Knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and innovation

A*Midex aims to increase the transfer of research results from laboratories to industry and society. To strengthen links with the socio-economic and cultural worlds, the foundation infiltrates the local innovation ecosystem and launches calls for projects to select collaborative research projects with strong innovation potential.

Innovation ecosystems in the Aix-Marseille area

A*Midex launches site-wide initiatives, in conjunction with representatives of the innovation ecosystem (SATT Sud Est, Institut CarnotSTAR, Protisvalor, Impulse incubator, Belle de Mai incubator , etc.), and in particular with the Cité de l'Innovation et des Savoirs d'Aix-Marseille , to develop the socio-economic impact of the Aix-Marseille site and bring together research players and those from the worlds of business, culture and civil society.

Calls for projects under the "Transfer" program

The Transfert Program [2020 - 2023] calls for projects, funded and coordinated by A*Midex, support the development of relationships between research establishments and players from the worlds of business, culture and civil society.

With this in mind, the €6.5 million "Transfert" program, which includes a series of 4 calls for projects, is designed to complement existing local and European funding mechanisms to build a continuum of funding for commercialization and innovation.
The program also aims to encourage job creation, the development of innovative companies and, more generally, to contribute to the local, national and international development and influence of the region.

The "Emergence of new collaborations" call for projects

This call for projects is designed to test new partnerships between academic and socio-economic or cultural players.

• Call open continuously
• 3-year budget: €1.5 M
• A*Midex funding per project: from €15 k to €70 k

Start-up partnership" call for projects

This call encourages the development of collaborations between academic players and young start-ups incubated on the Aix-Marseille site.

• Semi-annual call
• 3-year budget: €1.5 M
• A*Midex funding per project: From €80 k to €120 k

The "Partnership with the socio-economic and cultural world" call for projects

This call for projects supports ambitious collaborative innovation projects carried out by academic players and all types of players from the socio-economic and cultural worlds, for exploratory research, technology or know-how transfer.

• Annual call
• 3-year budget: €3 k
• A*Midex funding per project: from €100 k to €400 k

Call for projects "Engineering and setting up European projects".

This call for projects supports projects led by researchers and teacher-researchers on the Aix-Marseille site, likely to be submitted to European collaborative and innovation support calls for projects requiring the involvement of one or more partners from the socio-economic world.

• Call open continuously
• 3-year budget: €500 k
• A*Midex funding per project: 50 k€ maximum

The "Industrial Chairs" program

Calls for projects Industrial Chairs [2018-2024]" program to encourage academic research players to establish structured, long-term partnerships with companies. This action aims to encourage the co-construction and implementation of research, training and innovation programs, targeting one or more priority issues for the chair partners, with a view to the industrial partner valorizing the results.

The aim of these bilateral partnerships is to :

• Transform relations between the academic and socio-economic research sectors by sharing a common, multi-year research and innovation strategy.
• Strengthen the potential for innovative research in priority areas on the Aix-Marseille site, particularly within the future research-training institutes.
• Give public and private partners access to new skills and knowledge

Partnership Chairs

A meeting point between the worlds of teaching and research, and the business world. Funded by one or more corporate sponsors, they are designed to develop research and teaching in fields defined in advance by agreement between the researchers involved and the partner companies. On the one hand, the chair is a means for the university to promote research and training, and on the other, a strategic challenge for the companies involved.

The A*Midex Foundation contributes to the management, visibility and follow-up of these chairs:

• Civil Societies, Urban and Territorial Transitions in the Mediterranean Chair
• Eugène Pierre Chair in Parliamentary and Local Assembly Law and Election Law
• SNCF Logistics Chair
• Euro-Mediterranean Chair in the Social and Solidarity Economy
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Chair
• Circular Economy Chair
• Innovation and Patents Chair
• Chair in Sports Law and Event Marketing
• CGA CGM Chair

Human resources support for Technology Platforms

Aix-Marseille Université and its partners (CNRS, INSERM) have created the " Plateformes Technologiques du site d'Aix-Marseille " label.
The aim of these labeled platforms is to provide the scientific community and the socio-economic world with cutting-edge infrastructures for research contracts, partnerships and external services.

To be competitive, these platforms must be able to rely not only on first-rate scientific equipment, but also on dedicated staff, who are the guarantors of know-how and key players in the improvement of technologies and service offerings. This is why the A*Midex Foundation has decided to allocate additional human resources to the winning platforms, while monitoring their development.

See the Platforms map

CREATING AND MAINTAINING EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS