Call for chairs FAQ

The ANITI direction has referred the matter to the “Directoire“ of UT. Whenever answers are known on that matter, the FAQ will be updated. The possibility of dividing the teaching release among the members of the chair will also be discussed.

In keeping with the framework of the initial 3IA call, the academic PIs are expected to devote at least 50% of their overall working time to their chair. This 50% minimum time of involvement is also expected from faculty members.

If the other research projects contribute to the research in the chair, then yes, the time on those grants can be counted toward the 50% threshold of time dedicated to ANITI.

A Principal Investigator or PI, also called chair holder, is the researcher responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of the research project proposed in the chair. He is the lead researcher for the grant project. He is also expected to contribute actively to the strategic objectives of the ANITI institute.

There is no difference between associated members and co chairs. For the sake of clarity, the ANITI direction will from now on only use the term of co-chair.  Co chairs contribute in an important and visible way to the chair’s research program. For example, they can supervise or co-supervise PhD students. The submitted chair proposal should  identify the co chairs, their role in the project and the involvement time. They work under the coordination  of the PI of the chair. Their number is left up to the PI to decide, but co chairs should only be included if they contribute to a coherent Chair project.

For questions regarding bonus and discharge of teaching duties, please see above.

For questions regarding bonus and discharge of teaching duties, please see above.

The employers of the ANITI PIs must be members of the ANITI consortium. In keeping with the framework of the initial 3IA call, the members are expected to be located in the Toulouse area. There is an ongoing discussion with the ANR and the UT to eventually extend this perimeter. The FAQ will be updated accordingly.

Regarding co chairs, yes, they can come from institutions that are not members of the ANITI consortium, whether elsewhere in France and from abroad. However, no budget will be transferred to their institutions. The ANITI budget may cover their travel expenses.

If the co chair institution brings its own budget to support a part of the research project, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be discussed with regards to the organization of the project. Otherwise, IPR will remain subject to ANITI regulations.

Yes

Yes, “industrial” in this document refers not only to private companies but to EPIC (établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial) and EPA (établissement public à caractère administratif) as well.  They are all welcome as partners.

In addition to the contribution from the academic partners involved in the chair, it is expected that the contribution of the industrial partners covers all their internal costs and a significant amount of the marginal costs of the project (we project that it will be around 75% but we will finalize this figure shortly). In keeping with the framework of the initial 3IA call, it is required that a third of the total contribution is in cash.  For EPIC and EPA, the minimum cash requirement is waived. 

ANITI will define the Intellectual Property framework for the whole institute. The IP framework is currently under discussion by ANITI’s Steering Committee. Once the IP rules are fixed, the applicants to the call will be informed. 

The ANITI direction is investigating with the relevant ministries, as to whether there are any restrictions on eventual partners who might adversely affect France’s or the EU’s national security or national sovereignty. The FAQ will be updated when a decision is reached.

In the context of the call, a civil company with a public shareholder is considered a private partner.

All types of chairs can involve private partners, but this is only mandatory for industrial chairs. In the case of a private partnership, a letter of commitment is welcome. The format of such a letter is free.

The industrial and academic partners of the Chair finance their own resources and means to support the project. This contribution must appear in the budget table. In the case of human resources, these are the employer’s costs relating to the employment of these resources (salaries) in proportion to the time spent. In the case of means, these are the costs of operating the means according to the owner’s accounting standards.

In the case of an industrial chair, the marginal (or specific) costs of the project must be covered by a in-cash contribution from the industrial partners, to which ANITI contributes up to 50% (meaning that industrial partners cash contribution will represent a minimum of 67% of the marginal costs).

For other types of chairs, ANITI will cover the totality of the marginal costs not financed, within the limits of the available budget.

The PI must have an affiliation with a laboratory in Toulouse. We expect a significant presence in Toulouse and an involvement of 50% in the project. Salary compensation and associated practical modalities have to be discussed with ANITI.

For co-chairs, an affiliation with a laboratory in Toulouse is not an obligation but there might be operational aspects to consider. Note that no budget will be transferred to the institution of a co-chair who doesn’t have a Toulouse affiliation.

The team should be consistent with the scientific ambition of the Chair in terms of skills and dimension and should stay and manageable as a team.

Building on ANITI experience, the following guidelines may be taken into account:

• Permanent staff: 2-4 co-chairs per advanced PI and 1-2 co-chair per starting PI
• Non-permanent staff: 2 PhD + one 2-year PD for advanced PI / 1 PhD + one 2-year PD for starting PI

For collective chairs these numbers can be multiplied by the number of PIs.

The profile of the co-chairs is not imposed, in particular it can be non-permanent researchers, but a co-chair is expected to contribute all along the project duration and to have the ability to supervise people.

Synergy chairs and industrial chairs can involve international PIs in the same conditions as for IAC.

In all types of chair, co-chairs can be members from a non-local research institution but there might be operational aspects to consider. Note that no budget will be transferred to the institution of a co-chair who doesn’t have a local affiliation.

A single person can be co-chair of more than one chair under the condition that cumulated time remains reasonable.

We strongly encourage collaboration between chairs, nevertheless a PI of a chair cannot be co-chair of another chair.

In a starting chairs co-chairs may have higher seniority level than the PI.

Chair projects can also involve collaborating researchers who are not submitted to any constraints in terms of time involvement. Note that no budget will be transferred to their institutions.

The reporting procedures will be defined in the future grant agreement. In line with the current agreement, reporting is very similar to that of an ANR project and the financial basis includes expenses incurred from industrial revenues.

The duration of a chair is 4 years

For all types of chair, it is possible to focus on applications of AI.

It shall include the CV of all project contributors mentioned in the project, not only the PI.

For PIs, it shall include a support letter from the lab and the employer for academic people and from the employer for others.

For all co-chairs, it shall mention the agreement of all concerned labs and employers for their involvement in the project.

It shall describe the contribution of the different stakeholders involved, including PhDs and Post-docs.

Jury composition will not be disclosed prior the evaluation.

Not fully known yet, but will encourage sharing of results and use of opensource licences while allowing for proprietary protection. Associated modalities are being discussed at ANITI steering committee level.