Call for projects 2024 - Actions 1-3 of Academy of Excellence 4 "Complexity & Diversity of the Living Systems"

In 2023, for the new IDEX^JEDI session of Université Côte d'Azur, the Academy of Excellence 4 "Complexity and Diversity of Life" launches three actions for its call for projects:

 

Action 1: Call for projects for transdisciplinary master’s degree internships

The steering committee of the academy 4, “Complexity and Diversity of the Living Systems” opens a call for projects for transdisciplinary Master’s degree internships.

-Deadline for project submission: April 8th, 2024-

Conditions for eligibility:
 A project within the scope of Academy 4 “Complexity and Diversity of Living Systems”.
 2 complementary approaches.
 2 Master’s students in 2024/2025 from distinct (multi)disciplinary programs.
 2 internship supervisors from 2 distinct disciplines including Biology or Medical sciences (Example: Biology or Medecine AND Mathematics).
 If one of the two master students is a medical doctor, his/her supervisor will have to provide his/her own funding.
 2 different research centers (institutes / laboratories)
 Applicants must be affiliated to an institution that is part of the IDEX^JEDI perimeter (PERIDEX). This perimeter is displayed on the web page of Academy 4 (partners).
 The project cannot be funded by another IDEX^JEDI program or the subject of an application for another IDEX^JEDI program.
 For each project, in addition to both internship supervisors, other teams called partners, are allowed. In this case, the final budget for the whole project will still be 24 k€ (see below). Consequently, if the putative partners wish to hire master’s students, they will have to provide master’s stipends from their proper fundings.
 Only one project is allowed for a research team with a specific thematic. To better appreciate this point, which is discipline specific, each applicant will provide an organizational chart of his/her laboratory.
 A supervisor cannot apply more than once a year.

The 2024 call for projects will fund 5 fellowships for 24 k€ each (120 k€ total).
This amount will cover operating costs for one university year, including stipends for the two master’s students.
Operating costs = consumables, small equipment, missions, internship stipends.
No payroll.
Funds will be allocated upon approval by the scientific council and the steering committee regarding the project’s eligibility, scientific quality, interdisciplinarity and feasibility for both master’s students.

Conditions for application:
Each project will be written, in English or in French, following the template document that can be downloaded from the Nuxeo platform: 2024_Action1_A4

The project must comprise:
 An acronym
 A project title
 The name of both applicants (Masters supervisors) and partners
 The postal address of the structure to which each project applicant and partner belongs
 A scientific & technical summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A “popular” summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A description of the project and the scientific challenges involved (max 4 pages)
 A detailed summary of the financial needs and the relevant provisional budget (max. 1 page),
 A list of the people involved in the project and their respective affiliations (max. 1 page)
 An organizational chart for each applicant
 The signature of the director of each of at least both research units

The application may include a link to a short video presentation of the project by the applicants (optional).

The application will be submitted on the Nuxeo platform in the tab “Project”: 2024_Action1_A4

Deadlines:
Call for project opening: February 2, 2024
Project submission: April 8th, 2024
Results: end of June 2024
Funding allocation: July 2024
Funding closure: November 2025

Project follow-up:
A scientific and financial report as well as any publication will be communicated at the end of the funding year (including both student manuscripts). An oral presentation at a workshop organized by Academy 4 will be given in June 2025.
The Academy will also follow the future careers of the master’s students for 4 years.
 

Action 2: Call for projects for the installation of new research teams in Biology on the Université Côte d'Azur site

The steering committee of the academy 4, “Complexity and Diversity of the Living Systems” opens a call for Co-funding of young research teams (ATIP/Avenir CNRS/Inserm and equivalent) that are interested in dedicating part of their activities towards the development of inter/transdisciplinary projects.

Academy 4 wishes to support the installation of young research teams within an existing research structure in which they have never been active, and which falls within IDEX^JEDI perimeter of excellence. This perimeter is defined on the web page of Academy 4 (partners).

Co-funding is also granted to "Senior" teams subject to mobility to Université Côte d'Azur and with a new project assessed for excellence, financed by national or international competitive calls for proposals and in line with the theme of Academy 4.

Hence, Academy 4 wishes to promote mobility and attractiveness of our laboratories for high-potential team leaders.

The mobility criterion will be rigorously evaluated by the Scientific Council and validated by the Academy 4 Steering Committee, considering the Curriculum Vitae of each candidate team leader, his or her audition by the Scientific Council, and the added value to Université Côte d'Azur that the installation of each funded team represents.

The project must not be simultaneously funded by another IDEX^JEDI program.

Candidates will be interviewed and will present their projects to the scientific council before the funding period.

Funding and duration:
50 k€ (maximum amount allocated per project, with no exception) for one year.
Funds can only be used for operating or equipment costs (no payroll).

