Le STUDIUM Smart Loire Valley Programme

LE STUDIUM Smart Loire Valley (SLV) Programme offers four different partnering awards (fellowships1, professorships, visiting researchers and consortia) with mutual obligations between the research fellow in residence, the host laboratory and LE STUDIUM. Beyond supporting the international mobility of researchers, the programme aims to strengthen the international visibility of laboratories and enterprises in the region Centre-Val de Loire and to create sustainable links between the researchers, regional laboratories, enterprises and their counterparts all over the world.

This programme targets experienced international researchers who have to embody, in their profile, the key words that capture the research values of LE STUDIUM: Curiosity, Imagination and Intuition. These values help to create a dynamic outwards-looking international scientific community that recognises the value of multi- or interdisciplinary research approaches. The awards’ package creates conditions that catalyse the development of scientific and human interactions between LE STUDIUM members’ research structures and enterprises in region Centre-Val de Loire in order to strengthen research and development in the wider Loire Valley community. This is in parallel to funding the salary and/or accommodation of senior international researchers in residence.
LE STUDIUM develops an ambitious programme with innovative awards formats programme which benefits the researchers, regional host laboratories and the development and innovation ecosystem in region Centre-Val de Loire.

Brief presentation of the programme

This call for applications does not target any specific research themes. It is open to experienced international researchers in all disciplines (except research directly linked to military applications) wishing to join a research laboratory in region Centre-Val de Loire (including universities, public research institutions and enterprises). A host laboratory in region Centre-Val de Loire must have been identified.

The call for applications offers 4 categories:

• LE STUDIUM RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP3, one-year (12 consecutive months) full-time labour contract and residency, enables an experienced international researcher to lead a research project in a LE STUDIUM member’s laboratory in region Centre-Val de Loire.
• LE STUDIUM RESEARCH PROFESSORSHIP enables an experienced international Professor to participate in research, research team building and postgraduate teaching. The Professorship residence is a period of three months in region Centre-Val de Loire for 4 consecutive years (12 months in total).
• LE STUDIUM VISTING RESEARCHER award targets experienced international researchers having or keeping a salary in their home institution and willing to join a laboratory in region Centre-Val de Loire for a scientific residency for a period 3 to 12 months period. This programme supports the welcoming and residence in the region and the integration into the LE STUDIUM scientific community.
• LE STUDIUM RESEARCH CONSORTIUM award enables the formation of a team of five experienced researchers (one researcher from region Centre-Val de Loire and four international researchers) and supports their interactions. This team meets for a full week twice a year over 2 years (4 meetings in total). The consortium should have a well-defined objective, a research work plan to implement and to achieve outcomes through milestone goals linked to the meetings.

Characteristics of applications

The applicants are advised to answer all questions of the application form, in a manner that substantiates any claims made by the applicant. Particular attention, but not exclusively, is advised to the following dimensions: proposal background, research plan, data analysis and risk management, significance and innovation of the project, track record of the applicant researcher and of the host scientist.

The applications have to be written in English in order to allow evaluations by international experts. A French resume is required.

Scientific quality of the project

Based on his/her proposal, the applicant should advance the level of scientific knowledge in their field of study, the quality and productivity of their scientific research. Interdisciplinary approaches and research on topics at the boundaries between disciplines will be well regarded. The scientific quality of the project is one of the main evaluation criteria (see evaluation criteria).

Significance and/or Innovation

This includes the demonstrated skill and ability of the researchers to impact their field of research at a number of levels and contribute to the regional Research and Technological Development (RTD) and the European Research Area (ERA) strategies (see evaluation criteria).

Track records of the international experienced researcher and the host laboratory

The aim of the SMART LOIRE VALLEY Programme is to attract, into region Centre-Val de Loire, high-level senior researchers. Thus, the track record of both the applicant researcher and host scientist, including experience, awards and achievements, is evaluated during the selection process (see evaluation criteria).

An interruption in the applicant’s career path should be documented. Interruptions may include pregnancy and child care, escaping regions of conflict, unexpected illness etc.

Enduring relationships between fellows and their host laboratory

One of the objectives of the SMART LOIRE VALLEY Programme is the development of an enduring scientific relationship between the research fellow and the host laboratory.

Importantly, in order to support the application, the host scientist has to describe in the application form how the applying experienced researcher is essential to the envisaged research project. The host laboratory has to write a support letter arguing the importance of the application in line with its strategy. This topic may be discussed in the support letter provided by the host scientist.

Le STUDIUM Research Fellowship

LE STUDIUM RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP is designed to attract internationally competitive researchers for a one-year full-time labour contract and residency.

Experienced international researchers are eligible to submit an application after having negotiated their acceptance to a host laboratory and/or host enterprise in region Centre-Val de Loire. This award is open from September 2019 to July 2020 for the starting date of the fellowship.

