Investments for the future
The Investissements d'Avenir 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. The University of Montpellier is heavily involved in this program through numerous projects that it leads or partners with.
EquipEx
Montpellier University is involved in seven EquipEx projects, including one (EXTRA) led by the institution.
EXcellence Center on Antimonides (EXTRA)
Funding: €4.2 million
Objective: to create a leading research center on infrared photonics, which is considered a key technology for future applications in the fields of communications (multimedia), energy (solar cells), imaging (for health, security, defense, etc.), and sensors.
Contributions of the project: EXTRA will enable the development of new optoelectronic components (light emitters and detectors) operating in the infrared range for these fields of application.
UM partners: IES, CTM
GEOSUD
Funding: €11.5 million
Objective: The GEOSUD project focuses on acquiring and providing satellite coverage of the entire French territory, with particular attention paid to urban areas. This project also provides scientific computing capabilities to process this information.
Contributions of the project: The project will provide high-definition images of France and analysis software that can be used for land management, environmental monitoring, natural hazard prevention (floods, fires), etc.
UM partners: LIRMM, MESO@LR, OSU-OREME,
ROBOTEX
Funding: €10.5 million
Objective: The ROBOTEX project proposes the creation of a national network comprising 15 laboratories that structure robotics.
The project's contributions: Three major areas of robotics have concrete impacts:
- humanoid robotics that will provide support to people with reduced autonomy;
- medical robotics;
- micro- and nanorobotics, which will enable considerable advances in the field of healthcare
UM partners: LIRMM
French Seismological and Geodetic Network (RESIF-CORE)
Funding: €9.3 million
Objective: RESIF-CORE provides France with a new instrumentation system for observing slow ground deformations by setting up a network of sensors.
Contributions of the project: RESIF-CORE will provide a better understanding of seismic hazards and, consequently, the associated risks to people and property in mainland France.
UM partners: Géosciences Montpellier, OREME
Gravitational antenna based on atomic interferometry (MIGA)
Funding: €9 million
Objective: MIGA is an interferometer for observing the Earth's gravitational field. It consists of the construction of a new infrastructure for studying distortions in space-time and gravity.
Contributions of the project: the research results will be applied to environmental monitoring, improving earthquake prediction, anticipating their consequences, and determining the measures to be taken to save lives or protect critical infrastructure.
UM partners: Geosciences Montpellier
Multiscale imaging and reconstruction of morphogenesis (MORPHOSCOPE 2)
Funding: €9 million
Objective: MORPHOSCOPE is an infrastructure project integrating technological developments in microscopic imaging, data storage, and algorithmic analysis to advance our understanding of biological processes and predict their behavior based on genetic or environmental variations.
Contributions of the project: The project will lay the foundations for personalized medicine and the design of smart therapies, resulting in more reliable early diagnoses and the development of more effective treatment protocols, which will have a major impact on citizens' health.
UM partners: CRBM
[accordion title | National park with innovative equipment for the spatial and temporal study of the Critical Zone of Watersheds (CRITEX)]
Funding: €7 million
Objective: The CRITEX project aims to describe the hydrological, hydrogeological, and geochemical functioning of selected watersheds representing a variety of contexts (rocks, soils, vegetation, climate, human activities, etc.) in order to better understand the effects of climate change on the future of the planet.
Contributions of the project: CRITEX will provide a better understanding of how human activities and climate change alter the quality of surface water and groundwater. It will therefore contribute to better water resource management in a variety of contexts. The data acquired will be made available to the public.
UM partners: Hydrosciences Montpellier, Geosciences Montpellier
Labex
The Languedoc-Roussillon region ranks among the best with 21 LabEx, including 5 supported by the University of Montpellier.
Mediterranean Center for Environment and Biodiversity (CeMEB)
Objective: to propose solutions to environmental problems caused by biodiversity loss and global changes affecting ecological systems and human societies.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: Paul-Valéry Montpellier University, Sup’Agro, EPHE, CNRS, CIRAD, IRD, INRA
Project coordinator: Philippe Jarne, Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE)
Chemistry of Molecular and Interfacial Systems (CheMISyst)
Objective: to understand and utilize long-term chemical interactions that give rise to self-organization and interfacial reactivity for multi-scale control of the morphology and functionality of molecular systems, complex fluids, and materials.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: CNRS, CEA, ENSCM, Ecole des Mines d’Alès, COMUE
Project coordinator: Stéphane Pellet-Rostaing, Director of the Marcoule Institute for Separative Chemistry (ICSM)
Establishment with management mandate: Balard Chemistry Division
Entrepreneurship
Objective: to generate knowledge about entrepreneurship at the intersection of law, economics, and management; to improve the sustainability of new businesses; to develop support tools that integrate legal, economic, and management dimensions.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: Paul-Valéry Montpellier University, Sup’Agro
Project coordinator: Karim Messeghem, Director of the Economic and Social Administration (AES) Department
EpiGenMed
Objective: from genetics and epigenetics to molecular medicine, develop new therapeutic strategies to become a global center of excellence in biomedical sciences.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: INSERM, CNRS, IRD
Project coordinator: Marcel Méchali
Digital, Hardware, and Modeling Solutions for the Environment and Living Systems (NuMEV)
Objective: to create synergy between the hard sciences and the life/environmental sciences: emergence of an interdisciplinary center with international visibility, amplifying the research-training-transfer dynamic.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: CNRS, INRIA, INRA, Sup’Agro
Head of LabEx NUMEV: Andrea Parmeggiani, Professor at the Charles Coulomb Laboratory (L2C). He is assisted by two other directors: Emmanuel Le Clézio, Professor at the Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES), and Nabil Zemiti, Senior Lecturer at the Montpellier Laboratory of Computer Science, Robotics, and Microelectronics (LIRMM).