Deadlines:
Call opening: from February 2nd to December 31st, 2024
Funding allocation: 1 month after the project acceptance by the scientific council

Conditions for application:
Each project will be written, in English or in French, following the template document that can be downloaded from the Nuxeo platform: 2024_Action2_A4

The project must comprise:
 An acronym
 A project title
 The name of the applicant
 The postal address of the structure to which the applicant belongs
 A scientific & technical summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A “popular” summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A description of the project and the scientific challenges involved (max 4 pages)
 A detailed summary of the financial needs and the relevant provisional budget
 A list of the people involved in the project and their respective affiliations
 The signature of the research unit director

The application may include a link to a short video presentation of the project by the applicants (optional).

The application must be submitted on the Nuxeo platform in the tab “Project”: 2024_Action2_A4

Project follow-up:
A scientific and financial report as well as any publication will be communicated at the end of the funding year.
The academy will ask for an oral presentation of the completed or ongoing project during a workshop organized by the Academy at the end of June 2025.

Action 3: Call for projects for scientific events

The steering committee of the academy 4, “Complexity and Diversity of the Living Systems” opens a call for project to finance workshops, visiting scientist expenses and assistance in setting up major projects.

This call for project is conceived as an incubator for innovative and ambitious scientific activities in the field of Life Sciences. We will specifically consider emerging activities or projects with major development capabilities, notably able to obtain higher support from UniCA^JEDI.

-Deadline for project submission: April 8th, 2024-

The academy will not necessarily exclude projects that will not present transdisciplinarity or innovative and structuring aspects.

Scope:
- Support for project setup to facilitate the arrival on site of partners of interest in the PERIDEX or the subsequent financing of international consortia involving Université Côte d'Azur researchers as main project leaders.
- Workshops with lectures by researchers for researchers
- Thematic and inter-academy workshops
- Expenses for visiting scientists’ accommodation (from one week to several months).

Eligibility criteria:
The applicant institution must be part of the IDEX perimeter (PERIDEX). This perimeter is defined on the website of the Academy 4 (partners).
Applicants should mention if more than one academy is involved in the project.

Applicants should also demonstrate that the project is in line with one of the following criteria:
• Short or middle term transformation of the local scientific landscape
• Structuring of the research in the field of interest
• Increase of the local and international research visibility
• Develop research with high scientific impact.

Visiting scientists will have to provide at least one lecture on the site of Université Côte d’Azur.

Evaluation criteria:
Applications will be evaluated by the scientific council with the help of external reviewers if necessary. In addition to scientific excellence and the eligibility criteria described above, the following points will also be considered during the evaluation process:
• In the case of a trans-disciplinary project, the added value of the transdisciplinarity
• Innovative value
• Putative attractiveness for students
• Quality of the scientific process
• Relevancy of the budget in accordance with the project objectives.

Agenda:
Call for project opening: February 2, 2024
Project submission: April 8th, 2024
Results: end of June 2024
Funding allocation: July 2024
Funding closure: November 2025

Unless exceptions, supports of 1500€ to 3000€ are allowed for a year only.

Eligible costs:
Eligible costs are operating costs (except missions), missions and invitations.
For visiting scientists, eligible costs are not salaries but current expenses like accommodation.
External partners may be included but will not be funded by the Academy 4.

The Welcome Centre is mobilized to assisting with accommodation on the site for external lecturers and possibly their families: https://univ-cotedazur.eu/attending-universite-cote-dazur/welcome-center.

The Mutualized Europe Unit for assistance in setting up international research projects is also mobilized to support researchers, doctoral students and managers in their awareness, training and application to European funding: https://univ-cotedazur.eu/services-for-research-scientists/setting-up-national-european-and-international-projects.

Conditions for application:
Each project will be written in English or in French, following the template document that can be downloaded from the Nuxeo platform: 2024_Action3_A4
The project must comprise an acronym and cover maximum 5 pages in an A4 format pdf file.
For visiting scientists, the applicant will have to provide a resume and a list of major publications over the last ten years.
The application will be submitted on the Nuxeo platform (tab "projets" under the name of the call for project): 2024_Action3_A4

Each file must include:
 An acronym
 A title
 The first and last name of each project leader and partner
 The email address of each project leader and partner
 The postal address of the structure to which each project leader and partner belongs
 A scientific & technical summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A “popular” summary of the project (max. 500 words)
 A description of the project and its challenges
 A detailed summary of the needs and the related provisional budget
 The list of people involved (name, first name, email, telephone)
 A detailed organization chart specifying the position of each project leader
 The signature of the unit director of each applicant

The application may include a link to a short video presentation of the project by the applicants (optional).

Project follow-up:
A scientific and financial report as well as any related publication will be communicated at the end of the funding year.

The Academy of Excellence 4 is thus pursuing the transformation of the University by perpetuating its key actions to:
✓ Support the setting up of new emerging projects
✓ Initiate and promote strong interactions between disciplines, centers, projects, and academies
✓ Allow the acceleration of ongoing projects and partnerships with high potential
✓ Provide appropriate conditions for the maturation of projects
✓ Enable competitive fundings to be obtained (ANR, ERC, HFSP, etc).
✓ Increase the international visibility of research within Université Côte d'Azur
✓ Pursue its attractiveness policy in the region Transdisciplinarity is a central vector.

Project applicants are invited to read in detail the instructions above or in the pdf file here : En-Academy4Actions-2024