Proposal submissions
Next deadline: 10th November 2023
Call for proposals
Download the framework of our Call
Objective
Institut Pascal (IPa) promotes thematic programs to bring scientific communities together and help them explore pioneering ideas and establish new collaborations. IPa welcomes programs from all the scientific fields covered by Université Paris-Saclay, be they theoretical or experimental.
IPa intends to facilitate and accelerate the selected projects by:
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Financing accommodation, on-site catering, and part of travel costs
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Providing rooms and space for meetings in its brand new facility with 2 amphitheaters, meeting rooms equipped for videoconferencing or distant collaborative work
,and 26 offices to host up to 60 visitors in excellent conditions -
Offering support from the IPa team for the budget and registration management, the booking of accommodation, the organization of meetings and social events, and the management of mission fees.
The spirit of the IPa initiative is to host programs of long durations (typically 2-3 weeks, up to a trimester), allowing researchers to devote the necessary time and energy to particularly challenging topics. These programs should favor brainstorming sessions that lead to innovative advancements.
Funding
The standard financial support that IPa provides to the selected programs is the following:
- Accommodation costs
- Coffee breaks
- Weekdays lunches, including one buffet per week
- 1 Social dinner per week
- 1 Happy hour per week
- Up to 4000€ in travel expenses if needed, and favoring participants staying for at least 2 weeks.
Institut Pascal highly encourages scientific organizers to explore additional sources of funding as well. The amount of the expected additional source of funding, and its usage, should be included in the proposal.
Self-funded programs can also be proposed. In this case, a weekly contribution of 1500€ to 2500€ will be requested to cover the logistical and organizational support. This amount depends on the degree of support needed by the organizers.
Requirements
Programs held at Institut Pascal should dedicate a large portion of their time to interactions between small to medium-size groups of researchers, unlike the usual congresses which mainly consist of scientific presentations.
The program’s local organizing committee should include at least one scientist from the Paris-Saclay area to ensure that the research done at the University, in the scientific field of the program, is involved.
Gender balance in the design of the program (organizing committee, key speakers and participants) should be representative of the field of study and is one of the selection criteria.. Engaging young scientists into a program is very much encouraged.
The program organizers should indicate in the proposal how they envision to share its outcomes (extended summary, white paper, …). The institute has created a new publication with a publisher EDP-Sciences : Les Cahiers de l’Institut Pascal, https://cahiers-ipa.publications.universite-paris-saclay.fr/ where these outcomes can be widely shared.
Program organizers are requested to consider the IPa up-to-date videoconferencing equipment in their proposal, preferably inviting on site participants for at least 2 weeks. However, this condition could be difficult in some disciplines; if so this should be discussed with the board of IPa before submitting a proposal and explained in the proposal.
Coordinators are asked to consider organizing a colloquium or general-public conferences, for which IPa can provide organizational and advertising support.
Application Details
Each program proposal should provide the following information:
- Title of the program and abbreviated title
- List of the scientific organizers, co-organizers and scientific committee. Please note that the breadth of the topic or/and its inter-disciplinary aspect should be reflected in the choice of the scientific organizers coming from different sub-fields/fields. To optimize the interaction with Institut Pascal staff, we encourage a local organizing committee to be composed of 2 to 4 persons that cut across the different disciplines of the program.
- Full description of the program (5 pages max), including a brief description of the field for non-experts, and a list of important questions to be addressed.
- List of the envisaged key speakers.
- Structure of the schedule on a week-by-week basis: slots for seminars, lectures, tutorials, brainstorming sessions etc.
- The expected participation per week including the organizers and the estimated ratio of participants requesting accommodation. For any program, the number of participants should range between a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 60, typically around 30. Specify if the program is expected to be held fully on-site or in an on-site/remote hybrid mode and how flexible is the proposed organization in case of reinstatement of travel restrictions.
- Initiatives with regards to students (workshops, schools, seminars) and the broader public.
Selection
The IPa Scientific Council, consisting of internationally recognized scientists, will evaluate the program proposals based on:
- Scientific importance of the topic, timeliness, intellectual challenges
- Recognized leadership of the program organizers and participants
- Overlap with the research activities carried out in Paris-Saclay
- Gender balance in the design of the program
- Expected deliverables at the end of the program (which could be in the form of a white paper).
Once a program has been accepted by the Scientific Council, the IPa board and the scientific organizers work together towards its implementation.
- Additional funding opportunities (requested or obtained), and how they will be spent.
- Exceptions to the “2-week minimal stay” rule, and rationale.
- A mention of how the equipment for videoconferencing and collaborative work will be used during the program.
- Desired start and end dates (within 2024, 2025 or 2026).
- Suggestions for referees