Evaluation of I-SITE MUSE: International Jury Approves Project Continuation
In its review on November 28 covering its first two years of operation, the I-SITE Montpellier University of Excellence (MUSE) successfully demonstrated its achievements and won over the international jury of the IDEX-ISITE Program.
The University of Montpellier and its partners are thus encouraged in their collective efforts, with the goal of securing the label’s permanent status in 2021 and building a university that is internationally recognized for its ability to tackle the major challenges of the future.
Convened to review the proposals from Lyon and Montpellier, the international jury, chaired by Jean-Marc Rapp, heard from a delegation led by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Marseille (UM), and comprising Antoine Petit, President and Director General of the CNRS, Gilles Bloch, President and CEO of Inserm, Michel Eddi, President and CEO of CIRAD, and François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE.
A new dynamic across the region
Awarded the “Initiative Science Innovation Territoire Economie” (I-SITE*) designation in 2017, the MUSE project had two years to prove its worth. “At the end of this two-year trial period, the University of Montpellier, together with research organizations, healthcare institutions, Montpellier SupAgro, and the Montpellier School of Chemistry (ENSCM), demonstrated their ability to generate unprecedented momentum across the region to create a major university with international visibility,” explains Philippe Augé, president of UM, who welcomes the decision made by the international jury.
Retaining this designation was indeed crucial for establishing the University of Montpellier’s visibility on a national and international scale, centered on a unique identity focused on three major global challenges: food security, environmental protection, and human health; especially since it is the only university in the region to hold this designation of excellence. “This achievement is a testament to the collective intelligence that has mobilized across the region around the scientific community, involving both local governments and businesses, ” notes Philippe Augé.
The UM's Growing International Presence
The consortium’s collective efforts to enhance the University’s international visibility and appeal were presented to the international jury, and the initial results were quickly evident. A world leader in ecology according to the Shanghai subject rankings in 2018 and 2019, rising from the top 400 to the top 200 in two years in the overall Shanghai ranking, UM is also recognized as the most innovative university nationally according to the Reuters global ranking published last October. This rise in international rankings is linked to the consortium’s adoption of a charter for joint authorship of scientific publications in October 2017.“This increased international recognition, which goes hand in hand with validation by the IDEX-ISITE jury, is a wonderful reward for the collective work undertaken by all the scientists, Professors, engineers, administrative staff, and students of the MUSE consortium,” comments François Pierrot.
A new phase to expand collective action
While the jury recognized the significant changes already made in every major area of academic life, it also urges us to continue on this path and to strengthen our campus to better integrate the schools and other partners into university life. Thus, in the coming days, new calls for proposals will be launched and milestones will be set to implement the adopted roadmap toward building the target university by the end of 2021.
* The IDEX/ISITE initiative, launched in 2010 as part of the Investments for the Future Program, aims to establish a limited number of research universities in France at locations with remarkable scientific potential that are capable of fostering synergy among universities, schools, research organizations, healthcare institutions, and businesses.