ILIADE PROJECT
Innovation through Plants and AI for India and France
Project Summary
The Indo-Pacific, marked by an aging population, is a key area for the spread of infectious and metabolic diseases, making it a critical region for global health preservation. To address public health challenges in this space, the ILIADE project aims, through a transversal and innovative approach, to offer joint Master’s and Doctoral degree programs in the field of natural product biotechnologies. These programs will be integrated into existing curricula to train young talents from France, India, and ASEAN. Led by the University of La Réunion (UR), firmly rooted in its regional context, this project is developed in academic and scientific cooperation with the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and six other complementary French and Indian institutions. Together, they will create a joint training and research offer, with particular emphasis on multilingualism and multiculturalism, priorities highlighted by the European alliances ARQUS and EC2U, involving all consortium members.
Project Description
1. Context and Challenges
1.1 Presentation of the context and the issues the project aims to address in terms of India’s socio-economic development
As a major crossroads and a region characterized by an aging population, the Indo-Pacific is both a hub for infectious and metabolic diseases and a promising field for training and research in biotechnology, particularly in fostering universal access to healthcare. Enshrined in SDG 3, this challenge of universal health coverage requires France and India to build a multidisciplinary training and research ecosystem in health to meet the rapidly growing need for expertise in India by 2030. Tackling zoonotic diseases through research development is one of the pillars of France’s Indo-Pacific strategy. Similarly, India—a “continent-country” with its 1.3 billion inhabitants, expected to surpass China’s population by 2030—invests heavily in the health sector (€320 billion in 2022). This sector is set to grow further thanks to India’s proximity to ASEAN (the world’s fifth largest economic bloc with over 622 million inhabitants and an accelerating aging population) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which brings together 23 partner countries.
This Indo-Pacific region is adapting by developing digital solutions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, more specifically, Machine Learning, which can help process massive health data and provide professionals with essential global and personalized insights, thereby improving public health outcomes. However, the region remains highly vulnerable to the spread of infectious diseases (leading to the creation of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases—ACPHEED) as well as non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes, which is increasing rapidly in Malaysia). It is also heavily dependent on pharmaceutical imports. To respond, a national health plan was launched in 2018, with the creation of 100,000 jobs. At the same time, the Indian government, in partnership with WHO and as part of its 2013–2024 strategy, has recently established a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Gujarat. This centre focuses on building solid databases on traditional medicine products and practices to optimize their contribution to global health. Indeed, herbal medicines and traditional treatments constitute the primary source of healthcare worldwide, particularly in India, which has more than 750,000 AYUSH practitioners (Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy) and one million traditional community health workers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has encouraged all countries to strengthen research on plant-based treatments and to promote safe and effective traditional medicines against infectious agents of major public health concern. To address these challenges and needs—primarily in India, but also in the Indo-Pacific and Europe—it is essential to develop cross-disciplinary training programs that bridge multiple fields and prepare the health products, services, and professions of tomorrow.
1.2 Higher Education and Training Offer in India in the relevant sector and fields
India’s higher education and research (HER) system, with its 33 million students (46% women) today and 44 million expected in the near future, urgently needs to expand its training offer. This includes welcoming foreign programs on-site, enabled by the mutual recognition agreement of French and Indian degrees signed in 2018. Although India has a large number of universities, the existing structures are insufficient to meet student demand, and online education only partially fills the gap. The government’s goal of reaching 2% of GDP devoted to R&D, to make India one of the top five global scientific powers, has led to the promotion of public-private partnerships in priority sectors. Among those identified at the 2018 Comix meeting is the health sector, particularly metabolic diseases, biomedical devices, and natural product chemistry based on medicinal plants.
Several Indian institutions have already established collaborations with French universities in training and research: IISER Mohali, IIT Kharagpur, and UPES with the University of Poitiers (UP) in medical imaging through CEFIPRA projects; the Indian Institute of Science, the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Technology, and the Institute of Chemical Technology with the University of La Réunion (UR) in bioinformatics; Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) with the Corderie Research Centre and the University of Bordeaux through CEFIPRA projects; as well as via CHARPAK and Eiffel scholarships for student exchanges. Notably, the DSIMB laboratory at UR initiated the first joint PhD supervision between France and an Indian university (Manipal), which took place at NCBS in 2009. However, scientific cooperation between France and India in the field of plant-based biotechnologies remains limited, despite recommendations from the 2018 Knowledge Summit encouraging increased student and researcher exchanges in this field, with the ambition of improving methodological training and analytical skills through secure collaboration tools.
