Support for IEP research: 35 projects selected

Since 2017, UM's I-SITE excellence program has supported research to the tune of €20.8m. On a site-wide scale, this is an unprecedented commitment. The €3.8 million call for projects to support Research 2022 will fund 35 of the 80 projects proposed. Work can begin as early as the first half of November 2022.

The UM's Strategic and Structuring Investment Committee, made up of representatives of the PEI's partner organizations, met on October 4 and approved the evaluation committee's proposal to retain 35 of the projects submitted. This call for projects focuses on the emergence of projects likely to lead to the submission of projects to the ERC and the stimulation of finalized research that could lead to future maturation programs. It also includes funding for research equipment.

A springboard for submitting projects to the European Research Council (ERC)

The first part of this call for projects aims to support the emergence of projects likely to lead to submissions to theEuropean Research Council (ERC). Evaluation criteria focus on the scientific excellence of the project leader and his/her team, and on the credibility of the project with a view to a future ERC submission. 18 projects selected:

  • Investigating Virus-Host Interplay in Human Primary Models of Genetically Modified Respiratory Epithelium (InVirium)
    Caroline Goujon, Institut de Research en Infectiologie de Montpellier (IRIM), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Efficient water nanofiltration with carbon nanotube: origin of the super-fast flow (NanoFlow)
    Adrien Noury, Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C), Pôle MIPS
  • Nuclear pores And Chromatin Organization- Role of the nucleoporin TPR in heterochromatin exclusion (NAChO)
    Charlène Boumendil, Institut de Génétique Humaine (IGH), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Exploring the human - pathogen genomic interactions of in rapidly mutating RNA viruses (INTERGEN)
    Vincent Pedergnana, Mivegec, Pôle AEB
  • Are urban birds pre-adapted to global warming?
    Anne Charmantier, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Pôle AEB
  • Verindex - Verified data structures for term indexing
    Simon Robillard, Laboratoire d'Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM), Pôle MIPS
  • Automatic prover for arborescent combinatorial objects (APACE)
    Matthieu Rosenfeld, Laboratoire d'Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM), Pôle MIPS
  • Optogenetic manipulations and Rho-GTPase biosensors in plant (OptoSens)
    Alexandre Martniere, Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Montpellier (IPSiM), Pôle AEB
  • Magnesium nanoparticles for hierarchically porous silicon (MaNa)
    Tangi Aubert, Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux Charles Gerhardt (ICGM), Pôle Chimie
  • Breakthrough concept for Carbon-Carbon & Carbon-heteroatom bond formation, for the relocation of the pharmaceutical production to Europe (Rebirth)
    Marc Taillefer, Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux Charles Gerhardt (ICGM), Pôle Chimie
  • Imaging 3D genome architecture and transcriptional regulation in the fly brain (fly-Scope)
    Marcelo Nollmann, Centre de Biochimie Structurale (CBS), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Particulate Plastic Footprint: an indicator to assess the environmental impact of long-term fate of plastic packaging (PlastiPrint)
    Valérie Guillard, Ingénierie des Agropolymères et Technologies Emergentes (IATE), Pôle AEB
  • The "social microbiome": the missing mechanism meditating the sociality-fitness nexus? (SO FIT)
    Alice Baniel, Institut des Sciences de l'évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Pôle AEB
  • Deep-Learning based EmulAtors of mantle phase tRaNsformatIons for Geodynamic models (LEARNING)
    Nestor Cerpa, Géosciences Montpellier (GM), pôle AEB
  • Variations in the response of fish to marine heatwaves from a metabolic, genetic and molecular perspective (VAMAHEAT)
    Nicolas Loiseau, Biodiversité Marine, Exploitation et Conservation (MARBEC), Pôle AEB
  • Mechanisms of antigenic variation in malaria (MOTIVATOR)
    Antoine Claessens, Laboratory of Pathogen-Host Interactions (LPHI), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Irrigation for agroecological transitions in agriculture: a science frontier for sustainable water and land management (IrriSust)
    Crystèle LEAUTHAUD, Gestion de l'eau, acteurs et usages (G-EAU), Pôle AEB
  • Deciphering the synchronous motions of electrons, atoms and ions during galvanic replacement reactions (NANOGATE)
    Yaovi HOLADE, Institut Européen des Membranes (IEM), Pôle Chimie

Supporting innovative projects

The second part is dedicated to boosting finalized research that could lead to future maturation programs. The scientific excellence of the project is assessed according to its innovative character, its intellectual property strategy, its potential spin-offs and its credibility with a view to future (pre-)maturation. 8 projects selected:

  • Targeting a new signalling cascade with specific inhibitors for the treatment of obesity (NewObTrea)
    Anna Castro, CRBM, Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • New antiviral compounds targeting the viral capsid and acting as inhibitors of HIV-1 nuclear import (Caddis)
    Nathalie Arhel, IRIM, Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Autonomous Agroecology in Market Gardening: Co-design of new autonomous market gardening production systems combining agro-ecological and digital innovations (AAutonoM)
    Véronique Bellon-Maurel, ITAP, Pôle AEB
  • Development of "safe" pluripotent stem cells to be used in regenerative medicine (SPLUSCs)
    Domenico Maiorano, Institut de Génétique Humaine (IGH), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • A universal flavivirus vaccine (FlaviVax)
    Julien Pompon, Mivegec, Pôle AEB
  • 3-dimensional flow-based blood-brain barrier for neuropharmacological testing (BBB-Flow)
    Nicolas Marchi, Institut de Génétique Fonctionnelle (IGF), Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Biomarkers and epigenetic therapies against aggressive forms of prostate cancer (CAPRE)
    Eric Julien, IRCM, Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Development of active compounds against chemoresistant cancers (Chimio-R)
    Pierre CUQ, IBMM, Chemistry Division

Equipment for research

A third component aims to support research structures and platforms accredited by institutions in their research equipment policy. 9 projects selected:

  • Space imaging equipment in Africa
    Project sponsor: Laurent Dusseau, Centre Spatial Universitaire de Montpellier (CSUM), Pôle MIPS
  • New scanning electron microscope for health, energy and the environment
    Project leader: Éric Clot, Plateforme de Microscopie Électronique et Analytique (MEA), Pôle Chimie
  • Plateau d'imagerie cellulaire " in situ " des processus adaptatifs chez les plantes
    Carole Gauron, Diversité, Adaptation, Développement des Plantes (DIADE), Pôle AEB
  • Construction of an experimental module in the experimental ecology technical platform
    Project coordinator: Marie-Laure Navas, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Pôle AEB
  • Montpellier cores for life
    Coordinator: Laurent Journot, Biocampus Montpellier, Pôle Biologie-Santé
  • Microbial identification by Maldi Tof mass spectrometry
    Carrier: Patricia Licznar-Fajardo, Hydrosciences Montpellier, Pôle AEB
  • Imaging biosensors in plants
    Carrier: Carine Alco, Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Montpellier (Ipsim), Pôle AEB
  • Purchase of a medium infrared spectrometer for soil analysis
    Carrier: Tiphaine Chevallier, Eco&Sols, Pôle AEB
  • Ultra high performance liquid chromatography system coupled to a mass spectrometer
    Project: Gilles Subra, Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), Pôle Chimie