Success for the Montpellier University of Excellence project!
This is a major achievement for the entire scientific community in Montpellier and a significant recognition of its potential and its projects. Following its presentation to an international jury on February 21, the Montpellier University of Excellence (MUSE) project has been awarded the Initiatives – Science – Innovation – Territories – Economy (I-SITE) designation. 
The General Commission for Investment (CGI) has decided to allocate €550 million to the project led by the University of Montpellier: €350 million for new MUSE initiatives and €200 million to ensure the long-term viability of the LABEX programs. This allocation is on par with IDEX funding.
In the Montpellier area, the project involves 10 research organizations (BRGM, CEA, CIRAD, CNRS, Ifremer, INRA, Inria, Inserm, IRD, Irstea), 4 schools (ENSAM, ENSCM, EMA, SupAgro), 3 healthcare institutions (Montpellier University Hospital, Nîmes University Hospital, Montpellier Cancer Institute), and one international organization (CIHEAM-IAMM).
More than 150 partners support MUSE and have committed to increasing their involvement in university-industry partnerships: SMEs, large corporations (including five key partners: Banque Populaire du Sud, BRL, Horiba, Invivo, and MSD) and competitiveness clusters (Derbi, Eau, Eurobiomed, Mer, Optitec, Qualiméditerranée, and Trimatec).
Horiba played a particularly decisive role, as its Chairman & CEO, Dr. Jai Hakhu, participated in the hearings before the international jury; it will continue to do so in the future, as Dr. Hakhu has also agreed to participate, alongside the four other preferred partners, in the advisory bodies that will oversee the project’s progress.
A strengthened scientific ambition
This result reinforces the ambition of the MUSE project—the largest scientific initiative ever conceived at the Montpellier site—to address three major challenges for the 21st century: feeding, protecting, and caring for people.“By leveraging Montpellier’s strength in the fields of life sciences, the environment, and agriculture, and by providing a collective response to these three interdependent challenges, MUSE has played its trump card,”says Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier. Through research, education, and innovation, MUSE will set out to conquer new scientific and economic frontiers and will contribute to food security, the sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems, as well as improvements in the treatment of emerging infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and cancers.
“Muse aims to establish Montpellier as an international leader in health, environmental sciences, and agriculture”
The project involves, in the Montpellier area, 10 research organizations (BRGM, CEA, CIRAD, CNRS, Ifremer, INRA, Inria, Inserm, IRD, Irstea), 4 schools (ENSAM, ENSCM, EMA, SupAgro), 3 healthcare institutions (Montpellier University Hospital, Nîmes University Hospital, Montpellier Cancer Institute), and one international organization (CIHEAM-IAMM).
An exceptional presence in the South, further strengthened
With 400 researchers currently based permanently in the intertropical zone, Muse boasts a network and expertise unmatched anywhere in the world in the Global South, thanks in particular to the expertise of CIRAD, IRD, and CNRS. As the nation’s leading center for agro-environment-biodiversity research, Montpellier is now the French leader in research on new agricultural models and environmental management. Similarly, the Montpellier site is a leading authority on the study of emerging infectious diseases and their vectors. These are two issues that primarily affect the Global South and lie at the heart of the accredited project.
Montpellier is now the French leader in research on new agricultural models and environmental management
A well-established tradition of cooperation that is set to gain momentum
With its 6,000 scientists and 50,000 students, the MUSE project enjoys the active support of the Occitanie / Pyrénées – Méditerranée Region and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole
The creation of an internationally recognized thematic research university capable of generating a positive dynamic across all scientific communities (not only those in agronomy, ecology, and biology, but also in chemistry, the hard sciences, engineering, and the social sciences) is indeed a strategic asset for the region’s development. Furthermore, more than 150 partners supported MUSE in its bid for accreditation and have committed to further investing in university-business partnerships: SMEs, major corporations (including five key partners: Banque Populaire du Sud, BRL, Horiba, Invivo, and MSD) and competitiveness clusters (Derbi, Eau, Eurobiomed, Mer, Optitec, Qualiméditerranée, and Trimatec). Objectives: to establish world-class joint laboratories, deploy research teams to campuses, co-develop curricula tailored to the challenges of tomorrow, and co-create European projects…
Obtaining I-SITE certification will help strengthen the partnership between stakeholders in the socio-economic sector and MUSE’s center of scientific excellence
Muse: Funding on par with IDEX funding
The General Commission for Investment (CGI) has decided to allocate €550 million to the project led by the University of Montpellier: €350 million for new MUSE initiatives and €200 million to ensure the long-term viability of the LABEX programs. A grant equivalent to IDEX funding.
Since the overall grant is non-expendable, the interest generated by the grant—amounting to €17 million—will be used annually to fund the MUSE project’s initiatives (€10.5 million) and the LABEX programs (€6.5 million).
This funding will be supplemented by the Occitanie / Pyrénées – Méditerranée Region, which, following the recent establishment of its SRESRI (Regional Plan for Higher Education, Research ), has committed to funding certain MUSE initiatives.
17 million euros will be allocated annually to support the MUSE project (10.5 million euros) and to fund the LABEX (6.5 million euros).