While biotechnology programs exist in India, not all include specialization in the therapeutic use of medicinal plants, nor do they have the multidisciplinary dimension required to meet student demand—particularly from engineering profiles seeking a more comprehensive approach to achieving public health objectives, including greater accessibility to healthcare. Some universities in northern India, such as Amity, offer programs in phytochemistry with diverse applications. Rarely, when a transdisciplinary program exists, it is oriented toward a holistic approach to health, such as at TDU, which develops research and Master’s programs at the interface of biology and Ayurveda. In addition, in northeastern India, especially in Gujarat—home to the upcoming Global Centre for Traditional Medicine—there are specialized research centres in medicinal and aromatic plants. However, these centres do not yet provide degree-granting programs. CIMAP, located in Lucknow in northern India, was created to work on medicinal and aromatic plants, providing training, teaching, learning, and research in these specific fields, but currently only offers short-term or doctoral-level programs.
Following a market study of higher education in the relevant Indian sectors, conducted both theoretically (via strategic documents and institutional fact sheets) and practically (through experience, consultations with Indian authorities, and exchanges with over 20 Indian institutions across the country), this project proposes to complement India’s offer by strengthening the link between training and research in plant-based biotechnologies. The goal is to develop innovative therapeutic approaches and solutions to address the country’s public health challenges, particularly in combating metabolic and infectious diseases.
2. Main Achievements at the End of the Project and 5-Year Vision
The ILIADE project aims to establish a structured and comprehensive curriculum (Bachelor–Master–Doctorate) designed to attract students from India, France, and, more broadly, from the Indo-Pacific region (ASEAN and IORA). This will be achieved through the creation of a Master’s degree in Biotechnology, aligned with existing undergraduate programs at each partner institution, built upon six existing Master’s programs in related fields, and leading to doctoral studies across more than ten associated research units.
The consortium members have already designed a draft international joint Master’s program and, given the various degree formats authorized under Indian regulations, have opted for the issuance by VIT of a twinning degree. After a two-year pilot phase, this degree is expected to evolve into a dual degree. To facilitate this transition, the international Master’s program will carry the “Biotechnology” designation, as recognized by the decree of 6 July 2017 establishing the list of compatible fields between the national Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in France. The program will include two tracks: the first entitled “Biotechnology specialized in Medicinal Plants and Phytotherapy”, and the second “Biotechnology specialized in Computer & Artificial Intelligence Applied to Biomedical Data.”
The first year of the project (2023–24) will focus on establishing the joint training offer at the Master’s and Doctoral levels in biotechnology, centered on natural health products and their integration into health systems to advance the goal of universal access to healthcare.
· The first semester of 2023 will be devoted to finalizing the joint Master’s program (curriculum, syllabus, assessment methods, grade conversion tables, etc.) and obtaining approval of the legal (framework agreements, application agreements related to the Master’s program, joint PhD supervision agreements) and pedagogical documents by the governance bodies of the participating universities. This phase will also include the promotion of the new training program and the recruitment of the first Master’s student cohort. Finally, during the first workshop held at VIT, the first Indian students to enroll in joint PhD supervision in the two targeted domains will be identified and recruited.
· In the second semester of 2023, the first year (Master 1) of the “Biotechnology specialized in Medicinal Plants and Phytotherapy” track will be launched in July and completed in May 2024.
In the second year of the project (2024–25), the second year (Master 2) of this first track will be opened, alongside the launch of the first year of the second track entitled “Biotechnology specialized in Computer & Artificial Intelligence Applied to Biomedical Data.”
· The launch of these two programs will be announced at the international conference held during the first semester of 2024, which will also serve to identify a second cohort of doctoral candidates.
· An evaluation workshop will be organized at the end of 2024.
In the following year (2025–26), the second year of the second track will be offered. The continuity of this degree program will not be affected by the end of the funding period. Beyond the reliance on existing programs, ten visiting professor positions have been allocated to deliver Master’s-level teaching at VIT for a period of five years.
Upon completion of the two years of the Master’s program, supported by laboratories within each institution (notably PIMIT, DETROI, DSIMB at UR; UP; LBBE, IBCP, LEM, CRCL, LBTI, LAGEPP at UCBL; Radiations and ERIC at ULL2; Centre for BioSeparation Technology at VIT; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at NCBS; CIMAP), the best students will have the opportunity to continue with doctoral studies following the sandwich PhD model common in India, alternating research periods between French and Indian institutions, as provided for under French joint PhD supervision agreements.
