Closure of the call for expressions of interest: 24 June 2026.
Objectives
This call for expressions of interest (CEI) aims to identify one or more research teams wishing to undertake a participatory research project to identify a research question. The research consortium comprising the association and the selected research team(s) will receive funding of €15,000 from the Fondation de France for a maximum period of six months.
At the end of this initial phase, the collective will be invited to develop their consolidated participatory research project, starting in March 2027, with financial and methodological support (2 years, maximum funding of €150,000), subject to a favourable recommendation from the Fondation de France’s Resilient Ecosystems Committee.
Questions for the research team
Research teams should submit their applications for one of the following research topics:
Planet Sea : What role do members of the public’s perceptions of the marine and coastal environment play in the development and interpretation of biodiversity status indicators, and how do they contribute to the identification of trends in change?
AFDPZ : How can we work together with all relevant stakeholders (fishermen, in situ and ex situ scientists, managers, field-based NGOs and marine users) to develop operational solutions based on sensory ecology and cetacean cognition that will significantly reduce bycatch, drawing in particular on the experimental capabilities offered by dolphinariums and zoological centres housing cetaceans?
Eligibility criteria
Research teams responding to the call for proposals must involve at least one public research laboratory.
The following shall be deemed inadmissible:
- applications submitted after the deadline or that are incomplete
- documents longer than 15 pages
- applications where the projected project duration exceeds six months
Provisional timetable
PHASE 1 – Formation of consortia
- 24 June 2026 : Closing of the call for expressions of interest
- 26 July: Assessment of applications and selection of partners (in collaboration with the successful organisations) and formation of consortia
- 26 September: Signing of the contract and commencement of funding for the start-up phase
PHASE 2 – Formulation of the research question
- 26 October – 27 March: Consortium work to develop the consolidated research project. Support from Sciences Citoyennes (training in participatory research; discussion of initial hypotheses, interim results and the consolidated project prior to finalisation)
- March 2027: Completion of the initial phase of the research project