MAbImprove
Objective: optimization of the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: "better antibodies, better developed and better used"
Host institution: PRES (Regional Higher Education Center) Centre Val de Loire University
Partners: François Rabelais University in Tours, University of Montpellier, INSERM, CNRS, INRA, Tours University Hospital, Montpellier Cancer Institute (ICM)
Project coordinator: Professor Hervé Watier, University of Tours
Deputy Coordinator: Dr. André Pèlegrin, Montpellier Research Institute
National infrastructure in biology and health
ECELLFRANCE
ECELLFRANCE is a national platform dedicated to cell therapy based on the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of degenerative diseases.
ECELLFRANCE aims to harmonize and optimize the various stages necessary for the development of "stem cell medicines" and regenerative medicine.
ECELLFRANCE offers academic and industrial teams that use the infrastructure the opportunity to optimize their clinical trial setup program in the field of cell therapies by supporting them through the various phases of their project: project validation, conducting preclinical studies, preparing regulatory dossiers, producing CSM for clinical use, setting up phase I and II clinical trials with patient follow-up.
Host institution: University of Montpellier
Partners: University of Montpellier, CNRS, Inserm, Paul Sabatier University Toulouse III, Grenoble University Hospital, EFS, CTSA
Project coordinator: Christian Jorgensen
e-ReColNat
The e-ReColNat project aims to create a tool for promoting French natural history collections, which contain nearly 100 million specimens accumulated over 350 years. Underutilized due to a lack of computerization, this heritage has exceptional scientific potential for studying the origin and evolution of living beings and ecosystems, and modeling their response to global changes.
To meet the scientific and technological challenge of computerizing this data, e-ReColNat implements innovative methods and techniques:
- industrial digitization, enabling the creation of an image database of millions of specimens in just a few years;
- development of a collaborative portal and "citizen science" projects where volunteers contribute to databases by examining digitized images.
Beyond this scientific objective, the e-ReColNat platform will also promote the educational and cultural value of this heritage with the creation of a "virtual museum" that is freely accessible to the general public.
Host institution: National Museum of Natural History
Partners: University of Montpellier, Clermont University, University of Burgundy, IRD, INRA, CNAM, GBIF France, Tela Botanica, Agoralogie, CIRAD, CNRS
Project coordinator: Marc Pignal
Balard Chemistry Carnot Institute Cirimat
The Carnot Chimie Balard Cirimat institute brings together 20 research teams working on five themes: sustainable chemistry and processes, energy, health, high-performance materials, and materials for transportation. This networking of expertise aims to respond effectively to economic and societal challenges through partnerships with companies.
The core activity of the research teams involves the controlled development, characterization, and study of the behavior of high-performance molecules and materials for energy, "green chemistry," resource conservation/recovery, environmental protection, transportation, and health.
The Carnot Chimie Balard Cirimat Institute is strongly committed to collaborative research with French and foreign companies. Each year, it carries out more than 130 collaborative research contracts and more than 110 subsidized research contracts in response to the needs of SMEs and large companies.
Supervisors: CNRS, ENSCM, INP Toulouse, Paul Sabatier University, and University of Montpellier
Network: The Carnot Chimie Balard Cirimat Institute is part of the national network of 38 Carnot Institutes. Created in 2006, their main objective is to develop partnership-based research.
Strategic industrial sector: Kyomed
Born out of the CR2i project, Kyomed brings together teams of healthcare and ICT specialists to make the medicine of tomorrow personalized, predictive, preventive, and participatory. These objectives are achieved through three synergistic areas of activity: biomarkers, e-health, and data processing.
- Thanks to its biomarker platform, Kyomed identifies and develops genomic, protein, and lipid markers that can be used to predict, diagnose, and monitor various diseases.
- Kyomed supports and accelerates the development of innovative healthcare solutions. The company evaluates the use of these solutions among citizens, patients, and healthcare professionals in a Living Lab, and provides complementary expertise (ICT, biotechnology, design, regulatory) in a collaborative design approach.
- Finally, the IT platform optimizes interoperability and analyzes data, whether molecular, biological, biochemical, or from connected objects.
Lead institution: Private company SAS Kyomed
Partners: University of Montpellier, Montpellier Cancer Institute (ICM), Altera Group, SAS Bioguild (Acobiom, Amylgen, ASA, CEISO, Histalim, I2A, Phylogen), CR2i Association in LR (Sanofi, Montpellier University Hospital, Nîmes University Hospital, EFS, Alès School of Mines, Institut Mines Télécom, Eurobiomed Competitiveness Cluster)
Project coordinator: Daniel Laune