Within five years, at least 180 students will have graduated with a Master 2 degree, and at least 8 students will have completed or initiated a joint or co-supervised doctoral thesis with one of the project partners. The project foresees funding for four Indian doctoral mobilities to French institutions and four French doctoral mobilities to Indian partners during its two-year funded period. In addition, funding schemes (e.g., Eiffel Scholarships, Charpak Scholarships, doctoral grants from the Réunion Region, INTERREG VI Indian Ocean, Erasmus+ KA 171, and Marie Curie Doctoral Fellowships) will be leveraged during this initial funding phase.
3. Current Status of the Institutions in Relation to the Project
3.1 Indian Institutions
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). VIT is a higher education institution recognized by the Government of India as an Institution of Eminence (IoE). Ranked among the top 200 in Asia (QS Asia University Rankings 2022) and the 12th best institution in India in the fields of research and engineering (NIRF Ranking, Govt. of India 2021), it hosts the School of Biosciences and Technology, which offers internationalized undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs as well as various research centers collaborating with pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. The interdisciplinary Centre for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT) works on biomaterials, biomechanics, and advanced technologies to develop effective and cost-efficient treatment strategies. The Centre for BioSeparation Technology (CBST), created under the “Intensification of Research in High Priority Areas” program, is funded by leading government agencies such as the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Science and Engineering Research Board. Headed by Professor M.A. Vijayalakshmi, noted for her longstanding collaboration with France (UTC Compiègne), CBST develops natural product–based techniques for diabetes treatment, in compliance with regulations of the Indian Ministry of Traditional Medicine (AYUSH).
CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP). The CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants is a leading research institute of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It conducts high-quality multidisciplinary research in biological sciences, using multi-omics platforms for the synthetic and systems biology of the future, while providing technologies and services to farmers and entrepreneurs in the medicinal and aromatic plant sector. With several strategically located research centers in different agro-climatic zones of India (Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pantnagar, and Purara), CSIR-CIMAP facilitates field trials and research on plant secondary metabolites to develop affordable healthcare solutions rooted in traditional knowledge. It has played a key role in the successful commercialization of an antidiabetic herbal formulation based on Ayurvedic herbs, as well as in positioning India as a global leader in aromatic herbs production, including artemisinin, an anti-malarial drug approved by WHO. CSIR-CIMAP also houses a national gene bank for medicinal and aromatic plants, one of only three in India. The institute, which maintains scientific collaborations with Malaysia, is currently accredited by ICS-UNIDO and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) as a focal point for research and training on medicinal plants among the 23 member countries.
National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS). Together with the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), and the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), NCBS forms the Bangalore Life Science Cluster (BLiSC)—a unique center of excellence in India combining basic research, translational studies, and technological development. NCBS’s mission is to conduct fundamental and interdisciplinary research in cutting-edge areas of biology, from the study of single molecules to systems biology. In particular, its work focuses on plant-derived secondary metabolites as potential drugs against viral and bacterial diseases.
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). Ranked among the top five medical education and research institutions in India, JIPMER is both a medical school and a tertiary referral hospital, recognized by the Government of India as an Institute of National Importance (INI). This status grants it greater autonomy and higher funding than many other higher education institutions. JIPMER receives funding for numerous projects from national research agencies (including the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Registry of Rare and Other Hereditary Diseases). It is one of the few institutions in India to offer postgraduate and doctoral training in about 20 departments, while conducting innovative research and providing high-level specialized care to all segments of the population. JIPMER offers a wide range of courses in medical biochemistry, medical physiology, public health, clinical pharmacology, and immunology.
3.2 French Institutions
University of La Réunion (UR). Aligned with regional (IORA), national (Livre Bleu Outremer), European (HEi, FEDER), and international (Agenda 2030) strategies, the University of La Réunion continues to develop its centers of scientific excellence in biomedical sciences to promote transdisciplinary knowledge aimed at addressing the challenges of its territory and its partners in the Indian Ocean region. In collaboration with major partners such as CNRS, INSERM, CIRAD, the University Hospital (CHU), and the Qualitropic competitiveness cluster, UR has shared scientific and technological platforms in health (CYROI, PLATIN-OI) and plant protection (Plant Protection Cluster), and leads a research platform project dedicated to understanding global changes in the Indian Ocean area within an EcoHealth–One Health perspective. Specifically, UR aims to develop new and effective therapeutic solutions against infectious diseases—particularly tropical zoonotic pathogens of medical importance—and metabolic diseases in humans, notably through the use of medicinal plants. To this end, UR seeks to strengthen the training-research link in this field, drawing on its various UMRs and academic departments embedded in this ecosystem. As a unique interface between Europe and the Indian Ocean, UR was identified as such by the highest French authorities during the Knowledge Summit held in New Delhi in March 2018. Following this summit, a Franco-Indian Education Fund was created to facilitate mobility between the two countries. UR committed to pedagogical and scientific actions supported by various programs, including ERASMUS+ MIC in biotechnology and health, law, and languages. Over 110 Indian students have studied at UR, especially in life sciences and health. Positioned at the heart of the Indo-Pacific and strongly connected with the Indian community, UR plays a key role in hosting Indian students, granting them access to the Francophonie, and has built strong ties with leading Indian institutions such as VIT and NCBS, and more recently CIMAP and JIPMER.
