TIRIS: Transforming Today's Expertise into Tomorrow's Excellence
The TIRIS program, Toulouse Initiative for Research's Impact on Society, winner of the "Excellence sous toutes ses formes - ExcellencES" call for projects from the Programme Investissements d’Avenir (July 12, 2022), unites the higher education and research community of Toulouse and its region around a common goal: to mobilise scientific excellence to support transitions and thus contribute to building the world of tomorrow.
Planned to be deployed over 10 years, co-funded 50% by the French State and 50% by the Occitanie Region, TIRIS aims, through the valorization of the entire high-level training and research ecosystem of the Toulouse site, to contribute to the emergence of a Great Internationally Renowned Research University.
The Three Thematic Pillars of TIRIS
Health and Well-being: Understanding and Promoting Healthy Life and Well-being
- Understanding the interaction of environmental and bio-psycho-social determinants on life and health
- Drivers and issues of "well-being"
- Supporting agroecological transitions
Societal Change and Impact: Understanding Global Changes and Their Impacts on Societies
- From observation to modelling
- Adaptation and transformation of social worlds
- The long-term evolution of societies
Sustainable Transitions: Accelerating Sustainable Transitions for Mobility, Energy, Resources, and Industrial Changes
- Future transportation
- Decarbonized energy
- Resources, production, and industrial change
More information: the complete presentation of the three thematic pillars of TIRIS
Acting for Transitions Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries
One of the objectives of TIRIS is to stimulate new research momentum through specific actions encouraging collaboration between scientific disciplines involved in the three thematic pillars of the project and through mechanisms aimed at attracting and nurturing new talents towards Toulouse's laboratories.
The Four Major TIRIS Programs
The Research Program
Attractiveness Scheme: "UT Fellowship Program"
- "Junior Fellowship": Postdoctoral contracts for 2 years for young researchers (within 3 years of obtaining their PhD) with €170k funded per project (salary + environment), 52 laureates over 10 years.
- "Advanced Fellowship"**: Attracting experienced researchers (5 to 8 years of postdoctoral experience). Call in progress.
Scaling-up Science Program
Annual call for projects aimed at developing and strengthening interdisciplinary approaches among site actors, to fund 4-year projects with €330k per project (2 PhD scholarships + environment), 73 projects funded over 10 years.
The Training Program
Creation of Interdisciplinary/Inter-science Certificates (Minor Programs)
- Targeted Certificates**: Designed as a progressive set of Master’s or Doctoral level course units aimed at professionalisation (including research).
- Open Certificates**: Accessible to everyone as a complement to a degree; a set of elective course units (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate).
- Strengthening Certificates**: Primarily at the Bachelor’s level for those not intending to pursue a Master’s degree, aiding in integration into a well-defined professional sector.
A Unit for Pedagogical Innovations / Experimentation Platforms
Aiming to support teaching teams in implementing new training programs, especially in inter-science. This will include:
- Strengthening the service dedicated to training teachers in innovative pedagogies.
- Implementing innovative approaches and experimentation platforms to support projects for hybridising teaching and pedagogical transformation.
- Enhancing skills for innovation by setting up hubs that interact with the socio-economic world.
An Ideas Lab for the Pedagogical Transformation of Our Training Program
- Promoting exchanges and reflections among teacher-researchers on technological, societal, scientific, and other issues.
- Organising inter-university workshops for experience sharing.
- Promoting the prototyping of new training programs.
Contact: cip-tiris [at] univ-toulouse.fr
The Innovation Program
The "Brave New Innovation" Programme: Annual Call for Projects**
- "Public/Private Multidisciplinary Project Accelerator - Part 1": Pre-maturation of high-risk public/private scientific projects, funded up to €40k per project, 55 projects funded over 10 years.
- "Public/Private Interdisciplinary Project Accelerator - Part 2": Maturation of public/private scientific projects, funded up to €120k per project, with mandatory co-funding up to 75% of the funded amount, duration of 18 months, 23 projects funded over 10 years.
The "Innovative Demonstrators and Platforms" Programme: Annual Call for Projects
Support for the development of scientific and technological platforms, funded up to €1.6M per project, 8 projects funded over 10 years, with co-funding from socio-economic partners.
The Science & Society Program
- The Observatory of IRS (Research-Society Interactions)
- Aims to map and capitalise on various collaborative experiences between researchers and extra-academic partners (associations, more or less institutionalised collectives such as transition movements, citizen and local alternatives, cultural actors such as CCSTI, museums, artists, cooperatives, local authorities, businesses, etc.).
- Fosters reflection on the skills and forms of engineering useful for the development of IRS.
- The Collaborative Research Unit
- Annual call for projects to support co-constructed research projects with various extra-academic partners, funding 10 to 12 projects per year.
- Aims to generate co-research and thus co-learning between research and society.
- The ReCiToul Portal ("Citizen Researches Toulouse")
- Aspires to gradually become a central, if not unique, entry point for identifying and participating in various IRS activities at UT.
- Managed by a coordinator and through a digital interface materialising a "Science Shop" type mechanism.
- The goal is to inform, guide, contact, and connect various researchers and extra-academic partners to support IRS and promote the co-construction and circulation of knowledge between research and society.
Transversal Mechanisms
Attractiveness: The Blockbuster Program
- Objective: Attract high-level collaborators, €730k per project (2 years of salary + environment + 2 PhD scholarships), 6 laureates over 10 years
Interdisciplinarity/Intersciences: The Starting-Up Science Program
- Objective: Introduce undergraduate students to interdisciplinarity, €40k per project (3 master internships + environment), 100 projects funded over 10 years
Support for Internal Strategic Needs: The Strategic Booster Program
- Assistance for short-term investments, €500k per year
The University of Toulouse: an experimental community of universities and institutions (ComUE)
TIRIS is the interdisciplinary program of the Toulouse site carried out by the University of Toulouse. It constitutes an essential element in building the University of Toulouse as an experimental ComUE by developing interactions between higher education and research institutions of the Toulouse site and its region.
By coordinating with other existing or upcoming site dynamics, each largely anchored in specific scientific fields, TIRIS aims to help build a shared identity within the university community of the site.
More information: consult the governance bodies of the University of Toulouse
Funded by:
TIRIS is endowed with a budget of €38.3M as part of France 2030 and €38.3M by the Occitanie Region.