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A Key Initiative for Innovative Research in Plant Health and Agrosystems. Faced with multiple biotic and abiotic risks to plants, such as diseases, pests, climate change, and intensive agricultural practices, plant health research is a major challenge. These challenges affect not only agricultural productivity but also food security, biodiversity, and ecological balance. In this context, the CLAPAS1 initiative proposes to explore plant health through a broad approach, inspired by the concept of the exposome, which encompasses all interactions between plants and their environment (soils, microbiota, pests, beneficial organisms, etc.).. This approach is fully in line with the One Health perspective, linking plant, environmental, animal, and human health. Objectives of the Key Initiative CLAPAS aims to structure the Montpellier scientific community around three priority research areas: Mechanisms and ecology of biotic interactions in agrosystems. Role of microbiota in the adaptation of plants to their environment. Epidemiological surveillance and adaptive dynamics of pests. This research has three main objectives: Prevent risks, using tools such as ecological modeling, genomics, and epidemiological surveillance. Cure, by developing innovative solutions such as the use of microbiota, metabolites, or natural auxiliaries, or methods such as chemical confusion and the sterile insect technique. Strengthen resilience by assessing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the proposed solutions. A Dynamic Collaboration This project brings together numerous laboratories from the "Agronomy, Environment, Biodiversity" (AEB) research cluster of the I-Site, which federates several national research institutions (INRAE, IRD, CIRAD, Institut Agro Montpellier, University of Montpellier), and draws on international collaborations, particularly with countries in the Global South, which are heavily affected by climate change. CLAPAS is also involved in national and European initiatives and collaborates with non-academic actors (FREDON, Chamber of Agriculture, specialized companies). By strengthening interdisciplinary synergies and promoting sustainable agricultural practices, CLAPAS aims to position Montpellier as a center of excellence in plant health research, resolutely focused on the challenges of tomorrow. Key actions of the CLAPAS key initiative: Plant health and an integrated approach CLAPAS implements interdisciplinary and collaborative actions to strengthen research and awareness around plant health, integrating the concepts of exposome and One Health. These actions are aimed at local scientific units and focus on four main initiatives: Organization of scientific events: Conferences, workshops, and regular meetings will be organized to promote exchanges between researchers, disseminate discoveries, and consolidate a dynamic scientific network around plant health. Support for interdisciplinary research projects: Funding will be allocated to collaborative projects between several research units, with an emphasis on training Master's students. The projects will encourage synergies with the social sciences, human or animal health, promoting innovative and integrative research. Research schools and specialized training: Training will be offered to researchers and doctoral students, particularly on key topics such as plant and environmental health, microbial communities, biodiversity, epidemiological modeling, and bioinformatics analysis. These schools aim to strengthen the skills of young scientists and research teams. Science-society interactions: Surveys will be conducted to better understand how local stakeholders perceive plant health (e.g., shared gardens in Montpellier). At the same time, awareness-raising workshops for the general public will be organized during events such as the Fête de la Science (Science Festival) or the project's closing conference. These ambitious actions aim to build a research community around plant health, encourage innovative and sustainable approaches, and raise awareness in society of the challenges related to plant health from a global perspective.

