Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program

Christina L. Richards; Barbara Ervens; Camille Parmesan; Pierre Amato; Christhel Andrade; Gayane Asatryan; Venkatramani Balaji; Ashley Ballantyne; Marc Barbier; Stéphane Blanc; Oliver Bossdorf; Frédéric Bouchard; Julien Boucharel; Christopher Cantrell; Emilie Capron; Chloe Carbonne; Marion Carrier; Davide Ceratti; Heechae Choi; Konstantinos Christoforodis; James Clark; Ludmila Cojocaru; Louis Derry; William Dewar; Titouan Dubo; Jhan Carlo Espinoza; Alexey Fedorov; Alessandro Forte; Giuliano Giambastiani; Alessandra Giannini; Andreas Goldthau; Alberto González-García; Virginie Guemas; Lorie Hamelin; Eric Hill; Amir Hoveyda; Lara Hughes-Allan; Sanjay Jatav; Ugo Javourez; Jed Kaplan; Nilanka Keppetipola; Rainer Kiko; Thomas Lauvaux; David Lazarus; Carol Eunmi Lee; Redouane Lguensat; Philippe Lucas-Picher; Monalisa Mallick; Joenio Marques da Costa; Irina Melnikova; Guillaume Monnain; Volkan Özen; Ignacio Palomo; Madalin Parepa; Anna Possner; Delphine Renard; Valery Ridde; Orestes Rivada-Wheelaghan; Gabrielle Rodrigues de Faria; Benjamin Sanderson; Clemens Scheer; Philip Schulz; Stavana Strutz; R. Subramanian; Katsumasa Tanaka; Núria Teixidó; Matthias Tesche; Helmuth Thomas; Sara Todorović; Yutsung Tsai; Bruno Turnheim; Takaya Uchida; Vincent Vadez; Pierre Valla; Isolde van Riemsdijk; Lionel Villard; Emmanuel Vincent; Chien Wang; Henry Wu; Michael Zuerch

doi:10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program

Christina L. Richards^*
, Barbara Ervens^*
, Camille Parmesan^*
, Pierre Amato
, Christhel Andrade
, Gayane Asatryan
, Venkatramani Balaji
, Ashley Ballantyne
, Marc Barbier
, Stéphane Blanc
, Oliver Bossdorf
, Frédéric Bouchard
, Julien Boucharel
, Christopher Cantrell
, Emilie Capron
, Chloe Carbonne
, Marion Carrier
, Davide Ceratti
, Heechae Choi
, Konstantinos Christoforodis

James Clark, Ludmila Cojocaru, Louis Derry, William Dewar, Titouan Dubo, Jhan Carlo Espinoza, Alexey Fedorov, Alessandro Forte, Giuliano Giambastiani, Alessandra Giannini, Andreas Goldthau, Alberto González-García, Virginie Guemas, Lorie Hamelin, Eric Hill, Amir Hoveyda, Lara Hughes-Allan, Sanjay Jatav, Ugo Javourez, Jed Kaplan, Nilanka Keppetipola, Rainer Kiko, Thomas Lauvaux, David Lazarus, Carol Eunmi Lee, Redouane Lguensat, Philippe Lucas-Picher, Monalisa Mallick, Joenio Marques da Costa, Irina Melnikova, Guillaume Monnain, Volkan Özen, Ignacio Palomo, Madalin Parepa, Anna Possner, Delphine Renard, Valery Ridde, Orestes Rivada-Wheelaghan, Gabrielle Rodrigues de Faria, Benjamin Sanderson, Clemens Scheer, Philip Schulz, Stavana Strutz, R. Subramanian, Katsumasa Tanaka, Núria Teixidó, Matthias Tesche, Helmuth Thomas, Sara Todorović, Yutsung Tsai, Bruno Turnheim, Takaya Uchida, Vincent Vadez, Pierre Valla, Isolde van Riemsdijk, Lionel Villard, Emmanuel Vincent, Chien Wang, Henry Wu, Michael Zuerch

