Call for Interest

PIURN Summer Institute - Edition 2026

For this second edition, to be held from November 2nd to November 6th, 2026, the training programme will be hosted at the University of New Caledonia, Nouméa, New Caledonia.

 

The multidisciplinary theme is “People-Centered Development”, one of the thematic areas of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.

 

Despite a range of initiatives in the Pacific to promote improved health and education outcomes, much more needs to be done. There is a need to address issues of exclusion and inequality, including gender inequality, marginalised groups, and the importance of protecting human rights and environmental rights. People-centered development includes youth and cultural development, cultural wellbeing, and participation in sport and physical education. Adaptation and preservation of our indigenous knowledge, social inclusion and social protection are important elements for a people-centered approach to development, and in positioning our region at the global level.

 

This fully-funded programme is opened to PIURN members universities PhD students, as well as young researchers working as lecturers at PIURN universities, willing to pursue a PhD.

 

During this week-long training, the participants will access scientific seminars, field trips, institutional meetings, intercultural exchanges, dedicated workshops (writing and publishing scientific articles, science communication skills to the general public…) and a structured restitution activity.

 

The programme aims to:

    • Strengthen academic cooperation between PIURN member universities;
    • Offer training on a common theme that addresses the challenges facing the Pacific region;
    • Enable students from the region to network and collaborate;
    • Develop training for future PhD students in the Pacific and strengthen their research capacities

Eligibility:

Applicants must:

    • Be enrolled at a PIURN member university for the 2026 Academic Year
    • Be a PhD Student or an early career (non-doctorate) lecturer
    • Demonstrate academic relevance to climate change, sustainability, governance, languages, education, or development studies
    • Commit to full participation and all restitution activities scheduled

PIURN Member Universities are listed as below:

·       The University of the South Pacific

·       The University of New Caledonia

·       Christ’s University in Pacific (Tonga)

·       Divine Word University (PNG)

·       Fiji National University

·       National University of Samoa

·       National University of Vanuatu

·       Pacific Adventist University (PNG)

·       University of Fiji

·       The University of French Polynesia

·       The Papua New Guinea University of Natural Resources and Environment

·       The Papua New Guinea University of Technology

·       Solomon Islands National University

·       Western Pacific University (PNG)

The PhD student’s supervisor may participate and lead a scientific seminar in order to promote a spirit of regional collaboration and the importance of forging links between institutions and individuals. But please note that the supervisors’ participation will not be funded by the programme.

 

Applicants must submit:

    1. Curriculum Vitae (max 2 pages)
    2. Expression of Interest (max 300 words) indicating their research interest and title of their PhD
    3. Letter of support from home institution (supervisors, lecturers, professors)
    4. Passport BioData Page
    5. Proof of enrollment at home university
    6. A letter of intent from their supervisor should he/she be interested in participating (optional)

ALL APPLICATION DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH.

 

Applications must be sent before July 26th, 2026 to the PIURN Secretariat: mathilde.souchon@usp.ac.fj and tristan.fejoz@usp.ac.fj indicating “Application PIURN Summer Institute”

The “Mobile Pacific Campus” program aims to finance mobility projects for students, researchers, teachers or administrative staff from the universities and research institutes of the island Pacific.

 

These projects must necessarily involve at least one French university in the Pacific (Universities of New Caledonia and French Polynesia) or a French research organization located in the region (IRD, Ifremer, CNRS, CIRAD, Institut Pasteur, Institut Louis Malardé, Institut agronomique neo-Calédonien, CRIOBE and any organization conducting higher education and research activities in the Pacific).

 

The proposed projects must result in effective mobility of students, researchers, teachers or administrative staff in Pacific, whether they are :

    • “Incoming” mobility from universities or research centers in a Pacific Island State to similar bodies in New Caledonia, French Polynesia or Wallis and Futuna,
    • “Outgoing” mobility from universities or research institutes in the French Pacific Territories to other similar structures located in the Pacific Island States.

Mobility between French higher education or research structures in the Pacific is not eligible for the Campus Mobile Pacifique program, the objective of which is to promote exchanges between French territories and Pacific Island States.

 

The 2026 call for projects does not define a priority theme. Its objective is to create synergies between higher education and research actors in the Pacific in their areas of expertise. However, mobility programs funded by « Campus Mobile Pacifique » must be able to serve regional issues (resilience, climate, environmental, health or strategic issues, etc.), whether in the fields of hard sciences and technology or the humanities and social sciences.

 

Specific eligibility criteria

 

Mobility and exchange projects submitted for application must :

    • Concern at least one French university or a French research center/institute located in the Pacific and a higher education or research structure of a Pacific Island State;
    • Involve at least one foreign university or foreign research center from a Pacific Island State;
    • Concrete in an effective mobility of the students or researchers concerned by the project during the year 2026 or 2027;
    • Respond to a sufficient academic level of the students concerned, to a sufficient level of French or English (depending on the language of training) and to the necessary adequacy between the student’s career path and the training/destination requested;
    • Concern an academic or scientific specialty related to the main needs and issues common to the Pacific States (environment, biodiversity, marine sciences, climate change, humanities and social sciences).

Finally, particular attention will be paid to mobility projects :

    • Attached to an administrative research training convention (Cofra) or an industrial research training convention (Cifre) program,
    • Including in the mobility program access to French as a Foreign Language (FLE) courses for non-French-speaking students.

Proposed projects can be interdisciplinary and include participatory sciences.

 

The project selection committee will ensure respect for the diversity of partner universities, the diversity of geographies and a balance between incoming and outgoing mobility.

 

Regular monitoring of the selected projects will be carried out during the year and each project will be the subject of an overall report produced by the beneficiary.

 

Procedure for submitting and selecting projects

Project leaders must send:

to the Permanent Secretariat for the Pacific (SPP) at the following address : campusmobile.spp@diplomatie.gouv.fr

 

The deadline for the submission of applications is 30 June 2026.

 

A selection committee will meet in early July 2026 to nominate the winning projects.

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