Most companies that fund academic research expect proprietary knowledge or intellectual property in return. Launched as a scientific philanthropy initiative in , the AXA Research Fund focuses on three key fields: human health and ageing, environment and climate change, and socio-economic behaviour risks. The chair will be held by Giovanni Sansavini, a professor of reliability and risk engineering.
Because there are no demands for specific publishable results, the winners are free to think boldly. Peer-reviewers who typically screen scientific grant applications tend to avoid proposals for research that does not build on previous findings.
Of course, AXA benefits indirectly from the creation of new knowledge by being better able to understand and evaluate new risks. Climate change, dementia and financial market meltdowns are just some of the 21st century challenges that pose huge and incalculable risks for individuals and society. The French insurer not only publishes the findings of its grantees, it also trains them to communicate to non-expert audiences and organises public roundtable debates.
Both organisations award grants purely on merit. Overcoming mistrust. The growing pool of AXA grantees is now publishing an article every other day, says Beauvallet. AXA Chairman and CEO Henri de Castres launched the AXA Research Fund as a response to the growing consensus across Europe that universities needed to do more to leverage their excellent research through partnerships with companies to deliver concrete benefits to society.
Academics worried they would betray their mission if they did applied research. And they believed corporate research was narrowly limited to answering business questions. The idea of funding research as corporate philanthropy is not new. But companies typically channel their efforts through separate non-profit foundations. Sobel plans to use the AXA award to study the dynamics of extreme precipitation, as well as global climate patterns of extreme events including hurricanes and tornadoes.
