Global thematic initiatives on the agenda of the second MIAB Council meeting
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the second meeting of the Montpellier International Advisory Board (MIAB) was held via videoconference over two days, December 10-11, in order to accommodate the significant time differences between participants. Following up on its initial recommendations (to promote large-scale global projects and infrastructure with a significant impact), MUSE proposed extending certain key initiatives internationally with the aim of creating "global thematic initiatives or alliances."
The potential of these global thematic initiatives is already evident in the close bilateral collaboration between the members of the MUSE consortium and each of the institutions that make up MIAB.[1]MUSE's proposal focuses on enhancing, intensifying, and expanding these links by placing them within a multilateral framework. To this end, MUSE proposes creating Key Global Initiatives (Key WIs) whose purpose is to facilitate the emergence of global initiatives in research and teaching on specific topics.
At thesecond meeting of this council, MIAB members attended presentations by their respective project leaders on three MUSE Key WI projects : Didier Fontenille for Key WI VECT-OH (on Vector and Risk within a One-health perspective); Marie-Jo Amiot-Carlin for Key WI FOODS; and Eric Servat for Key WI WATERS. The MIAB members were then asked for their opinion on the process, the relevance of the topics, and the potential interest of member institutions in participating.
The three proposals, whose topics are considered excellent, interconnected, and relevant, were unanimously approved by the assembly. Due to the critical mass and unique level of international cooperation that each initiative creates in its field on a global scale and over the long term, these initiatives offer real potential and their creation provides added value that sets them apart from other existing global initiatives on the same topics.
These Key World Initiatives could be launched as early as 2022, following a year of development, with MUSE offering to finance the various stages, thanks to the advice of MIAB members and, where appropriate, with their participation. A remote working and discussion seminar is scheduled for each of them during the first half of 2021, with discussions to be implemented in the summer, during thethird MIAB meeting, which everyone hopes will be held in person.
[1] Created in March 2019, the MUSE International Advisory Board (MIAB) is composed of strategic partners, both French and foreign, academic and non-academic, who are relevant to the achievement of MUSE's ambitions. It plays an advisory role in terms of structuring and strategic direction for the development of the MUSE project in the areas of training, research, innovation, and international outreach.