OUR ACTIONS

• Chairs of Excellence

The aim is to recruit high level scientists of any nationality in Grenoble, and in addition to their salary, to provide them funding to employ Ph. D. students and Post-Docs and to buy some equipment for their hosting laboratory.
Two types of proposals are eligible: full time positions that are almost dedicated to scientists willing to settle permanently to Grenoble. The Foundation gives them the opportunity to develop their project in one of the network laboratories and to start to build a group, during up to 3 years. During this period, they have time for a successful integration in the scientific community of Grenoble, which can lead them to apply for a permanent position opened by one of the 4 founding institutions of the Foundation. The holder of a chair can also be part time in Grenoble (from 3 months a year up to 3 years): the strategy is then to develop long term collaborations with the home laboratory of the scientist. During their stay, the recruited scientists are requested to get involved in both science diffusion and education by giving seminars and courses at the Doctoral level. It is also required that they interact with several laboratories of the network.

• Young scientists

Every year, the Foundation is offering several contracts allowing the recruitment of Ph.D. students. The aim is to bring to Grenoble outstanding students from foreign universities who cannot benefit from current supports offered by the Ministry, and to be highly reactive at any time in the year to be able to hire very promising students for doing their thesis in the laboratories of the network. This process which is uncoupled of the calls for proposals is called "along the stream" ("au fil de l'eau"). The applications are submitted by the hosting laboratories, and the candidates are selected by the Steering Committee.

• RTRA Projects

Financial support is awarded to particularly innovative research projects that foster cooperative research between the network's laboratories.  The support is attributed to allowing the recruitment of Ph. D. students, post docs, or engineers, and for buying equipment and covering operating expenses.
In 2007 and 2008, research projects submitted by "young" permanent researcher recently appointed by one of the Founding members were also eligible for funding. In 2009, this kind of support has been cancelled because it was not necessarily fostering collaborative research within the RTRA. However, associating young researchers starting a new research activity to larger and federative projects has been encouraged.

• Technological platforms

The foundation supports the development of several technological platforms in Grenoble, which offer up-to-date facilities for nanoscale fabrication, synthesis, characterization, modeling and computation.  The requests for support must result from coordination between the different platforms, and be relevant with the actual facilities already available in the different sites. The new equipment has to be included in the global strategy of development of the platforms of the RTRA over several years. The requests related to operating expenses have to show how the financial support can help to develop the opening of the platform to the researchers of the network and to enable the realisation of the research projects.