Make Our Planet Great Again┋Short Stays
Make Our Planet Great Again is an initiative of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, launched on 1st June 2017 following the decision of the United States to leave the Paris Agreement on the climate. It is a call to researchers and students, entrepreneurs, associations and NGOs, students and all civil society to mobilize and join France to lead the fight against global warming.
Three main topics of research are prioritized: Earth system sciences, Climate change and sustainability sciences, Energy transition.
Earth system sciences
Knowledge and monitoring of the physical, chemical, biological, ecological and social mechanisms that underpin global and regional environmental changes are needed.
They include an understanding of how these mechanisms have interacted in the past and how they are likely to evolve in the future as well as scientific assessments that are relevant to diverse contexts ranging from global to local scale.
Topics include :
- Enhanced observation of the Earth System and attribution of environmental and climate changes, including anthropogenic changes.
- Further understanding of processes, interaction scales, risks and thresholds.
- Improvement of modeling activities of complex Earth systems, data assimilation and predictability.
- Exploring future scenarios.
Climate change and sustainability sciences
Critical knowledge gaps exist in ways of addressing sustainable development challenges in the context of global and climate changes. This includes meeting basic needs for a growing human population in a stressed ecosystem and how societies may address global environmental and sustainability challenges.
These transformative changes are many-sided; they are related to human health and well-being, demography, economics strategies and their associations with sustainable production and consumption, urbanization, new technologies and processes, energy and governance for global sustainability in particular but not only under climate change induced stress.
Topics include :
- Meeting basic needs and overcome inequalities.
- Governing and managing sustainable development locally and globally.
- Managing growth, synergies and trade-offs.
- Exploring, understanding and evaluating transformation pathways and life cycle issues.
- Developing, implementing and promoting sustainable technologies.
- Development of recycling technologies and of green and recyclable materials.
- Understanding and evaluating global health challenges and managing health risks and equities of environmental and climate change.
Energy Transition
The transition from fossil fuels towards innovative zero carbon energy sources, associated to carbon sequestration and usage strategies, appear as the current solutions to diminish the Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Zero carbon energy sources have to be made available at the right time and the right place through efficient and affordable energy storage as well as smart management and distribution systems.
Overall, the concepts associated to the flexibility of population/economic needs and consumption habits should be put in the perspective of an accelerated energy transition.
Topics include :
- Emerging innovative concepts and technologies for massive energy production, storage and distribution.
- Energy efficiency.
- Economically, environmentally and socially viable production and bioproduction of bio- sourced raw materials.
- Systemic approach of the energy transition including economic, ecologic, and social challenges, and the development and analysis of prospective scenarios.
Make Our Planet Great Again proposes 4 programs to welcome international students and researchers in France.
Master’s excellence grants
France’s ministries of Europe and foreign affairs (MEAE) and of higher education, research, and innovation (MESRI) have implemented a program to encourage international students to pursue master’s-level training in earth systems, climate change and sustainability, or the energy transition at French institutions of higher education.
Approximately 50 master’s grants will be made annually under the program, beginning with the 2018 academic year.
The program is managed by Campus France. Interested students are invited to apply online at "how to apply for the Make Our Planet Great Again programs" on Campus France website.
Who may apply?
International students may apply for support for one or two years of study toward a master’s degree by including in their application a letter of admission to a master’s program (first or second year) at a French institution of higher education.
Research themes
Three broad research themes are prioritized: earth systems, climate change and sustainability, and the energy transition.
Eligibility
Students must possess or be pursuing a French licence or an equivalent undergraduate degree (Bachelor), must not be French nationals, and must not have resided in France after April 1, 2016.
Candidates may be of any age. They must enroll in the master’s program before October 15, 2018.
Financing
Successful students will receive an excellence grant in the amount of €1,060 per month over 12 months (for students enrolling in the second year) and over 24 months (for those enrolling in the first year).
