The “Montpellier University of Excellence” project has been confirmed
Prime Minister Jean Castex has just confirmed the permanent continuation of the I-SITE Montpellier University of Excellence, following the recommendations of the international jury of the Idex-Isite Future Investment Program. This is great news for the University of Montpellier, which has been spearheading this project since 2017 with 15 partners based on the campus. This decision confirms the relevance of the strategy defined in 2016 and the quality of the collective efforts undertaken to build an internationally recognized university capable of meeting the major challenges of tomorrow.
Following a five-year probationary period, a mid-term evaluation conducted in late 2019, and an on-site visit in late 2021, the evaluation process concluded on January 19 with a hearing before an international jury of the delegation led by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, and composed of Antoine Petit, President and Director General of the CNRS, Gilles Bloch, President and CEO of Inserm, Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, President and CEO of Cirad, and François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE.
Maintaining this designation is essential to 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. This visibility is, of course, essential for the university and its direct partners, but it is also now an asset for the Montpellier metropolitan area and for the entire Occitanie region, with a university that has earned a label of excellence so highly prized in a globalized knowledge economy.
An unprecedented sense of community on the site
The MUSE project has proven its worth and demonstrated the ability to mobilize all stakeholders across the region: local governments, research organizations, healthcare facilities, partner schools, and businesses in the Montpellier area.
“Through this project, we have collectively demonstrated our ability to generate unprecedented momentum within our academic and scientific community to create a major university that serves as a driving force for its region and has a strong international presence. “This is a wonderful reward for the collective work undertaken by all the scientists, Professors, engineers, administrative staff, and students of the MUSE consortium,” explains Philippe Augé, president ofUM, who welcomes the government’s decision.
This project has had a significant impact on the structure of the campus, as evidenced by changes to the University of Montpellier’s charter, which have enabled greater representation of partners in its governing bodies and the integration of the École Supérieure Nationale de Chimie de Montpellier as a constituent institution ofUM. Organized in this way, the University is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in serving students, the pursuit of knowledge, and innovation.
“The government’s decision to renew the I-Site Montpellier University of Excellence designation recognizes the work carried out by the University of Montpellier and all of the project’s partners since the designation was first awarded in 2017. It is a testament to the dynamism and excellence of research in Montpellier and the Occitanie region. The work carried out within the framework of MUSE on food security, environmental protection, and human health is fundamental to the future of our planet and aligns with the Region’s strategic priorities. “We have a collective duty to deliver on these issues—a promise to future generations and a driving force for our regions,” emphasizes Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region.
Building an internationally recognized university
Research advances, scientific publications, educational innovations, collaborations with the socio-economic sector, and international appeal… in addition to governance issues, it was the full range of initiatives undertaken by the consortium to build an internationally recognized university that was presented to the international jury. Ranked among the world leaders in ecology according to the Shanghai subject-specific rankings, having climbed 140 places in five years to reach the top 200 in the overall Shanghai ranking,UM also one of the most innovative universities in Europe according to the Reuters ranking. Montpellier’s hosting of the New Africa-France Summit in October 2020—embodied at the University by the “Montpellier Global Days”—is a prime example of the University’s ability to serve as a “European gateway to the Global South.”
“To paraphrase Shakespeare, I like to think that being ‘great’ means embracing a great cause. That is what we set out to do by choosing three global challenges as our guiding vision. And, with this vision, by working every day to ensure that excellence is not synonymous with misplaced elitism, but simply the path to follow in order to surpass oneself, we have laid the foundations for a Great University of Excellence,”says François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-SITE MUSE. “This thematic strategy and demanding approach have led to success for ISITE MUSE, but have also inspired others: the ExposUM project awarded under the ExcellenceS Future Investment Program (PIA), the SFRI IDIL program promoting interdisciplinarity and the internationalization of education, the UM2030 project selected by the IDEES PIA, as well as the University Innovation Cluster designation and the implementation of the key challenges of the Occitanie Region.”
What now?
The permanent extension of the I-SITE designation secures the government grant (550 million euros in capital, equivalent to €17 million available annually, which will be supplemented by funds from other PIA initiatives), enables the continued restructuring of the University of Montpellier and maintains its trajectory by launching new support, restructuring, and transformation initiatives across all academic fields to continue building a major multidisciplinary university.
*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.
For more information, visit the MUSE project website: muse.edu.umontpellier.fr or umontpellier.fr