Major programs

Investing in the future

The Investissements d'Avenir program is worth 35 billion euros, including 22 billion euros earmarked for higher education and research to boost France's competitiveness on the world stage. Of these 22 billion euros, almost 18 billion take the form of competitive calls for projects. The University of Montpellier is heavily involved in this program, through numerous projects in which it is a sponsor or partner. To find out more

ERC grants

Within the European Union, the European Research Council coordinates and funds scientific projects "at the frontier of knowledge", with grants rewarding scientific excellence. The 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 mussel cancers.
  Portrait of Erika Burioli
• Paul Antonio(Géosciences Montpellier) 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 assess the potential of coastal marine resources for 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 Montpellierrain 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, Montpellier) with the SPINAM project, which focuses on electrochemical devices for the conversion and storage of hydrogen energy.
  Video report with Sara Cavaliere

Key initiatives

To pursue its strategy of supporting the scientific communities that make up the site's singular identity, the I-SITE Program of Excellence (PEI) approved five new key initiatives in April 2024. Three of these are internationally oriented and funded by the UM2030 project of the France 2030 - IDéES program "Integration and development of Idex and I-SITE", while the other two, funded directly by the PEI, aim to federate communities from different Montpellier research structures 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 : Eau

Key PEI initiatives :

• KIPPT: Public policies for transition
• CLAPAS: Local collaborative research actions on plant and agrosystem health