Academic Partnerships

The development of academic partnerships, in the regional territory and beyond, allows Avignon University to be at the centre of a network that covers a wide range of themes related to its identity. These partnerships concern the major research organizations and partner universities. They are based on the sharing of research structures (UMR, UMS, research federations), the contractualization of framework agreements (UAPV-INRA-CNRS-EHESS, Aix-Marseille-Provence-Mediterranée Association) and the co-sponsorship of major structuring projects.

UAPV/CNRS/EHESS/INRA framework agreement

Avignon University develops its research activities in partnership with research organizations on each of its identity axes. These joint commitments have been concretized by the signature, in April 2015, of a framework agreement associating the institution with the EHESS, the CNRS and the INRA. This agreement lays the foundations for the International Scientific Cluster of Excellence in Avignon, in particular:
 
  • Creation of a Scientific Coordination and Orientation Committee (CCOS) for the Avignon cluster,
  • Structuring the research activity around the 2 identity axes "Agro&Sciences" and "Culture, Heritage and Digital Societies",
  • Coordination of the transfer and development of research,
  • Development of technical platforms and shared resource centres,
  • Concerted contribution to Scientific and Technical Culture (CCST)
  • Involvement of the staff of research organizations and EHESS in the activity of PhD studies,
  • Pooling of skills and resources within the framework of concerted actions in the training of their staff.


                             

 

Partnerships with research organizations and shared Units

Avignon University's collaborations with major research organizations are based on the sharing of joint units that are jointly recognized by the Ministry of Research and one or more research organizations and partner universities. These shared units constitute privileged collaborative spaces that are jointly managed by all the supervisory bodies. They can be research laboratories (Joint Research Units, UMR) or service units (Joint Service Units, UMS) which support and stimulate research activities.

Avignon University shares mixed units with INRA, CNRS, EHESS, IRD and CIRAD.
 
           


 

Partner universities and the Aix-Marseille-Provence association

Avignon University is located at the centre of a large and dynamic research area, covering the south-east of France and structured by the crossing of the Rhone axis and an east-west axis running from Nice to Montpellier. These collaborations are based on:

  • the sharing of mixed units (with AMU, Lyon, Nice, Montpellier)
  • major research projects financed in particular within the framework of the Investments for Future Program
  • partners in federative research structures (Fruman, Ecorev, Tersys, Agorantic)
  • the Aix-Marseille Provence Association (AMP), which provides a privileged framework for the development of synergies and the harmonization of all the activities of the site's partners. The site includes the Universities of Aix-Marseille, Toulon, the Ecole Centrale de Marseille and Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence.

               


Research federations: tools for boosting partnerships

Research federations are structures dedicated to the animation and coordination of scientific projects that cross several research units. These federations must allow the development of research ecosystems beyond the perimeter of a university site. Avignon University has two federations linked to its two identity axes and is involved in two others, in its fields of excellence:
 
  • Agorantic (FR 3621): This federation was labelled by the CNRS in 2012, with a main attachment to the INSHS and a secondary attachment to the INS2I. Its main mission is to promote multidisciplinary research on culture, heritage and digital societies;
  • Tersys: A federative research structure created in 2010, whose main institutional partners are Avignon University, INRA PACA and the CNRS. Tersys federates and stimulates the activity of the research laboratories of the Avignon site on the "Agro&Sciences" axis;
  • FRUMAM (FR 2291): A CNRS federation made up of mathematics laboratories from the universities of Avignon (LMA, EA 2151), Marseille and Toulon;
  • ECCOREV (FR 3098): A federation dedicated to the study of continental ecosystems and environmental risks. Avignon University contributes via the IMBE and the UMR EMMAH.

Date of update June 21, 2021