Annual Call (2025-2026) for Application at IMéRA Aix-Marseille Université

For the year 2025-26, the Aix-Marseille Institute for Advanced Study (Iméra) is opening 9 resident fellowships of 5 or 10 months, dedicated to scientists and/or artists. Among these, the Fulbright / Iméra Chair on Migration Studies has a separate call, which closes on September 16, 2024.
These fellowships positions are distributed across 4 programs: “Arts & Sciences: Indisciplined Knowledge“, “Interdisciplinary Explorations“, “Mediterranean“, and “Necessary Utopias“.

General Information
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For preparing your application and learning about the conditions of the residency, please ensure you read the PDF document attached to this homepage as well as the information on the research program(s) to which the residency you are interested in is attached (accessible via the Fellowships section below).
General call for applications Iméra 2025-2026Download
Any interested artist and/or scientist may apply for only one position among those offered above. Applicants who are former Iméra residents may reapply at least 5 years after their initial research stay.

Fellowships
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Among the proposed themes, the list is not exhaustive, but highlights unavoidable concepts and/or subjects that characterize the chairs. Other research themes may of course be proposed in your application, as long as they are related to the chair’s topics.
Themes

Albert Hirschman: Identity Passions between Europe and the Mediterranean — Sciences Po Aix / Iméra Chair
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Period : 5 months – From 09/02/2026 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Mediterranean
Themes : Crossed perspectives between Europe and Mediterranean cultures, Reformulation of social orders, Social realities

ILCB / Iméra Chair – Language, Communication, and the Brain
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026, 5 months – From 01/09/2025 to 30/01/2026, 5 months – From 09/02/2026 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Interdisciplinary explorations
Themes : Language pathologies, Mathematical modeling, Neural and cognitive dynamics of language and conversation, Origins of animal and human language

Sustainable Development and Interdisciplinarity – IRD/Iméra Chair
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Interdisciplinary explorations
Themes : A world in flux, Agriculture, Cities and urbanization, Climate change, Conservation of continental and marine biodiversity, Development, Epistemology, Fishing, Food security, Health, Inequalities, Labour, Land-use change, Mobility, Pollution, South/South exchanges, Sustainable development, Transformation of ways of life

Transregional Studies — EHESS / Iméra Chair
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026, 5 months – From 01/09/2025 to 30/01/2026, 5 months – From 09/02/2026 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Necessary utopias
Themes : Areal studies, Circulation, Comparisons between cultural areas, Connections, Difference in scales, Echanges, Experimental writing in humanities and social sciences, Migrations, Mobility, Reformulation of social orders, Sensitive / alternative cartography, Social realities, South/South exchanges, Transregional studies

Germaine Tillion – Tomorrow, the Mediterranean – Région Sud / Iméra Chair
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026, 5 months – From 01/09/2025 to 30/01/2026, 5 months – From 09/02/2026 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Mediterranean
Themes : A world in flux, Agriculture, Anthropocene, Cities and urbanization, Climate change, Conservation of continental and marine biodiversity, Fishing, Food security, Health, Land-use change, National, political, religious and identity movements, New generations in the Mediterranean, Pollution, Social and democratic movements, Sustainable development, Transformation of ways of life

Research-Creation in Cancerology and Immunology – ICI/Iméra Chair
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic, Artistic
Program : Arts & Sciences – Indisciplined knowledge, Interdisciplinary explorations
Themes : Epistemology, Health, Oncology-immunology, Relations between artistic practices and clinical and/or scientific practices, Social representations of cancer, Therapeutic use of artistic practices

Mucem / Iméra Residency
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Period : 5 months – From 01/09/2025 to 30/01/2026
Profile : Academic, Artistic
Program : Arts & Sciences – Indisciplined knowledge, Mediterranean
Themes : Artistic intervention in a heritage site, Comparisons between cultural areas, Connections, Crossed perspectives between Europe and Mediterranean cultures, Echanges, Ethnographic fieldwork, Experimental writing in humanities and social sciences, Invention of the Mediterranean, Mediterranean cultures, Migrations, Musée de l’Homme (Paris), Museography, Museum of society, National, political, religious and identity movements, New generations in the Mediterranean, Popular reappropriations, Sensitive / alternative cartography, Transformation of ways of life, Transregional studies

A world in crisis — AMSE/Iméra Chair
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Period : 10 months – From 01/09/2025 to 03/07/2026, 5 months – From 01/09/2025 to 30/01/2026, 5 months – From 09/02/2026 to 03/07/2026
Profile : Academic
Program : Necessary utopias
Themes : A world in flux, Big Data, Development, Echanges, Historical perspectives on growth, Inequalities, International trade, Networks, Sustainable developmentParticipate in an Intercultural, International and Interdisciplinary Context
Residing at Iméra means immersing yourself in a bilingual environment open to Francophone culture and, more broadly, to interculturality in the unique context of Marseille, a historical melting pot and a “refuge city”, “port city”, “transit city”, “Mediterranean city”, etc. It also means taking the time to discover the research of other residents and potentially experimenting with new forms of collective intelligence that blend methods, subjects, and disciplines. Scientific activities are led by program directors who form a four-person scientific team. Mostly professors and researchers, they support residents throughout their stay and ensure interactions with the Iméra scientific community and the local academic site.
Requirements:
– An active knowledge of French and/or English (written and spoken) is essential. Linguistic skills in both languages are desirable due to the bilingual context of Iméra: for example, weekly seminars (see below) are held in both languages. Laureates who are not fluent in French are encouraged to familiarize themselves with it during their stay, if not beforehand.
The application can be written in English or French.
In the interest of research internationalization, just as the local scientific and cultural community should benefit from the methodological traditions brought by the residents, the latter should also benefit from the numerous expertise present on site, where most disciplines are represented. For these reasons, candidates must be based abroad and submit a project that maximizes the resources available on-site (around a hundred laboratories, various archives, a vibrant cultural and associative life, etc.). It is highly recommended to identify key local resources related to the research theme beforehand, mention them in the project, and outline the envisioned modes of collaboration.
Candidates commit to participating in the scheduled activities with other residents and the Iméra scientific team. The Community Building Seminar (CBS) is one of the central activities, held each week (all day Thursday). The time investment amounts to one day per week in total.
Links to online resources:
List of interdisciplinary establishment institutes of Aix-Marseille University: https://www.univ-amu.fr/fr/public/les-unites-de-recherche
CESAM – The Map of Scientific Skills & Equipment of Aix-Marseille: https://cesam-carto.univ-amu.fr/
List of the 114 research units of Aix-Marseille University: https://www.univ-amu.fr/fr/public/les-unites-de-recherche

Timeline
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Deadline:
– Application deadline: Monday, October 21, 2024, at 1 pm (CET+2)
Residency periods:
– Duration of the residency: 5 or 10 months between September 2025 and July 2026
– 10-month residency: from September 1, 2025 to July 3, 2026
– 5-month residency in the first semester: September 1, 2025 to January 30, 2026
– 5-month residency in the second semester: from February 9, 2026 to to July 3, 2026
Publication of selection results: early February 2025