OBJECTIVES

• 12 consecutive months residency to lead a collaborative research project,
• integration into the international research faculty in region Centre-Val de Loire,
• involvement in the scientific exchange, network activities and animation led by LE STUDIUM to favour transdisciplinary exchanges,
• organisation of a set of scientific events (conference/workshop, seminar….)
• creation of a long-lasting link between the foreign researcher and the host laboratory.

Le STUDIUM Research Professorship

LE STUDIUM RESEARCH PROFESSORSHIP is intended to attract an outstanding international researcher for a cumulative 12-month period with residence in region Centre-Val de Loire for three consecutive months each year and for four consecutive years. One or two awards are available per campaign. Experienced international researchers are eligible to submit an application after having negotiated their acceptance to a host laboratory and/or host enterprise in region Centre-Val de Loire. This award is open from September 2019 to July 2020 for the starting date of the first period of residence.

After 4 years the Professorship output should consist of visible outcomes for the Professor, the host laboratory research teams. The outcomes should be related to research and possibly teaching activities at a high level. Achievements at the end of the Professorship should result in significant internationalisation of research through measurable and sustainable evolution of the research activity of the host laboratory.

OBJECTIVES

• 12-month residency (3 consecutive months each year for 4 consecutive years) to lead a collaborative project.
• introduction of a new research activity complementary to those of the research teams of the host laboratory,
• possible contribution to consolidating an emerging domain of research
• PhD students mentoring and teaching,
• organisation of a set of scientific events (one or two workshops or summer schools) with a unifying goal.

Le STUDIUM Visiting Researcher

LE STUDIUM VISITING RESEARCHER award is an opportunity for senior scientists on leave from their institution with salary maintenance to integrate into a high level laboratory in the region Centre-Val de Loire and the LE STUDIUM international faculty. Experienced international researchers are eligible to submit an application after having negotiated their acceptance to a host laboratory and/or host enterprise in region Centre-Val de Loire. This award is open from September 2019 to July 2020 for the starting date of the fellowship.

This programme supports this installation of the visiting researcher and his/her family in the region (accommodation, logistics, administrative support). This programme is also very suitable for researchers holding an Individual Fellowship (like Fulbright, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, etc) willing to perform the fellowship in the region.

OBJECTIVES

• 3 to 12 consecutive months residency to lead a collaborative research project,
• integration into the international research faculty in region Centre-Val de Loire,
• involvement in the scientific exchange, network activities and animation led by LE STUDIUM to favour transdisciplinary exchanges,
• invitation to scientific events (conference/workshop, seminar….) organized by LE STUDIUM
• creation of a long-lasting link between the foreign researcher and the host laboratory.

Le STUDIUM Research Consortium

LE STUDIUM RESEARCH CONSORTIUM is a format that includes one researcher or research team from the region Centre-Val de Loire and four experienced international researchers. One or two consortia can be awarded each year. A consortium proposal can be submitted by a research scientist, an SME enterprise or a former LE STUDIUM RESEARCH FELLOW with active collaboration with a laboratory, in region Centre-Val de Loire.

LE STUDIUM provides the financial and logistic support to allow this team of 5 researchers to meet for one full week, twice a year, for 2 consecutive years, in region Centre-Val de Loire. Additional partners are permitted if they are supported by other financial sources, which should be mentioned in the application (in the section dedicated to the collaborators of the project). In order to facilitate the scientific activities and relations of the consortium with LE STUDIUM, its Scientific Relations Manager or an appointed delegate participates in the opening and concluding sessions of each one-week meeting.

LE STUDIUM RESEARCH CONSORTIUM programme offers the opportunity to create a team of up to five internationally competitive senior researchers, public or private, sharing a common and clearly identified research objective. The consortium must provide an interim report at the end of the first year explaining the outcomes, to date, of the project in the context of the original proposal and outline the plan of the second year. The four meetings have to take place within the time limit of 2 years starting from the first meeting date.

This award is open from September 2019 to July 2020 for the starting date of the first meeting.

OBJECTIVES

• Formation of a team of up to five internationally competitive senior researchers, public or private, sharing a clearly identified research objective,
• Opportunity to achieve a common goal such as, but not exclusively, address or workshop a multidisciplinary problem, organise an international conference, build a H2020 application, write a book chapter, build a market strategy, etc…
• Better understanding of the expertise of each partner and his/her research team in order to build future collaborative research projects.

Review of applications

Eligibility criteria

This programme is intended to attract senior international researchers that are in possession of a doctoral degree and have at least five years of full time equivalent research experience after their doctorate.
For Fellowship, Professorship and Visiting Researcher programmes, to be eligible, applicant researchers must be national or long-term resident of a country other than France. Long-term residents are researchers who spent a period of full-time research activity of at least 5 consecutive (without breaks in research) years in a country other than France.
In addition, applicant researchers must also comply with the following mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the deadline for submission of proposals. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.

Ethics

All research activities should respect fundamental ethics principles, including those reflected in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. These principles include the need to ensure the freedom of research and the need to protect the physical and moral integrity of individuals and the welfare of animals.