Investments for the Future The Investments for the Future program represents €35 billion, including €22 billion earmarked for higher education and research to strengthen France's competitiveness on the world stage. Of this €22 billion, nearly €18 billion takes the form of competitive calls for projects. Montpellier University is heavily involved in this program through numerous projects that it leads or partners with. Find out more ERC Grants The European Research Council coordinates and funds scientific projects "at the frontier of knowledge" within the European Union with grants that reward scientific excellence. This program is open to all disciplines. Current European Research Council projects: ERC Starting Grant Erika Burioli (Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions Laboratory) with the HYPERCAN project on transmissible cancers in mussels.Portrait of Erika Burioli Paul Antonio (Montpellier Geosciences) with the UBEICH project, which proposes a new experimental method to refine the dating of the Earth's inner core.Portrait of Paul Antonio ERC Advanced Grant David Mouillot (MARBEC) whose BLUE-AFRICA project will enable transdisciplinary research to be conducted to assess the potential of coastal marine resources in reducing poverty and emigration in rural areas of East Africa affected by land aridification. Read the press release ERC Synergy Grant Daniele Di Pietro (Institut Montpelliérain Alexander Grothendieck) with the NEMESIS project, which aims to understand how to overcome current technological barriers in numerical simulations of complex physical problems. Portrait Daniele Di Pietro Past ERCs Sara Cavaliere (Charles Gerhardt Institute of Montpellier) with the SPINAM project, which focuses on electrochemical devices for hydrogen energy conversion and storage. Video report with Sara Cavaliere Key initiatives In order to pursue its strategy of supporting the scientific communities that make up the site's unique identity, the I-SITE Program of Excellence (PEI) certified five new key initiatives in April 2024. Three of these are internationally oriented and funded by the UM2030 project of the France 2030 program – IDéES "Integration and Development of Idex and I-SITE," while the other two, funded directly by the PEI, aim to bring together communities from different research structures in Montpellier around interdisciplinary themes in order to give them greater visibility. Key international initiatives UM 2030: Foods: Nutrition and Food Systems Vect-OH: Infectious Risks and Vectors in a One Health Approach Water: Water Key PEI initiatives: KIPPT: Public Transition Policies CLAPAS: Local Collaborative Research Actions on Plant and Agrosystem Health

Contemporary societies face numerous, complex, and cross-cutting challenges that call into question the longevity of our development model, its sustainability, and our ability to function as a society. Whether these challenges relate to environmental and climate change, demographics, politics, or technology (particularly digital technology), they call into question our lifestyles and our models of development, production, consumption, work organization, education, healthcare, spatial planning, mobility, and more. These changes bring opportunities, but they also generate risks, particularly for the most vulnerable populations. They are therefore sources of social, political, and economic disruption that directly challenge the governance of our societies. Supporting the transition to new, more sustainable and equitable development models has become a challenge for public actors. To meet this challenge, the Montpellier site offers high-level social science research in various disciplines: economics, law, political science, geography, education and training sciences, management, and sociology. The objective of the Key Initiative on Public Transition Policies (KIPPT) is to enhance the visibility and promote local, national, and international interactions among scientists at the Montpellier site whose work in the social sciences is related to public transition policies. On the one hand, the aim is to bring researchers together and structure them into a sustainable network. The KIPPT will thus help to stimulate and encourage exchanges and synergies and raise the profile of the Montpellier site's collective expertise in public transition policies. On this basis, the KIPPT also aims to structure a "science/society" relationship by acting as a bridge between researchers working on transition policies and public and civil society actors. To this end, various partners such as local authorities (notably the Occitanie Region and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole), businesses, and associations are involved in the project. A broad and multidisciplinary definition of public transition policies KIPPT supports a broad definition of public transition policies, based on the three pillars of I-site—feeding, protecting, and caring—and beyond. It approaches public policy, public action, and governance from a multidisciplinary perspective. It brings together numerous laboratories from the I-Site's Social Sciences cluster around three main areas: Area 1: stimulating exchanges between laboratories and disciplines around key sectoral themes on the site, such as climate/energy, ecological, digital, agricultural, and food transition, mobility/transport, health, etc. Area 2: promoting reflection on the coherence and articulation between public transition policies and integration issues. Particular attention is paid to the cross-cutting issue of inequalities on the one hand, and to territorial projects as vectors of integration to address tensions between sectoral and territorial logics on the other. Axis 3: Address cross-cutting issues related to the governance of transitions. Issues related to the design of public transition policies (PTPs), their public debate and evaluation. Issues related to the implementation of PTPs: cooperation between actors, sectors, levels of government, financing, citizen/civil society participation, etc. Issues of conflict/acceptability of transition policies Issues related to the methods and instruments used: cost-benefit approaches, multi-criteria approaches, incentive instruments, regulatory instruments, pricing, planning, trajectories, etc. Issues related to changes in stakeholders' perceptions, opinions, and behaviors in response to transitions Actions to promote the creation of a scientific community A call for multidisciplinary and multi-laboratory research projects "Structuring" projects "Impulse" projects A platform dedicated to KIPPT link Project monitoring and promotion Resource center for the community Three scientific days