I-SITE Excellence Program

Awarded in 2017 and renewed in 2022, the I-SITE program of excellence brings together the strengths of 16 institutions toward a shared goal: establishing in Montpellier a thematically focused, research-intensive university that is internationally recognized for its impact on societal challenges such as food security, environmental protection, and human health. During the five-year pilot period, significant transformations were set in motion in every major area of academic life. These initiatives, which until now had been carried out under the umbrella of the Montpellier University of Excellence Foundation, are now fully integrated into the activities of the University of Montpellier’s administrative departments and services.

Scientific Ambition and Support for Research

The program’s goal is to address three interrelated challenges:

1. to promote environmentally innovative agriculture that contributes to food security and environmental quality;
2. to encourage the transition to a society that manages its resources and environment in a sustainable manner;
3. improve human health in changing environments.

While the sciences dealing with topics related to agriculture, the environment, biodiversity, biology, and health are therefore at the heart of the program, the goal is to continue transforming the way we work and to build new bridges between these fields and with the other disciplines that make the Montpellier campus so strong.

The I-SITE Excellence Program provides funding for the four extended Labex programs at the University of Montpellier (Cemeb, Agro, Entreprendre, NUMEV) and the two Lab’UM —in chemistry and epigenetics—which will continue their activities until their completion.
It supports the structuring of research at the consortium level by contributing to the operation of the five research clusters ( Research ) and their efforts to foster scientific engagement within their respective communities.
It aims to promote the submission of a greater number of proposals to the ERC by funding outreach, training, and support for writing ERC project proposals.

The Excellence Program features an ambitious research support initiative and a strong commitment toscientific appeal.

Educational Transformation and Support for Innovation

The Training component of the Excellence Program is structured around several areas.
The first initiative, launched in 2017, is the University of Montpellier’s doctoral college, which continues its work in line with the institution’s overall strategy for training in and through research, for the benefit of all students in the participating doctoral schools.

The program supports the structuring of academic programs at the consortium level, drawing in particular on the newly created academic councils, so that they can promote joint initiatives among the consortium’s academic departments, schools, and institutes, and enhance the visibility and clarity of the academic offerings of theUM , and its partners.

The program also supports educational transformation at all higher education institutions in the consortium by raising student awareness of and providing training on the challenges of the ecological transition, enriching curricula and teaching practices, and providing support to the “ Professors ” through the joint Educational Innovation Support Service.

The I-SITE Excellence Program oversees the program to support educational transformation.

Strategic International Partnerships and Support for International Activities

International reach is one of the key hallmarks of this forward-looking investment program. The University of Montpellier and its partners in the I-SITE program of excellence have chosen to foster thematic, institutional, and programmatic initiatives through close ties with universities in both the Global North and the Global South in fields aligned with their scientific ambitions. Numerous strategic partnerships have been forged to explore opportunities for global-scale initiatives, such as the organization of the Montpellier Global Days as part of the New Africa-France Summit, the MAK’IT Institute for Advanced Knowledge, and the Key World Initiatives focused on the consortium’s key themes (viruses and vectors, food systems, and water).

The I-SITE Excellence Program oversees the EXPLORE international mobility program, the Key World Initiatives program, and the MAK’IT Institute.

Research Collaboration and Innovation Marketing

The overall goal is to create more numerous, sustainable, and high-quality connections between the worlds of higher education and research and the socio-economic sector.
The I-SITE Excellence Program brings together the consortium’s partners around a common strategy for partnerships with economic stakeholders to foster technological and societal innovations. Every effort is being made to ensure that stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem work in synergy and complement each other in areas such as skills development, innovation marketing, and the alignment of processes…

The I-SITE Excellence Program supports the " Companies and Campus " program and the Innovation Booster.

Student Initiatives

In order to offer initiatives that complement existing programs, the I-SITE Program of Excellence for Student Life is designed to promote intercultural understanding among students. This objective contributes to fulfilling one of the post-probationary commitments of the MUSE project, which aims to promote the internationalization of academic programs. In this context, the goal is to offer students the opportunity to put their knowledge of English into practice or improve their English skills outside of their academic programs, while enabling them to develop intercultural openness.

The I-ISITE Excellence Program oversees the student initiative support program.

Scientific Culture

This initiative focuses on strengthening efforts to share knowledge and foster dialogue, as well as to share scientific methods, results, challenges, and questions, specifically targeting young people and school-age students. Efforts to promote scientific literacy will be carried out in conjunction with “ongoing research” within the consortium.

The I-ISITE Program of Excellence oversees the program that supports initiatives to promote scientific literacy.