It is strongly recommended that all applicants refer to the following document: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/…

Ethics procedure

Organisations that host the hosting laboratories (Universities, CNRS, INRA, INSERM, CEA, etc.) have ethics committee protocols with rules and codes of practice that are adhered to when reviewing studies involving ethics issues. Ethics committees include a cross disciplinary membership of scientists including anthropologists, philosophers ensuring the committee membership is able to consider research proposals in the appropriate context of the applicable ethics regulation. In addition, the expertise of the ethics committee members is consistent with the thematic of research under consideration.

The contractual agreements with region Centre-Val de Loire research organisations hosting LE STUDIUM fellows state that “professional activity is under the responsibility of the host laboratory/host scientist”. Consequently, LE STUDIUM requires that laboratories obtain and provide documentary evidence, of all necessary ethics approval for research projects.

Thus, if an application involves research on humans or animals, LE STUDIUM requires that the hosting laboratory provides a letter from the appropriate institutional ethics committee stating that ethics approval has been granted for the proposed research project before the expiry of the fellowship probationary period (one month) or before starting an experiment not explicitly proposed in the application.

A copy of the ethics application and ethics approval is then sent to LE STUDIUM and filed with the research fellows’ personal documents. For LE STUDIUM Fellowships, these documents are transferred to the European Executive Research Agency.

For its own activities, LE STUDIUM Loire Valley IAS operates under its own Code of conduct and Ethics to which all employees and research fellows must abide. LE STUDIUM pays particular intention to the use of personal data collection and always requires a written authorisation before publishing information about a fellow or a research project.

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Evaluation criteria

Evaluators follow three categorical criteria to review applications: the scientific quality, significance and/or innovation of the proposed research and the presented experience, including achievements and awards within a diversified career path, of the applicant and host scientist/partners:

• Scientific Quality (50%) – This includes the clarity of the stated research objectives, the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed research project, feasibility, risk management and compliance with the ethical principles of H2020.
• Significance and/or Innovation (25%) – This includes the demonstrated skill and ability of the researcher and his/her proposal to increase knowledge, the application of new ideas, procedures, technologies, programmes or policy settings to important topics that will impact the proposed field of study and contribute to the regional Research and Technological Development (RTD) and European Research Area (ERA) strategies.
• Track Record (25%) – The track record evaluates whether the applicant’s previous research activities demonstrate her/his capacity to achieve the proposed scientific objectives. This includes the applicant’s ability to contribute to the research especially in terms of having the appropriate mix of research skills and experience, to work with research teams and enterprise partners. Experience of inter-sectorial and/or transnational mobility, as well as experience of working in multidisciplinary teams, management experience and team building experience, experience of transfer of technology and training will also be considered. An interruption to the applicants’ career path should be documented. Interruptions may include pregnancy and child care, escaping regions of conflict, unexpected illness etc.

Private sector researchers are also eligible to submit proposals. For enterprise applications, other than academic achievement in research (number of publications, impact factor of the publications, etc.), the evaluation criteria may include:

• Industrial experience of the candidate;
• Candidate’s capacity for innovation;
• Scientific quality of the research proposal;
• Potential market impact of the proposal;
• Opportunity for the enterprise to achieve a technological advantage;
• Potential financial contribution of the entreprise.

Evaluation process

After the campaign closing date, LE STUDIUM team performs an administrative check to ensure each application conforms to the submission format guidelines and that all necessary documents are complete and signed. Only eligible applications will be considered for review and selection.

To ensure a fair transparent evaluation and selection procedure, the following occurs:

• LE STUDIUM ensures that the global administration and management of the evaluation process is respecting set criteria for the scientific review, including non-discrimination and conflict of interest rules.
• External reviewers are invited to provide an independent, expert assessment of the scientific content of each eligible application based on the selection criteria. A minimum of three reviewers, screened for conflict of interest, are invited to evaluate each submitted application.
• Scientific Committee is composed of at least twenty eminent scientists from both public and private sectors, including researchers from the Americas and Europe. This committee, with the assistance of external expert reviewers, provides an independent, impartial and fair scientific assessment of applications. Observers, without any voting rights, from LE STUDIUM member structures are invited to attend the meeting of the Scientific Committee in June each year.

Notification - Dissemination of results

The date of the Scientific Committee meeting will be announced online on LE STUDIUM website.

Within 4 weeks after the meeting of the Scientific Committee, a letter from the Chairperson of the Scientific Committee will notify the awarded applicants. After notification, applicants will have two weeks to confirm their acceptance of the award.

If an applicant does not accept the award the award is given to the following candidate placed in the final ranking list, on a reserve list.
All applicants awarded or not awarded will receive an official notification and an evaluation report listing the strengths and weaknesses of their proposal.

For non-award applicants, the evaluation summary report may be helpful to improve the application and apply again for the next campaign.