Iméra Core Call for Applications

For 2026-27 academic year, Iméra, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) of Aix Marseille Université, is opening six residency places for academic researchers, each lasting 5 or 10 months. Of these, the Fulbright / Iméra Chair in Migration Studies and the Friche La Belle de Mai / Iméra residency are the subject of separate calls, which will close in the second half of September 2025. All these residencies are divided into four programmes (“Arts & sciences: undisciplined knowledge”, “Interdisciplinary explorations”, “Mediterranean” and “Necessary utopias”).

General information

To prepare your application and find out everything you need to know about the hosting conditions, please read the attached PDF document and the information on the research programme(s) to which the residency you are interested in is attached (accessible via the search tool in the “Residencies” section).

Click here to download the PDF 

Any interested scholar may apply for only one position among those offered above. Applicants who are former Iméra residents may reapply at least 5 years after their initial research stay.

Fellowships

The list of proposed themes is not exhaustive, but highlights essential concepts or subjects that have already been considered by the chair designers. Other research themes may of course be proposed as long as they relate to the issues of the residency.

Albert Hirschman: identity passions between Europe and the Mediterranean – Sciences Po Aix / Iméra Chair – 2026-2027

• Period : 5 months - From 09/02/2026 au 01/26/2027
• Profile : Academic
• Program : Mediterranean
• Themes : A world in flux, Crossed perspectives between Europe and Mediterranean cultures, Innovative Cross-disciplinary approaches, Migrations, Mobility, National, political, religious and identity movements, Political forms, Protest mobilizations, Reformulation of social orders, Social realities

Sustainable Development and Interdisciplinarity – IRD/Iméra Chair – 2026-2027

• Period : 10 months - From 09/02/2026 to 06/30/2027
• Profile : Academic
• Program : Interdisciplinary explorations
• Themes : A world in flux, Agriculture, Anthropocene, Climate change, Conservation of continental and marine biodiversity, Development, Education, Epistemology, Fishing, Food security, Health, Inequalities, Innovative Cross-disciplinary approaches, Labour, Land-use change, Mobility, Pollution, Social realities, South/South exchanges, Sustainable development, Transformation of ways of life

Transregional studies – EHESS / Iméra Chair – 2026-2027

• Period : 10 months - From 09/02/2026 to 06/30/2027, 5 months - From 02/04/2027 au 06/30/2027, 5 months - From 09/02/2026 au 01/26/2027
• Profile : Academic
• Program : Necessary utopias
• Themes : Areal studies, Comparisons between cultural areas, Connections, Difference in scales, Echanges, Innovative Cross-disciplinary approaches, Migrations, Mobility, Reformulation of social orders, Sensitive / alternative cartography, Social realities, South/South exchanges, Transregional studies

Transdisciplinarity and Research on Complex Systems — t-co.re@AMU / Iméra Chair – 2026-27

• Period : 10 months - From 09/02/2026 to 06/30/2027, 5 months - From 02/04/2027 au 06/30/2027, 5 months - From 09/02/2026 au 01/26/2027
• Profile : Academic
• Program : Interdisciplinary explorations
• Themes : Complex Systems, Complexity, Epistemology, Information Theory, Innovative Cross-disciplinary approaches

Participate to an Intercultural, International and Interdisciplinary Context

Residing at Iméra means immersing yourself in a bilingual environment open to Francophone culture and, more broadly, to interculturality in the unique context of Marseille, a historical melting pot and a “refuge city”, “port city”, “transit city”, “Mediterranean city”, etc.

It also means taking the time to discover the research of other residents and potentially experimenting with new forms of collective intelligence that blend methods, subjects, and disciplines. Scientific activities are led by program directors who form the scientific team. Mostly professors and researchers, they support residents throughout their stay and ensure interactions with the Iméra scientific community and the Aix Marseille academic ecosystem.

Requirements

• An active knowledge of French and/or English (written and spoken) is essential. Basic language skills in both languages are desirable because of Iméra’s bilingual environment: for example, the weekly seminars (see point below) are held in both languages. Successful candidates who are not fluent in French are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the language during their stay, if not beforehand.

The content of the application may be written in English or French.

• In the interest of research internationalization, just as the local scientific and cultural community should benefit from the methodological traditions brought by the residents, the latter should also benefit from the numerous expertise present on site, where most disciplines are represented. For these reasons, applicants must not have lived in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years preceding the deadline for this call for applications and submit a project that maximizes the resources available on-site (around a hundred laboratories, various archives, a vibrant cultural and associative life, etc.). It is highly recommended to identify key local resources related to the research theme beforehand, mention them in the project, and outline the envisioned modes of collaboration.
• Candidates must commit to participating in the scheduled activities with other residents and the Iméra scientific team. The Community Building Seminar (CBS) is one of the central activities, held each week (variable duration, minimum 3 hours or equivalent to one day).

Links to online resources :

• CESAM – Mapping Aix Marseille’s scientific skills and facilities: click here
• List of the 115 research units at Aix Marseille University: click here
• List of interdisciplinary institutes at Aix Marseille University: click here

Calendar

Deadline for applications :

• Deadline: Monday 20 October 2025, at 1pm (UTC +2)

Periods of residence :

• Duration of the residency: 5 or 10 months between September 2026 and June 2027
• 10-month residency: from 02/09/2026 to 30/06/2027
• 5-month residency in the first semester: from 02/09/2026 to 26/01/2027
• 5-month residency in the second half of the year: from 04/02/2027 to 30/06/2027

Publication of selection results: early February 2026

Contacts

For more information about Iméra’s core call for applications for the 2026-27 academic year, please contact :

• Enrico Donaggio, Academic Director and Director of the Necessary Utopias programme
• Constance Moréteau, Research Coordinator and Head of development for Iméra’s Arts and sciences axis

The entire team will be on annual leave throughout August and will return in the first week of September. During this period, they will not be able to respond to your inquiries. Therefore, please read very carefully all the information available in this call for applications (PDF, pages on the chairs and Iméra research programs associated with the chairs).