I-SITE MUSE Evaluation: International Jury Approves Continuation of the Project
In its review on November 28 covering its first two years of operation, I-SITE Montpellier Université d’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 their sights set on 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 ofUM composed of Antoine Petit, President and CEO 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 dynamic unlike anything seen before on a regional scale
Awarded the “Initiative Science Innovation Territoire Economie” (I-SITE*) designation in 2017, the MUSE project had two years to prove itself. “At the end of this two-year trial period,UM research organizations, healthcare institutions, Montpellier SupAgro, and the Montpellier School of Chemistry (ENSCM), were able to demonstrate their ability to generate unprecedented momentum across the region to create a major university with international visibility,” explains Philippe Augé, president ofUM, who welcomes the decision made by the international jury.
Retaining this designation was indeed important 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 been mobilized across the region around the scientific community, involving both local governments and businesses, ” says Philippe Augé.
UM GrowingUM 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. Ranked as a world leader in ecology according to the 2018 and 2019 Shanghai subject rankings, and rising from the top 400 to the top 200 in the Shanghai general rankings in just two years,UM also recognized as the most innovative university in the country according to the Reuters global rankings 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 the validation by the IDEX-ISITE jury, is a great reward for the collective effort 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 transformations already underway in each of the major areas of academic life, it also urged us to continue on this path and to strengthen our campus to better integrate the schools and other partners into university life. Accordingly, in the coming days, new calls for proposals will be issued, and milestones will be established to implement the adopted roadmap toward building the target university by the end of 2021.
* The IDEX/ISITE initiative, conceived in 2010 as part of the Investments for the Future Program, aims to foster the emergence in France of a limited number of research universities located in areas with remarkable scientific potential and capable of creating synergies among universities, schools, research organizations, healthcare institutions, and businesses.