Created in 2010, the Joint Research Institute for Science and Society (JoRISS) is an international research structure designed to foster scientific research collaborations between the East China Normal University of Shanghai (ECNU), the École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

JoRISS acts primarily as:

• an incubator for new research projects over a 1 to 2 year long period
• a platform for long term development of projects previously incubated within or independently of JoRISS

For more details:

• see the JoRISS website
• or contact the French or Chinese coordinator:
  • Prof. Zhen-Yu Du: zydu [at] bio.ecnu.edu.cn (zydu[at]bio[dot]ecnu[dot]edu[dot]cn)
  • Prof. Jean-Michel Roy: jean-michel.roy [at] ens-lyon.fr (jean-michel[dot]roy[at]ens-lyon[dot]fr)

All research projects must be jointly headed by an East China Normal University (ECNU) affiliated investigator and an investigator affiliated with École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon).

Complementary participation as team members of investigators from other institutions than ECNU and ENS de Lyon is possible.

Project content

The 13th Call is open to all research projects satisfying the general JoRISS conditions of eligibility, without any topic limitations. It is accordingly open to all disciplines. Projects with an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary perspective are encouraged.

Projects type

Submitted projects may fall in one of the following categories:

1. Incubating projects:
    
   • New projects:
     • JoRISS provides up to 30 000 euros per project in seed money for the incubation of new research projects;
     • 50% of the funding obtained is provided by ECNU to the Chinese members of the research project, and 50% is provided by ENS de Lyon to the French members of the research project;
     • funds can be used for a maximum of a period of 24 months on both sides (however, use of funds can be limited to a 12-month period in certain cases);
     • project leaders must commit themselves to seek further subsidies from national and international funding agencies in the course of the incubating period and are strongly encouraged to submit projects with partial funding from other sources already secured;
     • at the end of the first year, selected projects may solicit additional seed funding from JoRISS;
     • at the end of the incubating period, successfully matured projects are expected to apply to pursue their development at JoRISS with external financial support;
        
   • Continuing projects:
     • incubating projects started in January 2022 (selected through the previous – 12th – call for projects) can solicit additional seed funding for their incubation within the limit of 15 000 euros per project;
     • additional funds obtained can be used for a maximum period of 12 months;
        
2. Developing projects:
   • successfully incubated JoRISS projects started in in January 2021 (11th call) or January 2022 (12th Call), as well as projects successfully incubated outside of JoRISS, may apply to pursue their development at Joriss with the status of Developing Project for a period of 2 years, renewable;
   • developing projects must be financially autonomous;
   • occasional financial help for organizing research activities can however be solicited from JoRISS in the course of the project;
   • developing projects benefit from all material advantages attached to JoRISS, including the use of the JoRISS website, administrative assistance, the use of the Shanghaï JoRISS office and a yearly round-trip Lyon-Shanghaï ticket;
   • they also fully benefit from the privileged scientific and interdisciplinary environment of JoRISS and participate to all common activities;
   • selected projects are required to provide a progress report every 2 years.

Special attention will be paid to the following criteria in the selection process :

• number of doctoral students involved in the project;
• number of high standard scientific publications authored by the investigators in the area of the project;
• amount of seed funding already secured;

Applicants are strongly encouraged to have a preliminary discussion about their projects with one of the JoRISS coordinators (see mails above) before submitting their application.

Download application form

Proposals must include:

• Incubating Projects - New projects:
  • a completed application form to be downloaded from the JoRISS website;
  • a description of the project not exceeding 10 pages and including all crucial information, such as:  brief history of previous and/or existing collaborations, agenda of realization of the project, detailed list of involved investigators, specific relevance of a Sino-French cooperation, originality in the field, expected scientific and institutional impacts, long term perspectives and potential beyond incubating period…;
  • a detailed budget, specifying the breakdown of the total amount into standard category of expenses (travel, stay, instruments…) and the anticipated distribution of expenses between France based investigators and China based investigators;
  • a short curriculum vitae of the two project leaders emphasizing their scientific competences and achievements related to the project.
• Incubating Projects - Continuing projects:
  • a detailed report on the scientific realization of the initial project since its official starting date (not exceeding 4 pages);
  • an update on the different adjustments that might have been introduced in the project since its selection (not exceeding 2 pages);
  • an update on the financial situation of the project, detailing the use of previously obtained JoRISS funds, and the amount and nature of complementary funding actually secured;
  • a document motivating the solicitation of additional seed funding from JoRISS and detailing its destination.
• Developing Projects:
  • a completed application form to be downloaded from the JoRISS website;
  • a presentation of the project including (not exceeding 10 pages):
    • an updated general scientific and organizational presentation of the project
    • a detailed presentation of the incubation phase: research activities, results obtained, publications, funding conditions
    • a 2-year work program
    • a presentation of the funding situation.

Proposal must be submitted to joriss [at] ens-lyon.fr (joriss[at]ens-lyon[dot]fr) in PDF format only.