Calls for research projects ExposUM 2025: Anticipating exposomic health risks

[Call for projects] - Published on October 16, 2024 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. ExposUM is a winner of the ExcellenceS (PIA4) call for projects and is supported by the Occitanie Region for the period 2022-2030.

Context & objective

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 (in particular 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), see below.

Theme

The topic chosen by the ExposUM Institute for the 2025 AAP-R is: Anticipating exposomic health risks.

Although the human species saw its life expectancy at birth double during the 20th century, its health continues to be regularly threatened by new physical, chemical, biological, and social exposures, orthe exacerbation of existing ones. As a result of population growth and human impact on the environment, health crises (in the broad sense) have multiplied over the last two decades. Varying in intensity, duration, geographical scope, and the vulnerability of the populations affected, 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, on April 3, 2024, the Health Risk Monitoring and Anticipation Committee (COVARS) issued an opinion onthe assessment of the risks of major exceptional health situations for human health in France during the years 2025-2030.². This opinion is based in particular on an exposomic approach to human health, and it is for this reason that the ExposUM Institute was consulted during the work preceding its drafting. Following this interaction, the ExposUM Institute wishes to align its 2025 call for research projects with the COVARS approach and specifically support research in line with this opinion, i.e., both on the nature of exposures considered to be priorities and on the challenge of anticipating the risks they pose to human health by 2035.

Financing terms and conditions

For its 2025 edition, the ExposUM Institute is dividing its AAP-R into two categories:

Standard research projects

This category corresponds to the reference project format that allows you to benefit from personnel funding.³ and operating funds necessary for the production of original results that can be exploited or published.

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

This year, non-permanent researchers may submit a project in this category, provided they are already affiliated with the research organization under which the project is submitted. The funds allocated may then be used to finance the project leader's salary.⁴, if necessary, until the planned end of the project.

Exploratory research projects

These projects are designed to initiate exploratory and original research, test hypotheses and approaches that are not favored by ordinary calls for proposals, and produce preliminary results with a view to applying for more ambitious calls at a later stage.

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

Eligible expenses and total amount of the AAP

Eligible expenses include salaries for non-statutory staff (researchers, engineers, technicians, assistants, but excluding doctoral contracts), operating costs, and small equipment. Staff funded by the project may only be recruited from within the consortium's research units.⁵. For eligible structures co-supervised by the UM, the employer of staff recruited through this tool will necessarily be the UM. For others, it is up to the project leader to designate one of the co-supervisors of their structure as the employer (and more generally, as the manager of ExposUM funding for the entire project), after obtaining their agreement in principle.

The ExposUM Institute's total budget for this call for proposals is €2 million, with the aim of funding seven standard projects and seven exploratory projects.⁶.

Submission process

This year, project submissions to the ExposUM Institute's AAP-R will be made in two selective stages: a short letter of intent, followed by the final project (similar to the ANR's generic calls for projects). In addition, the ceiling on submissions per research structure will be abolished on an experimental basis for this edition. As a result, research unit managers will no longer have to organize internal selection of project proposals. However, they will still be required to authorize the submission on behalf of the unit (signature on the letter of intent), which will serve as a commitment to carry out the project if funding is granted.

Each person may submit only one letter of intent in response to this call for proposals. Submission as a project leader by a previous winner of an ExposUM Institute research project call for proposals is not encouraged. Finally, members of the three ExposUM Institute councils (CoDir, COER, COSS) are not eligible to submit projects as project leaders.

Given the limited internal evaluation capacity of the ExposUM Institute, a high degree of selectivity will be applied at this stage: a maximum of 14 letters of intent will be selected per project category.

Letters of intent must be written using the template provided, in French or English. Any deviation from the instructions contained therein will render the project ineligible, with no possibility of rectification. Submissions must be made exclusively by emailing the letter in PDF format (named NomStructureRecherche_NomPorteur.pdf) before December 2, 2024 (2:00 p.m. UTC+1), specifying [AAPR_NomPorteur] in the subject line of the email and copying in the management of the research organization submitting the project.

The authors of the letters of intent that are selected will be informed in early January about the next steps in the process. As a guide, the drafting of the full project proposal in English for evaluation by international experts will take a month and a half and will follow a similar format to that ofthe 2024 AAPR in terms of the matrix and provisional budget table.

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 before the date and time specified above. It must be written in strict accordance with the instructions provided in the template (all fields must be completed and no text may extend beyond the margins – the entire document must not exceed two pages).
2. The project must have a principal investigator affiliated with a research organization belonging to the consortium.⁷. Members of Support and Research Units Research UAR) cannot apply as project leaders, but may participate as project partners.
3. The project must have the primary objective of producing knowledge relating to a determinant of human health of environmental (including social) origin and fall within the thematic scope of the call for proposals (see introductory paragraphs and related COVARS opinion ). This suitability must be evident from the first four fields of the scientific description of the project.
4. Compliance with the PIA4 project funding rules as defined by the ANR (see https://anr.fr/fr/rf/) and those imposed by this call (see above).

The eligibility of letters of intent will be verified collectively by the three boards of the ExposUM Institute, its project team, and the UM's Structuring Programs Department.

Pre-selection of letters of intent

The evaluation of letters of intent will focus on the nature of the focal exhibition(s), 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 ExposUM Institute councils. The pre-selection will then focus on the 14 standard projects and 14 exploratory projects with the highest rankings.Evaluation & selection of complete projects

All projects will be evaluated based solely on the complete project submitted.⁸.

The scientific quality of research projects will be assessed by the Research Orientation and Evaluation Council Research COER), which will endeavor to solicit two anonymous external reviewers for each project, based on 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 14 projects in each category will be ranked based solely on the aggregate score of the scientific evaluations. The seven winning projects in each category will then be selected by the Scientific and Strategic Advisory Board (COSS), which will also assess, in the strategic interest of the Institute, the site, and the partners, and only where scientific quality is equivalent, the non-scientific merits of the projects, namely:

• transdisciplinarity, the initiation of new partnerships,
• the exposomic approach⁹,
• One Health and global health dimensions¹⁰, focus on the Global South and consideration of vulnerable populations¹¹,
• the potential for translating the project into anticipation of health risks,
• Interaction with the areas of training and interfaces (science–society)¹²,
• capitalizing on local resources¹³, regional¹⁴, as well as other projects already funded by ExposUM¹⁵,
• compliance with the open science approach implemented by the University of Montpellier.

Commitments of the bearer

• comply, in the design and implementation of the project submitted under this Call for Projects, 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, and the ExposUM Institute in all documents relating to the implementation of the project;
• send to the Institute (rf.re1768809143illep1768809143tnomu1768809143@paa-1768809143musop1768809143xe1768809143), a mid-term report and another 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 with the notification letter;
• 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 will deposit the full text of publications in the HAL-UM open archive;
• 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.

Results

1. CIRAD, CNRS, IFREMER, INRAe, INRIA, INSERM, IRD, ENSCM, Institut Agro, Montpellier University Hospital, ICM, Occitanie Region. ↩︎
2. Consultation, which is strongly recommended prior to submitting any project, is available at this link. ↩︎
3. Excluding doctoral contracts, which are funded by the dedicated Nexus program (coming soon). ↩︎
4. Regardless of the duration of this funding by ExposUM and the contract history of the candidate, recruitment will be carried out by the University of Montpellier, with some exceptions, under a project contract, at the new increased index (INM) 596, corresponding to a net monthly salary of approximately €2,300. Prior approval from the HR department will be required. ↩︎
5. Partners outside the consortium will only be able to receive funding through the invoicing of services (the funds will continue to be managed by the project leader's research unit). ↩︎
6. The ExposUM Institute reserves the right to adjust this distribution based on the relative quality of projects within each category. ↩︎
7. See the list of ExposUM member institutions at the bottom of the page. Candidates must already be official members of the institution in question as of December 2, 2024, and their contract (permanent or temporary, potentially through this funding) with that institution must run until the planned end of the project (max. until September 2027). Members affiliated with ExposUM research structures employed by a university other than the University of Montpellier are not eligible to apply. ↩︎
8. The procedure for this AAP does not provide for responses to rapporteurs or interviews. ↩︎
9. See, for example, article by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ↩︎
10. A simple mention of the "One Healthapproach "will be deemed insufficient: the simultaneous study of human, animal, and environmental health must be explicitly argued and central to the project. ↩︎
11. See definitions from the National Ethics Advisory Committee and the Dictionary of the Academy of Medicine. ↩︎
12. The integration of students into the project or ordinary scientific dissemination are not considered sufficient inter-axis coordination. Please refer to the actions specific to the Institute's two other axes. ↩︎
13. From the Montpellier website. ↩︎
14. Occitanie region. ↩︎
15. This point is only taken into account if the auxiliary project in question does not involve the same members and structures. ↩︎

Keywords: ExposUM, Research