Universities of Lyon I (UCBL) and Lyon II (ULL2). Lyon is a French and international reference hub in life sciences and health, fostering a constant balance between human, animal, and environmental health. The metropolitan area hosts leading public and private actors and offers sites of excellence for innovation. It is also a growth engine for the health sciences ecosystem, centered on its universities, which bring together renowned fundamental research actors and industrial collaborations, particularly in immuno-infectiology. The two universities leveraged their strong complementarity in health sciences to build and secure funding for a PIA4 project, Excellence in All Its Forms, called SHAPE-Med. This ten-year strategy foresees the creation of a Lyon Health Hub 2030. High-impact initiatives such as the Health Innovation Factory, the Health Research House, and a School of Public Health will contribute to this ambition. SHAPE-Med@Lyon integrates “5P Medicine” and “One Health” approaches, addressing human, animal, and environmental health challenges, and aligns with the French State’s Health Innovation Plan 2030. Building on this success, UCBL and ULL2 are currently working on an institutional merger project (Pluriel2024) to create a new multidisciplinary university in Lyon. To promote high-level scientific relations between France and India, Lyon 2 has developed many partnerships in Asia, particularly with India (Pondicherry), offering Bachelor’s and Master’s mobility programs across disciplines. UCBL, meanwhile, has long supported Franco-Indian exchange programs for students and researchers with renowned Indian institutes, providing collaboration opportunities at Master’s, Doctoral, and research levels, and regularly organizing schools, workshops, and collaborative visits. UCBL is also a member of the USTH consortium (https://www.consortium-usth.org
3.3 Existing Sectoral Partnerships
Building on longstanding collaboration with Indian authorities (Consulate General of India in La Réunion, the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Indian Council of Medical Research), the French diplomatic mission in India, the Réunion Committee of French Foreign Trade Advisors, and international health organizations (notably the establishment of the WHO Academy in Lyon), the French consortium institutions have also developed strong ties with Indian higher education institutions, particularly in the south of the country. This has enabled the construction of a sustainable partnership ecosystem structured around a multi-stakeholder network in the fields of biotechnology (including phytotherapy, pharmacology, and artificial intelligence applied to biomedicine), with the shared objective of combating infectious and metabolic diseases.
At VIT, the CBCMT and CBST research centers host scientists who are actively engaged in industrial consulting (Savante Group) and who have successfully led industry-sponsored projects (e.g., Tata Steel). The Centre for BioSeparation Technology (CBST), which develops natural product–based techniques for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, continues to pursue research projects funded by the CEFIPRA program, as well as longstanding collaborations with Indian companies such as Panacea Biotech and Genext Genomics Ltd, and French companies such as Span Diagnostics.
CSIR-CIMAP, for its part, operates a dedicated research farm for experimental studies on the conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), the demonstration of varieties and agro-technologies, and seed production across 21 Indian states. Its main activities focus on providing advice, technical services, and technology licenses to promote entrepreneurship in the MAP sector. Over the past decade, CSIR-CIMAP has granted more than 80 licenses to various industries, including 35 to SMEs and start-ups for the commercialization of medicinal plant–based technologies (e.g., VYOM India Organics Pvt Ltd, Quantus Herbal & Nutraceuticals, Meghdoot Gramodyog Sewa Sansthan). A Technology Business Incubation Centre (TBIC) has also been established to support young companies seeking to develop plant-based product formulations.
On the French side, the University of La Réunion (UR), firmly rooted in its territory and a founding member of the Réunion Technopole—bringing together around 100 actors in key sectors such as digital technology, environment, health, and biotechnology—has further strengthened its biomedical sciences research ecosystem. This includes start-ups like Torskal (developing green-chemistry nanotechnologies for cancer and infectious diseases), the CYROI technology cluster, and its CB-TECH business incubator. UR also works with local partners such as the University Hospital (CHU) of La Réunion, the Regional Health Agency (ARS), the Qualitropic competitiveness cluster, and associations like APLAMEDOM (Association of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants of La Réunion), which builds databases on Indian Ocean plants and their uses. These efforts recently culminated in a project submitted under the Plan Innovation Outre-Mer, focused on biodiversity conservation in La Réunion for combating infectious and tropical diseases. The project brings together research actors, institutional partners (local authorities), and investors to establish an “extractotheque,” develop cultivation of the most suitable plant species, and prepare the economic exploitation of new health products derived from natural extracts.
University of Poitiers (UP). UP also aims to anchor its new collaborations in an interdisciplinary and partnership-based manner, in line with its territorial identity and the strategic axes of its PIA4 ExcellencESUPSquared program: health, well-being and aging; multilingualism, multiculturalism and digital education; and sustainable cities and communities. Health is a priority axis, supported by a formal agreement with the Poitiers University Hospital (CHU), the development of the regional network Humain Recomposé et Reconstruit en Santé (H2RS) coordinated by Professor Thierry Hauet (professor of Biochemistry and co-leader of the project with India), and collaborations with the CHU of La Réunion and the Hospices Civils de Lyon (Edouard Herriot Hospital) and Claude Bernard University Lyon 1. The joint I3M laboratory in AI and medical imaging (involving CNRS, Siemens Healthineers, CHU, and UP) has developed many international collaborations in AI for health, as well as training programs such as the Physiological, Biotechnological and Computer Engineering track of the Master in Health Engineering. This program, characterized by strong professional partnerships, has consistently achieved an outstanding job placement rate (100% employment within three months) in pharmaceutical, clinical trial, and biotechnology sectors. Additionally, UP participates in the LabEtech convention “Poitiers, Capital of Education”, which seeks to address the challenges of digital transformation in education. UP is also a beneficiary of PIA3 New Curricula at the University (ELANS, since 2019) and PIA4 Digital Demonstrator in Higher Education (DEM’UP, since late 2021), resources which will directly support ILIADE in terms of distance education.
UCBL and ULL2. The two major universities of the Lyon metropolitan area, along with the engineering school CPE, are currently working toward the creation of an Experimental Public Establishment (PLURIEL2024) expected by 2024. The first stage of this institutional merger was the award of a PIA4 Excellence in All Its Forms project called SHAPE-Med, focused specifically on global health challenges. This project, notable for the strong involvement of key health ecosystem actors in Lyon (including the Hospices Civils de Lyon—the largest hospital complex in France—and the Léon Bérard Cancer Research Centre), will lead to the creation of a Global Health Research Institute in Lyon. The project also strongly integrates Lyon’s industrial health ecosystem, with major companies such as Institut Mérieux, BioMérieux, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, and others contributing to academic–industrial partnerships. This strength has also been recognized by the World Health Organization, which will establish its WHO Academy global training center in Lyon in 2024. ULL2 will be a partner of this Academy, having recently been selected as the sole French laureate in a call for proposals to contribute to WHO training activities.
This extensive network provides ILIADE with a strong foundation within a Franco-Indian ecosystem structured around five categories of actors:
1. Research organizations and centers (INSERM, CIMAP, NCBS)
2. University hospitals (CHU La Réunion, CHU Poitiers, Hospices Civils de Lyon, JIPMER)
3. Competitiveness clusters in health (Axelera, Lyon Biopole, ALPHA, BLiSC, Qualitropic)
4. Industrial companies in the sector (BioMérieux, Limagrain, Sanofi, Solvay, Boehringer Ingelheim, Span Diagnostics, Shanta Biotechnics Ltd, Siemens, Philips, Canon Medical Systems, Genext Genomics Ltd, Quantus Herbal & Nutraceuticals, Meghdoot Gramodyog Sewa Sansthan, Vyom India), operating in both India and France
5. Health authorities (Regional Health Agencies).
This ecosystem extends beyond the multi-stakeholder network in health to include linguistic and cultural initiatives developed outside the consortium with the support of partners (Consulate General of India, Réunion Region, French Foreign Trade Advisors), which can also benefit ILIADE. For instance, UR, which already offers university diplomas in Tamil and Hindi, has recently secured authorization—together with four other South Asian universities—from the Government of India to establish a Tamil Chair for Indian languages and civilization. This will prepare outgoing faculty and students for mobility and facilitate the reception of incoming participants. In parallel, VIT has committed to offering French language courses within the joint Master’s program, while each French university will provide Indian students and researchers with access to international student support services (e.g., the Bienvenue en France label, French as a Foreign Language integration campuses) and dedicated provisions for visiting professors (FLE courses).
