. The shortlist will then include the 14 highest-ranked standard projects and the 14 highest-ranked exploratory projects.Evaluation & Selection of Full Project Proposals

All projects will be evaluated based solely on the complete proposal submitted⁸.

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

• its scientific merit 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 assess—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:

• interdisciplinary approaches, the establishment of new partnerships,
• the exposomic approach⁹,
• the One Health and global health dimensions¹⁰, a focus on the Global South, and consideration of vulnerable populations¹¹,
• the project's potential for addressing health risks,
• interaction with the training and science-society interfaces¹²,
• Leveraging local resources¹³, regional¹⁴, as well as other projects already funded by ExposUM¹⁵,
• adherence to the open science approach implemented by the University of Montpellier.

Responsibilities of the carrier

• comply, 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, where applicable;
• include the logos of the University of Montpellier, France 2030, and the ExposUM Institute in all documents related to the implementation of the project;
• send to the Institute (), a midterm report, and another report no later than two months after the project’s completion (financial summary and summary report), which may be used in the University’s communications materials in accordance with a template provided in the notification letter;
• apply the current UM publication guidelines to all scientific outputs; comply with the provisions regarding open science and the Law for a Digital Republic ( open access publication). The directors of laboratories under UM supervision shall deposit the full text of publications in the HAL-UM open access repository;
• take the necessary steps to obtain the required research authorizations and approvals in regulated sectors (genetically modified organisms, the use of animals for scientific purposes, health data, the use of genetic resources and the sharing of resulting benefits, bioethics, etc.).

List of research institutions 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, Market Gardening, 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.

Results

1. CIRAD, CNRS, Ifremer, INRAe, Inria, Inserm, IRD, ENSCM, Institut Agro, Montpellier University Hospital, ICM, Occitanie Region. ↩︎
2. We strongly recommend reviewing this document before submitting any project proposals; it can be accessed via this link. ↩︎
3. Excluding doctoral contracts, which are funded through the dedicated Nexus program (coming soon). ↩︎
4. Regardless of the duration of this funding from ExposUM and the applicant’s prior contract history, recruitment will be conducted through the University of Montpellier, barring exceptions, under a project contract at the “new increased index” (INM) level of 596, corresponding approximately to a net monthly salary of €2,300. Prior approval from the HR Department will be required. ↩︎
5. Non-consortium partners will only be eligible for funding through invoicing for services rendered (with the funds remaining under the management of the lead institution’s research unit). ↩︎
6. ExposUM reserves the right to adjust this allocation based on the relative quality of the projects within each category. ↩︎
7. See the list of ExposUM-affiliated institutions at the bottom of the page. The applicant must already be an official member of the institution in question as of December 2, 2024, and their contract (permanent or temporary, potentially funded by this grant) with that institution must remain in effect until the project’s scheduled completion date (no later than September 2027). Members affiliated with research units within the ExposUM network who are employed by a university other than the University of Montpellier are not eligible to apply. ↩︎
8. The procedure for this call for proposals does not include feedback to applicants or interviews. ↩︎
9. See, for example, the article by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ↩︎
10. A mere reference to the “One Health approach”will not be considered sufficient: the simultaneous examination of human, animal, and environmental health must be explicitly justified and central to the project. ↩︎
11. See the definitions provided by the National Consultative Ethics Committee and the Dictionary of the French Academy of Medicine. ↩︎
12. Involving students in the project or routine scientific dissemination are not considered sufficient inter-axis linkages. Please refer to the specific activities of the Institute’s other two axes. ↩︎
13. From the Montpellier website. ↩︎
14. Occitanie region. ↩︎
15. This point is awarded only if the related project does not involve the same members and structures. ↩︎

Keywords: ExposUM, Research