New Gen: Standing by Young Researchers

At the AXA Foundation for Human Progress, we believe that supporting researchers throughout their careers, with the means and independence they need, is essential to the progress of our societies.

Building on nearly 20 years of commitment to science, our annual call for AXA Chairs already supports senior and world-renowned researchers for five years, as they build major research networks with societal partners.

We are now launching New Gen, a new program for young scientists at the most critical moment of their careers: when they start their first independent research.

Why the Years After the PhD Matter

The years following the PhD are decisive. Young researchers must secure funding, join a research institution or a university hospital, develop their own research and, above all, build a team. Without support at this stage, too many of them change paths, and science loses the talents who could lead it tomorrow. Yet great discoveries often begin with these early research.

Our New Gen program aims to help young scientists through this critical step, so that they can lead independent, bold and innovative research and become the scientific leaders of tomorrow.

With New Gen, we are taking a clear position in favor of stronger support for young researchers, wherever they are in the world.

Three Initiatives, Three Complementary Fields

In the face of systemic risks, science needs lasting support, built in partnership.

As a young foundation, we are innovating. New Gen works in three ways:

• joining an existing program of a reference partner,

• co-creating new fellowships with a major international institution,

• and launching our own call.

It covers three complementary fields: health, science and society, nature and the environment, with a reach that extends from France to the whole world.

Health: New Gen Avenir Santé, alongside the Inserm Foundation

Since 2009, the Atip-Avenir program, run by Inserm and the CNRS, has enabled young researchers with an outstanding project to set up their own team within an Inserm or CNRS structure. More than 400 promising scientists have already benefited from it.

Alongside the Fondation Inserm, we are joining this program. A joint committee of Inserm and the AXA Foundation will select the most innovative Atip-Avenir laureates, based on scientific excellence, innovation, transdisciplinarity and the opening of new avenues of research. These laureates will receive additional support to strengthen their teams, and to take their research further.

Who can apply: researchers of any nationality who obtained their PhD between two and eight years ago, whatever their organization, including non-permanent staff. Hospital physicians and pharmacists are encouraged to apply.

Deadline: Monday, November 2, 2026, 10:00 a.m. (Paris time), on the Eva3 platform.
Find out more: Atip-Avenir 2027 call

Science and society: a new global partnership

How can scientific evidence better inform public and private decisions? With a major international institution, we are co-creating “Science for Resilient Societies”, new transdisciplinary research fellowships designed to connect research, public policy and action.

Our ambition: to give science its rightful place in the decisions that shape our future, through an open dialogue that never instrumentalizes research.

Full announcement on November 10.

Nature and the environment: our own call on responsible nature-based solutions

To tackle the intertwined climate, biodiversity and societal crises, we need solutions that meet human needs while respecting planetary boundaries. Nature-based solutions can play a major role: well designed, they can reduce the impact of floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves on communities. But if they are poorly designed, poorly governed or disconnected from local contexts and social justice, they risk being reduced to simple "greening" measures, or even greenwashing.

That is why we are opening our own call for proposals: Responsible Nature-Based Solutions for a Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Future. Our goal is to help build a robust, interdisciplinary field of research, able to guide the policies and investments needed to deploy nature-based solutions at scale, for the benefit of both people and the planet.

In short: a two-year AXA Postdoctoral Fellowship, covering the researcher's salary, equipment and resources, academic activities and outreach to audiences beyond academia, for researchers up to five years post-PhD, with no permanent position, wherever they are in the world. Projects must combine disciplines and/or involve societal partners. The researcher and the host institution remain fully independent: the AXA Foundation claims no right to the ownership or use of the results. In return, we ask that research outputs be openly accessible.

How to apply: academic institutions apply on behalf of their candidates, with only one candidate per institution, by Thursday, November 12, 2026, 4:00 p.m. (Paris time). Institutions not yet registered on our platform must register by Tuesday, November 3.

Betting on Tomorrow's Scientific Leaders

By keeping talent in research and making scientific careers more attractive and more secure, New Gen helps prepare the team leaders who will shape research and, in turn, train the next generation. It is a bet on the future of science itself.

The answers to the great challenges of health, climate and society will come from these young researchers. Standing by them today is how we serve the common good.