Montpellier University of Excellence" project confirmed

The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, has just confirmed the definitive continuation of the Montpellier Université d'Excellence I-SITE on 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 leading this project since 2017 with 15 partners based on the site. This decision confirms the relevance of the strategy defined in 2016 and the quality of the work undertaken collectively to build an internationally recognized university capable of meeting tomorrow's major challenges.

After a five-year probationary period, a mid-term evaluation at the end of 2019 and an on-site visit at the end of 2021, the evaluation process came to a close on January 19 with the audition by an international jury of the delegation led by Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, and including Antoine Petit, President and CEO of CNRS, Gilles Bloch, President and CEO of Inserm, Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, President and CEO of CIRAD and François Pierrot, Executive Director of the MUSE I-SITE.

Maintaining this label is fundamental to establishing the University of Montpellier's visibility on a national and international scale, based on a unique identity focused on three major global challenges: food safety, environmental protection and human health. This visibility is of course essential for the university and its direct partners, but today it is also an asset for the Metropolis of Montpellier and for Occitanie as a whole, with a university awarded a label of excellence so highly prized in a globalized knowledge economy.

An unprecedented collective dynamic on the site

The MUSE project has proved its worth and demonstrated the power of mobilizing everyone in the region: local authorities, research organizations, healthcare establishments, partner schools and companies around the University of Montpellier.

"Through this project, we have collectively demonstrated our ability to create an unprecedented dynamic around our academic and scientific community, to create a major university with a driving role for its region and a strong international reputation. This is a fine reward for the collective work undertaken by all the scientists, teacher-researchers, engineers, administrative staff and students in the MUSE consortium", explains UM President Philippe Augé, who is delighted with the government's decision.

This project has had a major structuring effect on the site, as evidenced by the evolution of the University of Montpellier's articles of association, enabling partners to be better represented on its governing bodies, and the integration of the École Supérieure Nationale de Chimie de Montpellier as a component of the UM. Thus organized, the University is in a position to play a pivotal role in the service of students, the quest for knowledge and innovation.

"The State's perpetuation of the I-Site Montpellier Université d'Excellence label rewards the work carried out by the University of Montpellier and all the project's partners since the label was obtained in 2017. It is proof of the dynamism and excellence of research in Montpellier and Occitanie. The work carried out within MUSE on food safety, environmental protection and human health is fundamental to the future of our planet and in line with the Region's strategic priorities. We owe it to ourselves to work collectively on these subjects, to bring a promise to the younger generations and a dynamic to our territories", emphasizes Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region.

Building an internationally recognized university

Research advances, scientific publications, teaching innovations, collaborations with the socio-economic world and international attractiveness... in addition to governance issues, the international jury was presented with the full range of actions undertaken by the consortium to build an internationally recognized university. One of the world leaders in ecology according to the Shanghai thematic rankings, having moved up 140 places in five years to reach the top 200 in the overall Shanghai ranking, the UM is also one of the most innovative universities in Europe according to the Reuters ranking. The hosting in Montpellier in October 2020 of the New Africa-France Summit, embodied at the University by the "Montpellier Global Days", is an emblematic example of the University's capacity to play the role of "European portal for the South".

"Paraphrasing Shakespeare, I like to think that to be "great" is to espouse a great cause. That's what we wanted to do, by choosing three global challenges as our horizon. And, with this horizon, by acting every day to ensure that excellence is not synonymous with misplaced elitism, but quite simply the path to follow to surpass ourselves, we have laid the foundations for a Grande Université d'Excellence" declares François Pierrot, Executive Director of the MUSE I-SITE. "This thematic strategy and demanding approach not only led to the success of ISITE MUSE, but also to others: the ExposUM project obtained under the Programme d'investissement d'avenir (PIA) ExcellenceS, the SFRI IDIL program in favor of interdisciplinarity and the internationalization of training, the UM2030 project selected by the PIA IDEES, or the Pôle Universitaire d'Innovation label and the implementation of the key challenges of the Occitanie Region."

What's next?

The definitive continuation of the I-SITE label will safeguard the State's endowment (550 million euros in capital, i.e. 17 million euros available per year, which will be supplemented by the resources provided by the other PIA programs), enable the University of Montpellier to continue structuring and maintain its trajectory by launching new actions to support, structure and transform all academic fields, in order to continue building a major multidisciplinary university.

*The IDEX/ISITE initiative, launched in 2010 as part of the "Investissements d'Avenir" program, aims to create a limited number of research universities in France on sites with outstanding scientific potential, and capable of creating synergies between universities, schools, research organizations, healthcare establishments and companies.

More information on the MUSE project website: muse.edu.umontpellier.fr or on umontpellier.fr