^*Corresponding author for this work

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

University of South Florida
University of Tübingen
Université Clermont Auvergne
CNRS
University of Texas at Austin
Université Paul Sabatier
Universidad Técnica de Manabí
Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences
Sorbonne Université
Schmidt Futures
Laboratoire de Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement
Universite de Marne-la-Valle
CNRS
Université de Sherbrooke
Université de Toulouse/CNRS/IRD/CNES
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) - UMR 7583
University of Colorado Boulder
Université Grenoble Alpes
Sorbonne Université
IN2P3–CNRS
University of Cologne
Université de Strasbourg
Democritus University of Thrace
INRAE
Duke University
The University of Tokyo
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Yale University
University of Florida
University of Florence
École normale supérieure
Department of Environmental Studies
Helmholtz Center Potsdam
University of Erfurt
Centre national de recherches météorologiques
BCMaterials
Ikerbasque Basque Foundation for Science
Boston College
Université Paris-Saclay
Augsburg University
University of Calgary
Université de Bordeaux
Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Université Paris-Saclay
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Université de Montpellier
Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace
Université du Québec à Montréal
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Cortext Platform
National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan
Akenium
Goethe University Frankfurt
Université Paris Cité
Université Paris Cité
University of Seville
CICERO Senter for Klimaforskning
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
CNRS
Kigali Collaborative Research Centre
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli
Leipzig Institute for Meteorology
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
University of Oldenburg
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research
University of Wyoming
University of Manchester
Florida State University
Institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTerre)
Sciences Po
University of California at Berkeley

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Abstract

Global change poses “wicked problems” that have become ever more complex, pervasive, and damaging. Developing innovative solutions increasingly require diverse research approaches. The Franco-German Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program was designed to create a unique international network of top-level research, from fundamental to solution-oriented projects. MOPGA stands out from other large research initiatives by focusing not on a singular central research challenge but on facilitating multidisciplinary interactions between traditionally separated fields. MOPGA recognized that social, natural and engineering sciences share a unifying aim to address global change. In addition to addressing timely and innovative research questions within disciplines, MOPGA worked to improve communication across disciplines via annual meetings for all laureates and their research groups, scientific board exchanges, and public online seminars. Drawing on our MOPGA experiences, we discuss how such exchanges should be extended to meet the needs identified by the scientific community, international policy-makers, and regional stakeholders. In the current political landscape of scientific suppression and heightened mistrust in scientific expertise, the need for such bold, independent and collaborative scientific initiatives is greater than ever.

Original language	English
Article number	e0000849
Journal	PLOS Climate
Volume	5
Issue number	3 March
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849
Publication status	Published - Mar 2026

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10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

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Richards, C. L., Ervens, B., Parmesan, C., Amato, P., Andrade, C., Asatryan, G., Balaji, V., Ballantyne, A., Barbier, M., Blanc, S., Bossdorf, O., Bouchard, F., Boucharel, J., Cantrell, C., Capron, E., Carbonne, C., Carrier, M., Ceratti, D., Choi, H., ... Zuerch, M. (2026). Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program. PLOS Climate, 5(3 March), Article e0000849. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

@article{a5d09003cc034d8caac68683c277de03,

title = "Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program",

abstract = "Global change poses “wicked problems” that have become ever more complex, pervasive, and damaging. Developing innovative solutions increasingly require diverse research approaches. The Franco-German Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program was designed to create a unique international network of top-level research, from fundamental to solution-oriented projects. MOPGA stands out from other large research initiatives by focusing not on a singular central research challenge but on facilitating multidisciplinary interactions between traditionally separated fields. MOPGA recognized that social, natural and engineering sciences share a unifying aim to address global change. In addition to addressing timely and innovative research questions within disciplines, MOPGA worked to improve communication across disciplines via annual meetings for all laureates and their research groups, scientific board exchanges, and public online seminars. Drawing on our MOPGA experiences, we discuss how such exchanges should be extended to meet the needs identified by the scientific community, international policy-makers, and regional stakeholders. In the current political landscape of scientific suppression and heightened mistrust in scientific expertise, the need for such bold, independent and collaborative scientific initiatives is greater than ever.",