4. Planned Training Programs and Activities
This project aims to develop training programs at VIT in the field of biotechnology, integrating competencies in health biology, artificial intelligence, and the humanities for health data. These programs are structured around skill blocks to ensure better employability at the end of the Master’s program, while also offering pathways into research through doctoral studies. Given the national accreditation requirements, the proposed joint programs will be based on existing degree tracks already offered within each institution. Two Master’s tracks will be co-designed with professional representatives from the relevant sector, using regional and national labor market inventories, and with French partners who will share their expertise and sectoral experience. These programs will incorporate the latest pedagogical innovations (blended learning, flipped classroom, etc.). A collective research program will be developed, relying on associated laboratories—composed of French and Indian faculty researchers—and advanced technical platforms. The results will be valorized through the deployment of a joint program, “Science With and For Society”, in line with the consortium’s values and within the broader dissemination plan.
The activities will be grouped into six tasks corresponding to the project’s main objectives, each led by a Franco-Indian pair:
1. WP 1 Governance and Coordination (UR + VIT)
2. WP 2 Master’s Program (UR + UP + VIT)
3. WP 3 Doctoral Program (UP + VIT)
4. WP 4 Research Partnerships (UCBL + NCBS)
5. WP 5 Science With and For Society (ULL2 + CIMAP)
6. WP 6 Dissemination (UR + VIT)
4.1 Training Programs
Ø Master’s level training (up to 45 students per year in M1 and 20 students per year in M2)
The project includes the creation of an international joint Master’s program (twinning degree) hosted at the School of Biosciences and Technology (SBST) at VIT. This degree builds upon existing undergraduate and Bachelor’s programs and is co-designed using English-taught courses already offered in the targeted Master’s degree tracks of the partner institutions, with elective modules tailored to meet socio-economic needs. The goal is to train bioengineers and biotechnology researchers capable of innovating, inventing, and disseminating knowledge for the benefit of society and the environment, using a competency-based approach (including entrepreneurial skills).
After a two-year pilot phase, this Master’s degree is expected to evolve into a dual degree. It will carry the “Biotechnology” designation, as recognized by the French decree of 6 July 2017 establishing the compatibility between national Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. The program will include two tracks:
· Biotechnology specialized in Medicinal Plants and Phytotherapy
· Biotechnology specialized in Computer & Artificial Intelligence Applied to Biomedical Data
Modeled on the European Bologna Process, this English-taught Master’s degree spans four semesters. Each semester follows the Indian structure of program core, program elective, and university core courses.
· Semester 1 will provide a large common core of fundamental courses (e.g., microbiology, advanced biochemistry) with minimal electives, defining the two specialization paths. It will also include a joint seminar series on health ecology across the consortium, as well as transversal skills modules (e.g., languages, research methodology taught by joint Franco-Indian teams).
· Semesters 2 and 3 will include a reduced common core with a wide range of specialized courses (e.g., Practical Formulation and Biopharmacy for the first track; Data Mining for the second). Pre-professionalization modules will be added (e.g., Introduction to Life Skills for Biotechnologists, Science Engineering and Technology Project), with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship (Bio-business courses).
· Semester 4 will be dedicated to an internship in consortium laboratories or at partner institutions (hospitals, companies producing or marketing natural health products, competitiveness clusters, or associations at the interface of research, producers, processors, and investors).
This program will allow Indian and French students to carry out study or internship exchanges, partly funded by the project, and further supported through a future ERASMUS+ mobility project for higher education in consortium format. Courses will use innovative technologies and blended learning methods (60% online, 40% in person). The Master’s program structure (attached in Annex 2) will be submitted for approval by the governance bodies of the partner institutions in early 2023.
Ø Doctoral level training (4 students per year)
At the end of its two tracks, the Master’s program will prepare students for careers in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical trials, biotechnology, and AI applied to health, or for doctoral studies in joint supervision with laboratories linked to the pre-existing Master’s programs. Joint PhD supervision and CIFRE theses will be available for students completing their second year (M2). These doctoral opportunities will be supported by the doctoral networks of the European university alliances of the partners (ARQUS for Lyon, EC2U for Poitiers), as well as joint Horizon Europe (Marie Curie) applications.
