IMéRA of Marseille

Academic Project
The specific objective of IMéRA, the IAS of Aix-Marseille, is to develop interdisciplinarity. It hosts scientists and artists in all disciplines, as well as a few multidisciplinary teams. The fellows conduct their research in conjunction with the research teams and laboratories of Aix-Marseille University (AMU) or partner institutions. The institute is part of AMU, which has 132 research units, mostly in partnership with national research institutions, several of which are founding members of IMéRA (CNRS, Inserm, EHESS). The research pursued at the institute develops interactions among the SSH, among the sciences, between the SSH and the exact, experimental and health sciences, as well as the relationships between the arts and sciences.
IMéRA thus contributes to the emergence and development of high-level interdisciplinary research approaches within the confines of AMU, and to the training of young researchers in these approaches. It also welcomes projects relating to the Mediterranean area or submitted by researchers from Mediterranean countries.

Organisation and management
IMéRA became a foundation of AMU on 1 January 2013. Its chairman is Dominique Maraninchi, Professor of Oncology and advisor to AMU President. The economist Raouf Boucekkine serves as director. The founding members of the foundation (public and private) are AMU, the CNRS, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and NCC Partners. The foundation has an international Scientific Advisory Board. It is administered by a management board, assisted by a bureau that in turn relies on a scientific activities committee, whose members are AMU researchers who practice interdisciplinarity in their own research.

Reception of fellows
The majority of the fellows stay at IMéRA for either five or ten months; members of the international teams for two to four weeks. Calls for applications are either open or restricted to partnerships with local laboratories and institutions. Each fellow is assigned one or two sponsors, who are tasked with helping the fellow develop his/her research in conjunction with the local academic community. The institute provides fellows with support for the organisation of their research activities and assistance with administrative procedures. It offers them fully equipped flats, some of which can accommodate families, as well as appropriate work space (workstations, meeting rooms, conference rooms).
Since September 2015, all fellows are housed on the site of the institute. IMéRA’s hosting capacity has reached its stationary state of 140 researcher-months per year during the 2015-2016 academic year.