author = "Richards, \{Christina L.\} and Barbara Ervens and Camille Parmesan and Pierre Amato and Christhel Andrade and Gayane Asatryan and Venkatramani Balaji and Ashley Ballantyne and Marc Barbier and St{\'e}phane Blanc and Oliver Bossdorf and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Bouchard and Julien Boucharel and Christopher Cantrell and Emilie Capron and Chloe Carbonne and Marion Carrier and Davide Ceratti and Heechae Choi and Konstantinos Christoforodis and James Clark and Ludmila Cojocaru and Louis Derry and William Dewar and Titouan Dubo and Espinoza, \{Jhan Carlo\} and Alexey Fedorov and Alessandro Forte and Giuliano Giambastiani and Alessandra Giannini and Andreas Goldthau and Alberto Gonz{\'a}lez-Garc{\'i}a and Virginie Guemas and Lorie Hamelin and Eric Hill and Amir Hoveyda and Lara Hughes-Allan and Sanjay Jatav and Ugo Javourez and Jed Kaplan and Nilanka Keppetipola and Rainer Kiko and Thomas Lauvaux and David Lazarus and Lee, \{Carol Eunmi\} and Redouane Lguensat and Philippe Lucas-Picher and Monalisa Mallick and \{da Costa\}, \{Joenio Marques\} and Irina Melnikova and Guillaume Monnain and Volkan {\"O}zen and Ignacio Palomo and Madalin Parepa and Anna Possner and Delphine Renard and Valery Ridde and Orestes Rivada-Wheelaghan and \{de Faria\}, \{Gabrielle Rodrigues\} and Benjamin Sanderson and Clemens Scheer and Philip Schulz and Stavana Strutz and R. Subramanian and Katsumasa Tanaka and N{\'u}ria Teixid{\'o} and Matthias Tesche and Helmuth Thomas and Sara Todorovi{\'c} and Yutsung Tsai and Bruno Turnheim and Takaya Uchida and Vincent Vadez and Pierre Valla and \{van Riemsdijk\}, Isolde and Lionel Villard and Emmanuel Vincent and Chien Wang and Henry Wu and Michael Zuerch",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Richards et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.",

year = "2026",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849",

language = "English",

volume = "5",

journal = "PLOS Climate",

issn = "2767-3200",

number = "3 March",

}

Richards, CL, Ervens, B, Parmesan, C, Amato, P, Andrade, C, Asatryan, G, Balaji, V, Ballantyne, A, Barbier, M, Blanc, S, Bossdorf, O, Bouchard, F, Boucharel, J, Cantrell, C, Capron, E, Carbonne, C, Carrier, M, Ceratti, D, Choi, H, Christoforodis, K, Clark, J, Cojocaru, L, Derry, L, Dewar, W, Dubo, T, Espinoza, JC, Fedorov, A, Forte, A, Giambastiani, G, Giannini, A, Goldthau, A, González-García, A, Guemas, V, Hamelin, L, Hill, E, Hoveyda, A, Hughes-Allan, L, Jatav, S, Javourez, U, Kaplan, J, Keppetipola, N, Kiko, R, Lauvaux, T, Lazarus, D, Lee, CE, Lguensat, R, Lucas-Picher, P, Mallick, M, da Costa, JM, Melnikova, I, Monnain, G, Özen, V, Palomo, I, Parepa, M, Possner, A, Renard, D, Ridde, V, Rivada-Wheelaghan, O, de Faria, GR, Sanderson, B, Scheer, C, Schulz, P, Strutz, S, Subramanian, R, Tanaka, K, Teixidó, N, Tesche, M, Thomas, H, Todorović, S, Tsai, Y, Turnheim, B, Uchida, T, Vadez, V, Valla, P, van Riemsdijk, I, Villard, L, Vincent, E, Wang, C, Wu, H & Zuerch, M 2026, 'Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program', PLOS Climate, vol. 5, no. 3 March, e0000849. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

TY - JOUR

T1 - Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority

T2 - Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program

AU - Richards, Christina L.

AU - Ervens, Barbara

AU - Parmesan, Camille

AU - Amato, Pierre

AU - Andrade, Christhel

AU - Asatryan, Gayane

AU - Balaji, Venkatramani

AU - Ballantyne, Ashley

AU - Barbier, Marc

AU - Blanc, Stéphane

AU - Bossdorf, Oliver

AU - Bouchard, Frédéric

AU - Boucharel, Julien

AU - Cantrell, Christopher

AU - Capron, Emilie

AU - Carbonne, Chloe

AU - Carrier, Marion

AU - Ceratti, Davide

AU - Choi, Heechae

AU - Christoforodis, Konstantinos

AU - Clark, James

AU - Cojocaru, Ludmila

AU - Derry, Louis

AU - Dewar, William

AU - Dubo, Titouan

AU - Espinoza, Jhan Carlo

AU - Fedorov, Alexey

AU - Forte, Alessandro

AU - Giambastiani, Giuliano

AU - Giannini, Alessandra

AU - Goldthau, Andreas

AU - González-García, