New York, September 19, 2022 – The French Embassy’s Cultural Services and Office for Science and Technology are proud to announce the 19 academic research teams selected to receive the annual Transatlantic Research Partnership grant (formerly Thomas Jefferson Fund). Launched jointly by the French Embassy in the United States and the FACE Foundation, the program aims to foster forward-looking collaborative research that engages with pressing global challenges. Each $20,000 grant supports a two-year project led by two outstanding researchers at the beginning of their careers –– one based in the United States, the other in France.
The program received applications for research projects in over 30 academic disciplines spanning, and in some cases combining, humanities, social sciences, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Selected projects address a wide range of contemporary problems and questions, from water purification and disease emergence to internet regulation and the intersections of food and race. The nineteen projects represent universities in sixteen US states and seven of France’s 13 continental regions. The full list is below.
“These projects, and the new generation of researchers behind them, remind us that today’s greatest challenges and opportunities are inherently global. To build lasting solutions, we need to collaborate across borders, across schools, across cultures. The French Embassy is proud to participate in and uplift this work with the Transatlantic Research Partnership,” said Gaëtan Bruel, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the US.
The selected projects
Read more about each project here
Robust and interpretable multi-modal signal processing and approaches for the screening, understanding and monitoring of neurodevelopmental and neurophysiological disorders Computer Science/Information
Juan Matias Di Martino, Duke University | Laurent Oudre, ENS Paris Saclay
Epigenetic modifications and Long-LastIng tolerance to PlaSmodium falciparum infEctions (ELLIPSE)
Health
Katherine Dobbs, Case Western Reserve University | Célia Dechavanne, IRD
Molecular rotors and motors: from natural evolution to de novo design
Physics
Alexis Courbet, University of Washington | Ashley Nord, CNRS
Assessment of water storage capacity in mountain watersheds using data science and geophysical data
Geosciences
Dario Grana, University of Wyoming | Romain Brossier, Université Grenoble Alpes
Fragmentation of bubbles and drops in turbulence
Engineering
Rui Ni, Johns Hopkins University | Nathanael Machicoane, CNRS
Adaptative, Local and Innovative Algorithms for Stochastic Optimization (ALIAS)
Computer Science/Information
Albert Berahas, University of Michigan | Clément Royer, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL
Physics-informed self-supervised machine learning: a hybrid approach for prognostics of energy and aviation systems
Engineering
Felipe Viana, University of Central Florida | Christian Gogu, Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier
Mitochondria in fragile X Syndrome, a genetic form of autism spectrum disorder
Biology
Elizabeth McCullagh, Oklahoma State University | Giulia Bertolin, CNRS
Electrochemical denitrification: enabling access to clean water for all
Chemistry
Sergio Garcia-Segura, Arizona State University | Carlos Sanchez Sanchez, CNRS
Deformation spaces of geometric structures and their geometry
Mathematics
Sara Maloni, University of Virginia | Andrea Seppi, Université Grenoble Alpes
Synthesis of Azo compounds via ‘Electroclick’ chemistry: a green approach towards therapeutics and stimuli-responsive polymers
Chemistry
Quentin Michaudel, Texas A&M University | Julien Vantourout, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I
Cross-scale study of Photosystem II dry down
Biology
Carmela Rosaria Guadagno, University of Wyoming | Tania Tibiletti, CEA Saclay
Emissive twist bend liquid crystal devices containing clustomesogens
Physics
Marianne Prevot, Kent State University | Yann Molard, Université de Rennes I
Population structure and genomic diversity of the emergent forest pathogen Cryptostroma corticale
Environmental Sciences
Jared LeBoldus, Oregon State University | Mireia Gomez Gallego, INRAE
Food and race. A transatlantic dialogue
Philosophy
Mathilde Cohen, University of Connecticut | Hourya Bentouhami, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
Social representations of national decline in France and the USA: Social psychological and cognitive components
Psychology
Jérémy Yamashiro, University of California Santa Cruz | Pierre Bouchat, Université de Lorraine
New trends in digital platform market regularisation: a comparative EU-US perspective
Political Science
Elettra Bietti, New York University | Anne Bellon, Université de Technologie de Compiègne
Remembering spaces of internment
History
Beth Weinstein, University of Arizona | Nicolas Fischer, Centre de Recherches Sociologiques sur le Droit et les Institutions Pénales (CESDIP)
Notre Dame in color: visualizing the layered polychromy of the Cathedral of Paris
Technology and Art History
Jennifer Feltman, University of Alabama | Grégory Chaumet, Sorbonne Université
The selected projects will be launched this fall. Funding is shared equally between the French and American partners over the course of two years. The grant covers mobility between France and the US, accommodation and living expenses in these two countries, and costs of joint endeavors including the organization of conferences and publication fees. The grant can also cover travel, accommodation, and living expenses in a third country if required by the project.
The Transatlantic Research Partnership is funded through generous support from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Lounsbery Foundation, and PACCAR Foundation.
Each year, applications are reviewed and evaluated by independent experts. A Franco-American grant review committee makes the final selection based on this expert evaluation.
About the Office for Science & Technology (OST) of the French Embassy
The Office for Science and Technology (OST), a team of 22 staff members including professors, senior researchers and engineers located in the Embassy (Washington, DC) and across 6 consular offices (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco) is dedicated to promoting and strengthening bilateral France-U.S. collaborations in science and technology and promoting exchanges of students and researchers between the two countries. The OST is also committed to accompanying deep tech innovations between France and the United States, and to supporting the French scientific community established in the U.S.
The Office for Science and Technology
Photo credit: 2021 grantee M. Bozlar (center) and his research team, a collaboration between University of Texas Arlington & Chimie Paris Tech-PSL