Round-trip airfare will also be provided, as well as medical insurance and an annual lump-sum payment of €700 for educational expenses.
Call open to international students
Selection process
Consistent with the aims and requirements of this call for proposals, grant recipients will be selected by scientific experts convened by Campus France.
Application process
Interested students should submit their study plans at "How to apply for Make Our planet Great Again programs?".
Applications must be accompanied by a CV, a letter of interest, and a signed letter of acceptance into a French master’s program.
Timeline
- Week of February 26, 2018: Pre-launch phase of application process
- March 12, 2018: Application period opens
- April 6, 2018 at 23:59 CET: Application period ends
- Week of June 18, 2018: Results are announced
- Beginning September 2018: Students report to participating institutions
Co-financing of 3-year doctoral contracts
France’s ministries of Europe and foreign affairs (MEAE) and of higher education, research, and innovation (MESRI) have implemented a program of support for foreign doctoral candidates wishing to complete a PhD in France on a topic related to earth systems, climate change and sustainability, or the energy transition.
Under the program, approximately 20 doctoral candidates will receive €50,000 in co-financing over three years for a PhD commencing between September and December 2018.
The program is managed by Campus France. Institutions wishing to participate in recruiting and supporting doctoral candidates are invited to apply online at "how to apply for the Make Our Planet Great Again programs" on Campus France website.
Who may apply?
This call is open to French institutions of higher education and research, not to students at the first phase. The selected institutions will receive a co-financing subsidy of €50,000, payable over three years, to recruit and support a doctoral candidate under a work contract.
Research themes
Three broad research themes are prioritized: earth systems, climate change and sustainability, and the energy transition.
Selection of doctoral candidates
Doctoral candidates will be selected by the supported French institutions.
To be eligible, students must possess a master’s degree or be enrolled in a master-level program, must not be French nationals, and must not have resided in France after April 1, 2016.
Candidates may be of any age. The doctoral contract must take effect no later than December 31, 2018.
Financing
Participating French institutions must agree to host the doctoral candidate under a three-year employment contract. The minimum gross monthly remuneration under the contract shall be €1,758. Participating institutions shall receive an annual subsidy of €16,666.
Call open to French institutions
Selection process
Consistent with the aims and requirements of this call for proposals, Campus France will convene experts and an international jury whose members represent the priority fields for the purpose of selecting participating institutions and assessing the research proposals put forward by those institutions.
Process for selection of topics and recruitment of doctoral candidates
The French institution shall propose one or more PhD topics and apply online for co-financing of the associated research at "How to apply to Make Our Planet Great Again Programs".
Once a proposed topic is accepted, the institution shall issue a letter of commitment to co-finance a doctoral candidate to pursue the topic.
The institution shall then proceed to recruit candidates through an international call for applications that will simultaneously be relayed by Campus France to students having expressed their interest at www.makeourplanetgreatagain.fr.
The institution shall then propose a ranked list of three candidates for each approved research topic.
The international jury will review and approve the lists submitted by the institution.
Timeline
- Week of February 26, 2018: Pre-launch phase of application process
- March 12, 2018: Institutional application period opens
- March 30, 2018 at 23:59 CET: Institutional application period ends
- April 5 - 20, 2018 : List of approved dissertation topics is published ; student application period
- April 23 - May 4, 2018 : Institutions identify and rank up to three doctoral candidates per research topic
- May 5 - June 12, 2018 : Review of candidates projects/ topics
- June 14, 2018 : Successful candidates are notified
- Beginning September 2018: Candidates report to participating institutions
Co-financing of 12- to 24-month postdoctoral research contracts
France’s ministries of Europe and foreign affairs (MEAE) and of higher education, research, and innovation (MESRI) have implemented a program of support for foreign postdoctoral researchers wishing to conduct further research in France on a topic related to earth systems, climate change and sustainability, or the energy transition.
Under the program, approximately 20 postdoctoral researchers will receive co-financing of up to €50,000 for research beginning after September 2018.
The program is managed by Campus France. Interested candidates are invited to apply online at "how to apply for the Make Our Planet Great Again programs" on Campus France website.
Who may apply?
Foreign researchers holding a doctoral degree are encouraged to respond to this call for proposals.
Candidates must include with their application a letter from a French host institution agreeing to co-finance the candidate’s research.
Institutions hosting the selected researchers will receive co-financing in the amount of €2,083 per month to support the candidates’ research over a period of 12 to 24 months.
Research themes
Three broad research themes are prioritized: earth systems, climate change and sustainability, and the energy transition.
Eligibility
Candidates must possess a doctoral degree or expect to receive the degree by June 30, 2018.
They must not be French nationals and must not have resided in France after April 1, 2016.
Candidates may be of any age. The postdoctoral contract must take effect no later than December 31, 2018.
Call open to foreign researchers holding a doctoral degree
Selection process
Consistent with the aims and requirements of this call for proposals, the selection process will unfold in two phases. In the first phase, scientific experts in the covered fields will evaluate the applications received. In the second phase, an international jury will make the final selection of candidates to receive support.
Financing
French institutions must agree to host the post-doctoral candidate under the terms of a 12- to 24-month employment contract.
The minimum amount of the candidate’s gross monthly remuneration shall be €2,500.
A subsidy of €2,083 per month will be paid to participating institutions, up to a maximum of €50,000 over a 24-month research period.
Application process
Candidates must submit their research proposals online at "How to apply for Make Our Planet Great Again programs?".
Candidates must also supply a letter from a host institution in France agreeing to co-finance the proposed research if the candidate’s proposal is accepted by the program.
Timeline
- Week of February 26, 2018: Pre-launch phase of application process
- March 12, 2018: Application period opens
- April 6, 2018 at 23:59 CET: Application period ends
- Week of June 18, 2018: Announcement of results
- Between September and December 2018: Supported candidates report to participating institutions
Short stays (14 days to 5 months) for foreign researchers
France’s ministries of Europe and foreign affairs (MEAE) and of higher education, research, and innovation (MESRI) have implemented a program to support short stays in French research institutions for foreign scientists seeking to do research on a topic related to earth systems, climate change and sustainability, or the energy transition.
Under the program, approximately 40 individuals will receive funding for short research stays between the months of August and December 2018.
The program is managed by Campus France. Researchers wishing to be considered for support are invited to apply online at "how to apply for the Make Our Planet Great Again programs" on Campus France website.
Who may apply?
Foreign research scientists are encouraged to respond to this call for proposals.
Candidates must include with their application a letter from a host institution in France.
Research themes
Three broad research themes are prioritized: earth systems, climate change and sustainability, and the energy transition.
Eligibility
Candidates must possess or be working toward a doctoral degree and must be covered by an active research agreement or contract.
They must not be French nationals, and must not have resided in France after April 1, 2016.
Candidates may be of any age. The proposed period of research in France must not exceed five months and must take place between August 1 and December 31, 2018.
Call open to foreign research scientists
Financing
Successful candidates will receive mobility support in the amount of €65 per day for doctoral candidates and €120 per day for research scientists already holding a doctorate. The maximum mobility period is five months.
Roundtrip airfare and medical insurance are also provided.
Selection process
Consistent with the aims and requirements of this call for proposals, the selection process will unfold in two phases. In the first phase, scientific experts in the covered fields will evaluate the applications received. In the second phase, an international jury will make the final selection of the candidates to be supported.
Application process
Candidates must submit their research proposals online at "How to apply for Make Our Planet Great Again programs?". Candidates must also supply a letter from a host institution in France.
Timeline
- Week of February 26, 2018: Pre-launch phase of application process
- March 12, 2018: Application period opens
- April 6, 2018 at 23:59 CET: Application period ends
- Week of June 18, 2018: Announcement of results
- Beginning August 1, 2018: Supported researchers arrive at host institutions
