Important dates

Submission deadline : 11 September 2026

Results Notification : décember 2026

If you have any enquiries, please contact submission-dataia@inria.fr.

Context of the call :

The DataIA Institute is the Artificial Intelligence Institute of Université Paris-Saclay.        
Winner of the "Instituts Convergences" call for projects launched by the French National Research Agency (ANR) in 2017, the DataIA Institute has gathered the artificial intelligence (AI) expertise of the Paris-Saclay ecosystem to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration between institutions in data science and AI.

In January 2021, the Institute refocused its activities on the Université Paris-Saclay cluster of excellence, becoming the bearer of the University's strategy in artificial intelligence, research, and training. As France's leading artificial intelligence ecosystem, DataIA Paris-Saclay Institute aims to federate and structure multi-disciplinary expertise to develop cutting-edge research in data science in conjunction with other disciplines, such as the humanities and social sciences. It mobilizes over 800 faculty members from 47 laboratories (including 15% international) within the Paris-Saclay University perimeter.        
 

In May 2024, the Institute was officially awarded the "AI-Cluster" label by the French government.        
 

This call aims to support AI research through the funding of AI Modular Chairs.

The new chairs will further strengthen the scientific and collaborative momentum generated by the seven AI chairs that have been funded since 2025 within the DataIA ecosystem.

Scientific scope and objectives

Project proposals must clearly demonstrate their alignment with the objectives of the DataIA Institute, with particular emphasis on the themes and strategic axes of the DataIA AI-Cluster. Priority will be given to proposals that fall within at least one of the four main thematic axes of the Cluster (see Appendix 1).

Terms of project proposal submissions

This call is focused exclusively on collaborative projects, including at least 2 principal investigators. Only the laboratories of the partner institutions which have signed the DATAIA Cluster consortium agreement are eligible to be project holders and manage the allocated funding (refer to Appendix 2).

While consortia may include partners beyond those mentioned in Appendix 2, these external partners are ineligible to receive funding and must obtain their own financial resources.

Projects that fulfill the following criteria will be given special consideration:

1. Projects hosted by two distinct institutions within the DataIA academic ecosystem (refer to Appendix 2) and two different laboratories of DataIA where the budget is close to equal across partners.
2. Projects that involve one industrial partner from DataIA’s industry affiliation program (PAI), contributing their own funding of at least an amount equivalent to the grant requested from DataIA. This contribution must take the form of co-financing specifically allocated to the project — excluding any in-kind contributions — and must be directed toward new project-specific expenditures such as personnel recruitment, equipment acquisition, travel, or other direct costs. Eligible expenditures include the recruitment of new personnel, the acquisition of equipment, travel and mobility costs, the PAI affiliation, and other direct project-related expenses. The affiliation to the PAI can be done after the project is selected for funding.
3. Projects collaborating with laboratories associated with other AI clusters and contributing their own funding of at least an amount equivalent to the grant requested from DataIA. This contribution must take the form of co-financing specifically allocated to the project — excluding any in-kind contributions — and must be directed toward new project-specific expenditures such as personnel recruitment, equipment acquisition, travel, or other direct costs.        
    

This call for Modular Chairs aims to support DataIA's actions by funding research projects. The funding covers personnel and operating expenses. The requested budget cannot exceed 500,000€ per project for projects involving at least two principal investigators from different institutions of the DataIA academic ecosystem (see Appendix 2). In the case of a project involving one DataIA institution and an external collaborator, the budget requested from DataIA may not exceed 250,000 €, and the external partner must provide a direct financial contribution of at least an equivalent amount. This contribution must take the form of co-financing specifically allocated to the project — excluding any in-kind contributions — and must be directed toward new project-specific expenditures such as personnel recruitment, equipment acquisition, travel, or other direct costs.         
The requested budget must not include indirect costs (frais d’environment) for the hosting institutions of DataIA’s academic ecosystem, and the recommended maximum budget for travelling is 10% of the total requested funds.        
 

Submission process

Project proposals will have a scientific description of the project and a financial appendix. Late or incomplete proposals will not be considered.

Proposal format and evaluation criteria        
The proposal needs to be submitted using the form provided in the following link: #####        
The following criteria will be used to evaluate the project: scientific excellence, synergy between partner institutions, and potential application impact on the chosen subject.

Proposal submission              
For any questions, please contact: submission-dataia@inria.fr.

The submission closes on 11 september 2026, at 5pm (Paris time).         
Publication date of results:         
Funding for selected projects will be available in december 2026.        

 

Selection process

DataIA cluster research committee (COMR) will examine the eligibility of the projects and assign external reviewers. After receiving the external reviews, the COMR will elaborate a ranking recommendation for the DataIA cluster steering committee (COPIL), which will make the final decision. These decisions will be made in November 2026.

Validity of the funding

Selected research projects are funded for a maximum of 4 years, still the expenses must be engaged by December 31st, 2029.

Project acceptance and commitments

The PhD students hired with the given funds must be enrolled in one of the PhD schools of the Université Paris-Saclay supporting AI research.

Principal investigators agree to:

• Use the funding as described in the project proposals;
• Take part in the scientific activities of DataIA Cluster (seminars, workshop, conferences, etc...);
• Participate to the annual data collection on the progress of the funded project requested by the ANR;
• Include the following acknowledgement on all publications and communication materials related to the funded project:

(EN Version 🇬🇧) This research work is supported by France 2030 funding managed by the National Research Agency (ANR) as part of IA CLUSTER program, reference ANR-23-IACL-0003 – DATAIA CLUSTER

(FR Version 🇫🇷) Ce travail de recherche a bénéficié d’un financement de France 2030, géré par l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), dans le cadre du programme IA CLUSTER, référence ANR-23-IACL-0003 – DATAIA CLUSTER

At the end of the project, they will give the DataIA Institute a report summarizing the achievements and all publications done within the project duration.

If the DataIA institute considers that the funding has not been used in accordance with the objectives stated in the project proposals, a refund may be requested. Similarly, unused funds must be paid back by the partner institution.