Eligibility, procedures and evaluation

The Foundation supports research, training and innovation projects in three ways:

• Calls for projects (CFP)
  Calls for projects" are an open, competitive procedure. Each call has its own specific features (fundamental research, international mobility, participatory research, specific themes, etc.), always within the scope of the Foundation and its financial partner, if co-financed. Calls for projects are issued at variable intervals, for amounts ranging from €20 to €300k.

• Commissioned procedures
  Commissioned procedures enable projects to be co-constructed between the Foundation (and, where appropriate, partner organizations) and the network’s research units. The aim of these procedures is to support the implementation of a major unifying or flagship project. They may be co-financed by the Foundation’s partners. The launch of a commissioned procedure is decided by the Board after the Director has examined the application.

• One-off support
  Ad hoc support" enables the Foundation to support activities of an emergency or opportunistic nature that the Board of Directors considers to be strategic and a priority, outside of competitive or commissioned procedures.
  A maximum overall budget of 150 k€ per year is divided between two project selection sessions: the first in January and the second in September. Proposals are submitted "as they come in". Maximum support for a single project is 20 k€.

CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY

Project applicants must be scientists belonging to a Montpellier research unit, unless otherwise specified in the terms of reference.

In addition to meeting the terms of reference of the calls for proposals, all projects funded must meet the Foundation’s requirements and values, namely: scientific excellence, inter- or even trans-disciplinarity and an integrative approach, the strengthening or creation of partnerships, and relevance to socio-economic and sustainable development challenges.

Between 2011 and 2020, the success rates for calls for projects and one-off grants were 37% and 60% respectively, giving an average success rate of 43% for all grants.

Evaluation procedures

Our evaluation procedures are designed to guarantee the scientific excellence of the projects we support, using an honest and objective approach.

Projects are evaluated by the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, made up of 12 international scientific experts representing 5 scientific fields (plant biology, plant-environment interactions, agronomy and agrosystem management, food and non-food processing, human and social sciences) as well as geographical areas (Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia).

Proposals are selected on the basis of evaluation criteria defined in the terms of reference of calls for projects or expressions of interest (in the context of commissioned procedures).

Each project is evaluated by two Scientific Advisory Board rapporteurs, then discussed at the Scientific Advisory Board for final selection.

For projects costing more than €50k, an additional assessment is carried out by an external expert. For projects over €100k, the external evaluation is doubled.

Evaluators are chosen to complement each other in terms of their disciplinary backgrounds, their knowledge of the fields studied, and the thematic approaches they have taken.

In the case of programs or calls for projects co-financed with other financial partners, an ad hoc selection committee is set up, involving at least two members of the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board.

All project selections are presented to the Permanent Board, then validated by the Foundation’s Board of Directors.