CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PROJECTS (CDP)

Call for projects –  2024

30th June - letter of intention - AAP CDP TEMPLATE -FAQ - Evaluation grid 

The University of Lille and its partners have placed the challenges of contemporary transitions (societal, economic, technological, ecological, etc.) at the heart of its research strategy. To meet these challenges, the research, innovation and training activities are organized around 4 thematic hubs:

 - Precision health

 - Science for a changing planet

- Human-friendly digital world

- Changing cultures, societies and practices

The Excellence Initiative of the University of Lille is launching a call for projects aimed at exploiting the hubs' potential to respond to the challenges of transitions via an interdisciplinary* approach. These interdisciplinary projects, known as Cross-Disciplinary Projects (CDP), will help to raise the profile and impact of the University of Lille and consolidate its role at the service of society. These emblematic projects will also help to increase the attractiveness of the University of Lille, both among lecturers and researchers and among students, who will see them as giving a sense of meaning to their training. Finally, these projects will serve as a source visibility with respect to the general public, as well as to local authorities and socio-economic partners.

CDP calls:

-          A total of approximately 16 CDPs will be selected in 3 successive waves. Six CDPs were selected in the first wave in 2023-2024; the present call is the second wave.

-          Participation in a CDP is open to all staff members from the University of Lille and its partners (CNRS, Inrae, Inria, Inserm, Lille CHU, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Centrale Lille, IMT- Lille Nord Europe).

-          External partners may be involved, but cannot receive funding; a description of their specific contribution to the project must be provided as justification for their participation.

Main criteria:

-          The CDP should strengthen Lille's reputation in the field of transitions. To this end it should be clearly positioned with respect to research carried out in this field on the national and international levels.

-          Particular attention will be paid to the interdisciplinary nature of the project, which may be designed using an intra- or inter-hub approach. The proposal must clearly describe how interdisciplinarity will be implemented (a methodology workshop on this aspect of the proposal will be organized (date to be announced)).

-          The project must involve risk-taking or a potential breakthrough as compared to conventional approaches in the field in question. In addition, the project must clearly contribute to the distinctiveness of Lille research activities.

-          The project must have a structuring effect for the University of Lille and its partners. To achieve this, it must involve a project team that brings together the expertise and skills required for the project's success. The size of this team may vary: it should be large enough to provide added value compared with traditional research projects (such as ANR projects), but it should allow for efficiency and feasibility and take the budget into consideration.

-          A second dimension of this structuring effect relates to how the project fits with and supports the University of Lille’s strategy (mainly on transitions), as well as the strategies of the faculties, schools and partner establishments. This point will be evaluated by the board of directors during the final selection phase.

Secondary criteria:

The following criteria will be taken into account in the selection process, although they have less weight (see the evaluation grid):

-          The project should include a substantial training component, particularly in relation to the graduate programs. Project coordinators should contact the heads of the graduate programs (or MA degrees) and the faculties.

-          The project should help to strengthen the careers of young researchers, for example by involving them in coordination or by helping them to create a research team with high potential.

-          The project should have include a strategy for attracting external researchers.

-          The project may involve international partners, but they cannot receive funding from the project.

-          The project will create the conditions necessary for responding to major European or international calls for projects.

-          The project may involve an innovation component, in particular through the participation of socio-economic partners who agree to contribute to the co-financing of the project (joint labs, industrial chairs, etc.).

-          The project may involve the University of Lille's research platforms.

Eligibility criteria:

-          The project must pay particular attention to gender equality, particularly within projects leaders and work packages leaders.

-          The results of the project will take an open science approach, including open data management following the FAIR principles.

-          The project will contribute to opening up science to society, including scientific outreach activities or partnerships with stakeholders from civil society (associations, public policy institutions, etc.).

Project duration and budget:

-          The CDP may vary in size and duration (4 or 8 years), with available funding of between €0.2m and €0.8m per year for 4 years, renewable after an evaluation at 4 years. The project can therefore be designed for an 8-year period if needed, but it must clearly propose indicator targets that allow an evaluation of its success at the four-year mark.

-          The breakdown of funding is left to the Principal Investigator(s), but it must be justified. It should be noted that the budget for investment is limited to €100k/year and must not exceed 15% of the annual budget (excluding other funding sources).

-          The CDP must aim to supplement its budget beyond the initial allocation from the Initiative of Excellence, in particular by responding to internal and external calls for proposals (especially European calls), by approaching local and regional authorities when the theme aligns with their priorities, and by creating partnerships with the socio-economic sector.

-          An 8-year project must, at the 4-year mark, not only meet the targets defined by the project leaders, but also demonstrate its attractiveness and show that it has garnered additional funding from competitive calls for proposals (particularly European ones).

Preparation of the projects:

-          Responses to this call for proposals must be submitted on the dedicated platform before 23:59 on November 30, 2024, using the submission form.

-          The evaluation grid that will be used by the reviewers is furnished. In order to optimize their work, it is recommended that projects provide clear responses to each of the different evaluation criteria.

-          A list of answers to “frequently asked questions” will be also available on the submission site.

-          Principal Investigators are asked to submit a letter of intention before 17:00 on June 30, 2024. It should indicate the title of the project, a short abstract (10 lines), 5 to 6 key words and the ERC panels addressed by the project. A template is available on the submission site. This will help with the organization of the workshop on interdisciplinarity and allow the ESF to anticipate the recruitment of reviewers.

-          A presentation of the projects will be organized in October, 2024 (date to be announced). The presentation will not be open to the public; only faculties, schools and partner-schools of the University of Lille will be invited, along with the directors of the research units involved in the projects. This will enable the Principal Investigators to explain how their project will contribute to the strategy of these partners.

Selection procedure:

-          Each project will be evaluated by 3 international reviewers. This part of the procedure will be managed by the European Science Foundation (ESF).

-          An international jury, composed of 12 experts, will be appointed. To select the jury, the board of each thematic hub at the University of Lille will nominate 3 experts. Particular attention will be paid to avoiding conflicts of interest, and the jury members will sign a charter of integrity.

-          In the first meeting of the jury, using the ESF reports, the international jury will select a short list of projects on the basis of their scientific excellence and interdisciplinarity (approximately half of the submitted projects).

-          At their second meeting, the jury will hear a presentation of each project on the short list (a 10-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of questions and discussion, to be confirmed).

-          Following these auditions, the jury will produce a report on each project, based on the evaluation grid. (Note that the Principal Investigators will receive these reports only after the final selection has been announced.) The jury will also produce a (non-ranked) subset of short-listed projects that better fit the scientific evaluation criteria.

-          These documents will be sent to the Governing Board for the final selection. In addition to the evaluations of the jury, the Governing Board will take into account the structuring effects of the projects and how they contribute to the strategy of the University of Lille and its partners.

Provisional timetable:

-          March, 2024: announcement of the CDP second wave (“save the date”).

-          May 31: launch of the call for CDP second wave projects.

-      June 30: submission of a letter of intention.

-          November - first week:  presentation of all the projects.

-         December 16: deadline for project submission

-          March, 2025: First meeting of jury to select short-listed projects

-          April, 2025: audition of the short-listed projects by the international jury

-          June, 2025: final selection by the Governing Board.

*The word “interdisciplinary” is used as a cover term for the broader meanings of pluri-, trans- and interdisciplinarity.