Muse: "We are approaching this assessment with confidence."
Five years after its launch, I-Site Muse is completing its probationary period and preparing for its final evaluation, which will take place from November to January. What is the outcome, in Montpellier, of this investment in the future aimed at creating world-class universities? We take stock with François Pierrot, Executive Director of I-Site Muse and Vice President in charge of innovation at UM.
MUSE is entering its final phase, with the goal of ensuring the site's long-term future. How will the final evaluation by the international I-Sites jury take place?
The evaluation began last July when we sent our written report to the jury. On November 16 and 17, the international jury will come to Montpellier to meet with the project's stakeholders. Finally, the last phase will take place next January, when a delegation from Muse will travel to Paris, probably to the ANR's offices, to meet with the entire jury this time.
Who makes up this jury? Academics?
The members of the Idex and I-Site jury do not come from the French system. They are either international academic executives or people from large industrial groups. There are Germans, Canadians, Spaniards... The jury is made up of 25 members, about a third of whom will be present in Montpellier for the evaluation.
How will this on-site evaluation take place?
The jury will meet, in 45-minute sessions, with key players who have worked on the development of Muse, including leaders from partner institutions, research and training project leaders, students, Professors President Philippe Augé and myself.
What criteria will this evaluation be based on?
The first thing they will evaluate is the effectiveness of setting up a university capable of integrating all the consortium's stakeholders. This is what we have achieved through the EPE, the experimental public institution, with the decree of September 20. To evaluate this point, there are two categories of parameters: the legal and administrative aspects and the "practical" aspects, so to speak, i.e., how this integration translates into real life.
In other words, the decree alone is not enough; it is its content that the jury will examine?
Indeed, and this content includes several elements that demonstrate the quality of this integration. For us, it is the chemistry school in particular that has gone very far in terms of integration, as it has granted the university's board of directors the right to give its opinion on the school's budget and on the recruitment campaign...
Is there also the Institut Agro?
Yes, with whom we have signed a partnership agreement this time, which shows that the Institut Agro is fully committed to the experimental establishment.
Is the new strategic and structural investment committee also part of this framework?
It is indeed the second sign of strong and successful integration. This committee is made up of all the partner institutions, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Inserm, etc. In short, all those with whom we signed a strategic agreement at the Africa-France summit on October 8. This committee will work on all the major projects that will shape our collective life.
So much for the administrative side of things, but what about the practical side? As a reminder, I-SITE is an acronym for "science, innovation, territory, and economy." These are the four areas on which Muse will be evaluated.
These four areas or pillars describe the general purpose of I-Site initiatives. In concrete terms, the jury wants to know whether, at the end of this probationary period, the University has become more attractive and more visible.
So what?
When it comes to attractiveness, there is one figure that speaks volumes: over the five years of the I-Site, the number of doctoral students in France has fallen by an average of 5%, while in Montpellier it has increased by 10%. We have also been able to recruit high-level scientists from other countries. So are we attractive? Yes. Are we more visible? There are several parameters, not all of which will convince the same people, but let's announce them anyway: the Shanghai ranking: in five years, we've moved up 140 places! Publications within the framework of I-Site? 65% of them are co-authored by foreign authors.
This is a remarkable rate, even on an international scale. Over the same period, we increased European funding by 25% and were chosen to create the UNESCO Water Center. In terms of training, CHARM EU was also created. These factors clearly indicate a gain in international visibility.
You mention training, but pedagogical innovation will also be evaluated by the jury...
Absolutely, and at the heart of this issue is the creation of the pedagogical innovation center, made up of extremely dynamic and competent experts, and the symposium that was held recently is the best proof of this. There is a real focus on training teachers so that they can embrace these innovations and become a driving force for change. We have also put in place some excellent equipment for this purpose, tools that teachers also use in their innovative practices...
Regarding the "territory and economy" axis, what are Muse's arguments?
In five years, we have doubled the number of companies located on campus. We now have 62. To go further, we have synchronized all of our promotion and transfer services with our partners. We have signed a charter setting out the conditions for welcoming a company so that they are exactly the same at UM, CNRS, INRAE, etc. Business developers work together to promote all the expertise developed in the site's laboratories by field, rather than by referring to one supervisory body or another.
Does a territory also include local authorities?
Absolutely, and there are two that are particularly relevant to us: the Region and the Metropolis. The former has been a key partner since the inception of I-Site, through the funding of numerous doctoral contracts, but also with the launch of key challenges directly inspired by KIMs, Muse's key initiatives. There is also the Montpellier Metropolis and its economic development project, MedVallée, which is based on issues already identified by the University. We can see that "healing, feeding, and protecting" are areas in which the UM, the Region, and the Metropolis are perfectly aligned.
I-Site has also committed to a more specific goal, namely to serve as a scientific portal for countries in the Global South...
It's true, Montpellier aims to bea portal for all scientific issues of interest to countries in the GlobalSouth. I believe that with the Africa-France summit, we have demonstrated our legitimacy on these issues.
That does indeed seem to be a real strength. Are there any weaknesses?
I wouldn't call them weaknesses, but there are areas where we haven't been able to make as much progress as we would have liked due to the health crisis. This is the case, for example, with the internationalization of training programs. We also need to work on creating a stronger link between fundamental research and clinical research... Our priorities for the future will take these two issues into particular account.
So we have every chance of keeping the I-Site going?
What we can say is that we are approaching this evaluation calmly, with the feeling that we have done what was necessary. However, the jury is sovereign and may think differently from us, so we must not be presumptuous.
Have other sites failed to achieve permanent status?
Yes, absolutely. Toulouse and Lyon did not achieve permanent status in the Idex category, and the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté did not achieve permanent status in the I-Site category. It is entirely possible to fail to meet the criteria, which is why we all remain fully committed to this evaluation process.