AXA Group

Each year, two to four specialized chairs, worth 250,000 euros, are awarded to a research institute for a period of three to five years.

The chairs can:

• Finance a research program (hosting of visiting lecturers, transport of researchers from funded research institutions, organizing of specialized groups, organizing of conferences, forums, programs to disseminate research, etc.)

and/or

• Remunerate one or two incumbent(s)

Eligible applicants are research institutes with a high level of excellence and international scope situated within one of the European Union member states or within an associated country as defined in the FP7_^[1]

Applications are initially assessed by the Scientific Council, after which an independent and anonymous assessment takes place.

The main criteria for the scientific and academic assessment of proposals will be:

1. The excellent academic record of the incumbents and/or the proposed program.
2. The original and innovative nature of the chair project.

Secondary factors that will also be taken into account are:

1. International openness.
2. The contribution to strengthening European networks (i.e. optimizing European resources with a focus on regional integration).
3. An interdisciplinary emphasis is preferable but not crucial.
4. The project's organizational and budgetary qualities (its structure, coherence and balance).
5. The handling of mutual interaction between the academic world and the business world.

[1] FP7 Third Country Agreements (PDF file)
Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, Albania and Montenegro

The AXA Group, in partnership with ENSAE and the École Polytechnique, finances the "Insurance and Major Risk" chair, under the responsibility of Christian Gourieroux and Pierre Picard.