Doctoral schools must provide students with not only supervision for their dissertation but also a scientific environment preparing them for professional careers, whether in public research and academia (as faculty or researchers) or in the private sector. Training will therefore be offered in both France and India to support doctoral candidates, encourage interdisciplinarity, broaden their scientific culture, and prepare them for career development, while promoting international openness.
To this end, doctoral structures will join forces to offer each candidate:
· Disciplinary training to expand their scientific expertise. These specialized courses depend on the thesis topic and include:
○ Advanced courses organized by doctoral schools and/or Master 2 programs at consortium universities
○ Specialized lectures hosted by consortium laboratories
○ Thematic schools, conferences, and symposia
○ Training in specific techniques or methodologies relevant to the research work outside the laboratory
· Transversal training to broaden cultural and linguistic horizons and prepare for professional integration. These transversal modules will open pathways to the socio-economic world, providing each doctoral student with the tools to prepare a personalized career plan.
4.2 Main Activities
▪ Strengthening the scientific partnership and research-based training
Complementary, the higher education institutions (HEIs) aim to develop and reinforce synergies between research and healthcare stakeholders, and to structure a shared fundamental and technological research agenda on biosciences and medicinal plants, integrating both a Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) component and an AI-for-health component. This momentum will take the form of one international conference and two summer/winter schools, held alongside the two workshops. These schools—open to Master 2 students and early-career researchers (PhD candidates and post-docs) from across the alliance—will successively address: (1) medicinal plants and their applications in combating infectious and metabolic diseases; and (2) infectious diseases, zoonoses and One Health. They will help create a Franco-Indian pool of young researchers supervised by mixed teams and will foster joint publications and collaborative research proposals, noting that the research units already work on shared topics (e.g., simultaneous targeting of diabetes and obesity using plant extracts and their components).
Research-based training—through the transfer of knowledge and know-how by faculty experts in the relevant fields, and through hands-on experience—will be implemented via internships in the consortium’s research laboratories, many of which are affiliated with national research organizations. In addition, the consortium will build on ongoing institutional programs that explicitly articulate Master-level training and doctoral research, along the lines of graduate schools. Examples include the Ecole Universitaire de Recherche H2O (https://h2olyon.universite-lyon.fr) co-led by the Lyon universities in the consortium, and “Structuring Research-Based Training in Initiatives of Excellence” projects such as SFRI Graduate+ at UCBL, notably co-led by the LBBE (Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology). This approach federates a community and intensifies training in and through research.
▪ Strengthening the partnership with the economic sector
The training offer is co-constructed (design, delivery, professional integration) with national (India and France) and regional (Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean) economic actors in biotechnology for health, based on an analysis of socio-economic needs. Two groups will be set up under the coordination of the steering committee:
· Needs groups: research centers; university hospitals; companies and industries in the sector; competitiveness clusters; associations
· Partner groups: research organizations; university hospitals; sector companies; associations; local authorities; regional health agencies
Given that employability is a major objective of this curriculum, a compulsory one-semester internship in Master 2 will enable students to integrate the partner HEIs’ ecosystems and their industrial bio-health partners. This integration will be facilitated by each HEI’s entrepreneurship hubs and research valorization services. CIFRE industrial PhDs will also be encouraged with the health partners of the consortium members. The consortium can further rely on in-house structures to develop entrepreneurship in this field, in particular CIMAP’s Technology Business Incubation Centre, which supports young companies for one year as they move into formulating plant-based products.
We are aware, however, that full university programs do not always meet socio-economic actors’ training needs, as many seek more flexible, lifelong learning pathways that allow a broader range of learners and professionals to adapt to a rapidly evolving labor market and skill landscape. The green and digital transitions are concrete examples underscoring the need to upskill and reskill. A specific response lies in micro-credentials, which enable more flexible, modular pathways co-designed with socio-economic stakeholders and aligned to pressing societal needs. The development of micro-credentials is also an opportunity to reach learners from diverse backgrounds and thus engage the socio-economic sphere—alongside academia—more deeply in promoting social mobility. Building on the shared training framework and members’ experience in lifelong learning, the consortium intends to co-develop with its economic partners short courses leading to micro-credits.
Beyond training, the consortium plans to deepen its partnership with industry to fund research. Here again, it will rely on its research valorization and development services to support researchers across this Franco-Indian campus by organizing events (Awards) and adopting best practices (e.g., creation by NCBS’s RDO of an endowment fund) to reach donors and companies and secure scholarships or grants for research projects.
