The Jacques Monod Conferences
The role of the Jacques Monod conferences within the research policy of the Institutes of Biological Sciences (INSB) and Ecology and Environment (INEE) of the CNRS, and of the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm)
Each year the Institutes of Biological Sciences (INSB) and Ecology and Environment (INEE) of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm), organize a series of four to six conferences, called the "Jacques Monod Conferences" (CJM), devoted to new topics in the life sciences, in particular those at the interface of several disciplines, whether in pure biology or its applications (biotechnology, health, agronomy, etc.).
The Institute of Biological Sciences issues a call for papers. The proposals it receives are evaluated by the "Comité Scientifique des Conférences Jacques Monod" (Science Committee of the Jacques Monod Conferences).
The primary goal of the INSB, INEE and Inserm is to use the Jacques Monod Conferences to develop a method for monitoring scientific activity which will help the Institutes to think through their own research policy more fully.
With respect to the organization of the Conferences: between 80 and 115 people attend each one. Generally speaking, to have substantially fewer than 100 participants does not produce enough benefit to the community to warrant expending the effort required to organize a conference.
However, on rare occasions conferences will go ahead even with a small number of participants, when they deal with a scientific field which is important but where the community of researchers is limited (particularly in the case of emerging fields). Papers presented must discuss recent work which has not yet been published or is still forthcoming.
The Scientific Committee
The INSB, INEE and Inserm are assisted in the selection of submissions by a Science Committee appointed for a four year period.
Two or three reviewers read each submission. The results of their evaluation are sent directly to each principal investigator by the chair of the Science Committee, once the Institutes have ratified the readers' decisions.
Conference chairs
Overall responsibility for each Conference rests with the Chair, who is an upper-level scientist. The Chair is assisted by a Deputy Chair who may become Chair in due course if the Science Committee and the INSB, INEE and Inserm agree to repeat the Conference in question. One of these two must work in a laboratory in France, the other in a laboratory elsewhere in Europe .
The Chair is responsible for the overall organization of the Conference, including the selection of invited speakers and other participants, funding, balancing the budget, publicizing the Conference, and ensuring its success. With the help of the Deputy Chair, the Chair prepares the Conference program and budget, which is largely provided by CNRS and Inserm. The Chair also seeks funding from other organizations. Assistance from the CJM office is available both to carry out these tasks and to help with the practical aspects of organizing the Conference.
Following the Conference the Chair prepares a report for the CJM Science Committee, summarizing the principal scientific advances presented during the Conference and the substance of the resulting discussions. As far as is possible, the new scientific developments which should be brought to the attention of the INSB, INEE and Inserm are to be noted in the report. The Chair's report is also to include an opinion as to whether the Conference should be repeated.
Invited speakers
The Chair makes arrangements to invite 25 to 30 speakers, who will form the core of each CJM.
The invitees are to include 7 to 8 non-European speakers, 9 to 11 French speakers, and 9 to 11 other European speakers. The Chair and Deputy Chair are also invited speakers, and have to present their scientific work. However, these proportions are offered only as guidelines, and the scientific value of the papers submitted is the primary criterion. Budgetary constraints also limit the number of speakers who can be invited from very far away, for instance Japan or Australia.
Particular attention will be paid to the ratio of women to men among the speakers.
Other participants
In addition to the invited speakers, other scientists may make an application to the Chair and may be permitted to participate based on an evaluation of their dossiers. There is no formal application form. The application dossiers are to be sent directly to the Conference Chair before the deadline specified in the Conference announcement. They should include the applicants' curriculum vitae , a summary of their research program, a list of principal publications, and a brief outline of the paper to be read at the Conference. The Chair and Deputy Chair will make the selection. Unless the Chair agrees to a different format, it is preferable that the selected applicants present their work either in poster form or in a brief talk during a session. The Chair will decide on the format of the presentations.
The INSB, INEE and Inserm hope to see many younger researchers attending the CJM and presenting their work there.
Conference funding
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Participation by CNRS, Inserm and other organizations
The INSB, INEE and Inserm contribute a maximum of 30,000 euros to the budget of each Conference. Financial support from other organizations is desirable but should always be at a lower level, in order to maintain the primacy of theCNRS and Inserm in the administration and visibility of the event. Support from industry is possible, on condition that the purposes for which this funding is provided (for example sponsorship of the Conferences, support for researchers' participation, financial support for advertising the Conferences in scientific journals) are clearly defined.
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Speaker support
Within the context of the overall budget, the Chair will decide how reimbursement of travel costs will be determined (either based on the cheapest fares available or as a fixed amount), and how the speakers' lodging costs during the Conference will be determined (no lodging costs can be reimbursed except those incurred at the site of the Conference). At least two months before the meeting each speaker will be sent information necessary to arrange travel and lodging.