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Reception and support. French universities, labeled “Bienvenue en France” and committed to high-quality reception policies, will offer incoming students a two-tier support system: centrally, personalized welcome with a welcome pack and assistance with administrative and financial procedures (international relations, research services, etc.), facilitated access to housing (pre-reserved dorm rooms), integration events, buddy systems, dedicated workspace for co-tutelle PhD students, access to digital services and online resources, language resources and infrastructures, and disability support where needed; and at the level of the host faculty/department. For foreign staff, a similar system applies: reception through the central International Relations Office and the host department, with an academic and administrative point of contact; access to the same services and, where appropriate, a shared office at the university. Comparable services are provided by the Indian partners, which have International Relations Offices dedicated to welcoming foreign students and researchers.
Science With and For Society (SAPS). The consortium will promote a “science with and for society” approach through its science-mediation directorates and institutional strategies. It is essential that the knowledge produced and shared within the consortium resonates beyond academia, particularly with the general public. To this end, the consortium proposes a program “ILIADE Life Sciences and Societies,” hosting projects and events that bridge the life sciences, medicine and traditional practices with the social sciences, and stimulate dialogue among academics, practitioners and users, making research results accessible. We will also prioritize participatory research practices and, more generally, the co-construction of knowledge. ULL2, founder of the international REIUNIS network of SAPS-oriented universities and sponsor of LYSiERES (Lyon–Saint-Étienne Research and Experimentation on Science With and For Society), which aims to catalyze new science-society interfaces by engaging students, PhD candidates and researchers alongside science-culture and mediation professionals, will contribute its experience and roadmap on behalf of the consortium.
Special attention will also be given, within ILIADE, to language learning used across the consortium. While fully acknowledging the centrality of English for this project and its programs, we will also ensure the place of French—via our FLE (French as a Foreign Language) centers, which will significantly contribute to training (for example, Indian PhD candidates on mobility in France)—and, more broadly, by emphasizing the bilingual presentation of documents (e.g., event posters).
We will organize public-facing events—within national initiatives such as Fête de la Science, and ad hoc events such as public lectures (e.g., on the history of botany in India and the circulation of botanical knowledge and materials between India and France or within the Indian Ocean)—to strengthen exchanges between program researchers and the wider community. We will work with our museum and cultural ecosystems (e.g., the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, where ULL2 is a leading scientific partner) on exhibitions, and we will promote our collections to the public (e.g., UCBL’s herbarium, the world’s second-largest university collection after Harvard’s). We will also showcase training programs that straddle these domains (e.g., the university diploma in ethnomedicine), with selected modules open to consortium members. Finally, we will foster new multidisciplinary projects in ecology and ethnobotany, aligned with the consortium’s social and environmental policy.
The SAPS approach is inseparable from a strong commitment to open science—open access to research data and publications. In line with the open-science policies adopted by our institutions (e.g., ULL2’s Open Science Strategy approved by its Board in June 2022) and national regulations, we will promote unrestricted, open access to science, for example by making ethics and open science training compulsory for PhD candidates throughout their dissertation.
Social and environmental responsibility. All consortium members have developed strategies for ecological transition, aiming to make their institutions “eco-universities.” UR, which leads the consortium, is a member of the UNESCO Chair in Education, Training and Research in Sustainable Development and a partner of the ESD for 2030 program. The University of Poitiers (which coordinates the EC2U European University Alliance, notably leveraging SDG #11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities”) was in 2016 one of the first two French universities to receive the national DD&RS (Sustainable Development & Social Responsibility) label, renewed in 2022. ULL2 partners with the City of Lyon, recently awarded the “100 Climate-Neutral Cities” label, and adopted an ambitious ecological transition strategy in 2022. French universities—committed to the Erasmus Green program—and Indian partners—with their environmental charters—intend to act as a model alliance for green practices to help preserve biodiversity (responsible and sustainable real-estate strategy; digital development plans to decarbonize training and research activities) and to instill these practices in future generations (student awareness surveys; promotion of waste management within communities; annual “zero-waste” days; litter-collection operations at UNESCO World Heritage natural sites, etc.). In this perspective, green mobilities and virtual mobility will be encouraged within the training offer, which is designed with 60% online courses. Likewise, experts in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology teaching in other programs may contribute to these topics during the shared Master-level seminars. Finally, partners plan to apply to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which now include commitments to sustainable-growth processes (green charter). The consortium’s objectives are to make every student an active, responsible citizen and an ambassador for sustainability.