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Other participants
Other participants must pay a registration fee (to be fixed as reasonably as possible), cover their own travel costs, and pay a flat fee for their lodging and meals (set at 410 € in CNRS facilities). Selected applicants will be sent in good time all the necessary information for arranging their stay at the Conference site.
Conference location and practical organization
The Conferences take place at the CNRS facilities in Roscoff (Brittany), a site that can accommodate an audience of 80 to 115 people. Occasionally the Chair may select another site in France , if there is a good reason for this choice and if the Institute of Biological Sciences agrees.
Each Conference lasts for three and a half days. In general, the attendees must arrive on either
- Saturday afternoon, leaving the following Wednesday early afternoon
- Wednesday afternoon, leaving the following Sunday early afternoon
in order to be eligible for reduced air or train fares.
The Chair is to decide on the structure of the sessions. The chosen format should allow all the participants to present their work either orally or in poster form; in the latter case, a time period should be allocated for discussion of the posters. The program could, for example, include invited presentations lasting 20 to 30 minutes, along with one or two longer lectures. It should also be flexible enough to allow for the presentation of new discoveries made since the provisional program was drawn up. Finally, some time should be allocated to informal discussions which will stimulate future collaborations.
Papers presented must discuss recent work which has not yet been published or is still forthcoming. Taping and photographing are forbidden, but the publication of summaries of presentations is permitted unless a specific speaker objects. Both the invited speakers and the other selected participants must commit to being present for the entire conference they are attending.
Conference organization application procedure
Any scientist interested in organizing a CJM should put together a dossier including:
- The title of the conference.
- The full names and addresses of the Chair and Deputy Chair along with their curriculum vitae and a list of their principal publications and invited lectures during the past three years. If the Chair works in a French laboratory, the Deputy Chair must work in a foreign one (normally within Europe ). There can be no more than one Chair and one Deputy Chair. There is no organizing committee.
- A list of the speakers whom the Chair wishes to invite, specifying their laboratory, research topic, and listing three principal publications from the past three years. (Unless there is a good research-based reason, the Chair should take care not to invite several researchers from the same laboratory.)
- The potential audience and the European laboratories who will most likely be interested.
- The site selected for the Conference and the proposed dates.
- A 5-page description of the subjects to be addressed during the Conference.
- A program outline.
- A projected budget listing the public and private organizations whose financial support will be requested and the amount of their expected contribution.
The dossier should be sent via email to the CJM office (conf.monod@cnrs-dir.fr) by January 7 of each year for a Conference to be held in the following year.
The dossiers are evaluated by the Science Committee, which will forward its assessment to the Institutes by March 25. The Institutes will make their final decision known to the Chair of the Science Committee by April 15.
Conference repetition application procedure
A request to repeat a Conference must be made by the Deputy Chair of the first Conference. If the request is granted, the Deputy Chair will become the Chair of the second Conference.
The Deputy Chair of a Conference organized in any given year who wishes to have the Conference repeated two or three years later and to chair it, must submit a dossier identical in form to that submitted for the organization of a Conference for the first time. The description of the subjects of the Conference whose repetition is proposed must demonstrate that what is envisaged is not a simple replay of the previous Conference; it should specify the conceptual and technical advances made since the previous Conference which justify the repetition of such a group effort. The list of invited speakers must include at least 50% new names who were not invited to the previous Conference.
The first stage of preparation for repeating the Conference takes place on the occasion of the initial Conference, at which time the Chair should arrange for the selection of a future Deputy Chair from the attendees, to assist the future Chair in the event that the Conference is repeated.
The Conference planning calendar
After a dossier has been accepted in March of the year of application, the Chair officially issues an invitation to the speakers, in the name of CNRS, in accordance with the proposals as specified in the application and/or in any modified form required by the Science Committee. A final list of speakers who have agreed to participate must be submitted by June 30 of the year of application, in each case specifying their full names, addresses, and the final titles of their presentations.
This information will be used to put together an announcement of all the Jacques Monod Conferences between the year of application and the year in which the Conferences will be held. It will be distributed to the CNRS, Inserm, and Inra research laboratories, and to CNRS overseas offices and branches, to participants in previous Jacques Monod Conferences during the previous four years, etc. All other forms of publicity for each Conference are strongly encouraged. The Chair will implement these and they will be covered by the Conference budget.
It should be noted that only the CNRS Institutes of Biological Sciences and Ecology and Environment, and the Inserm can appear as organizers of the CJM both on the announcements and on any other document relating to a given Conference. If another organization contributes to the funding, it can be identified by a logo at the bottom of each document.
The Conference Chair is strongly encouraged to make contact wherever appropriate with journalists (Nature, Science, etc.) to improve the dissemination of information about the sciences and to increase the international impact of the CJM.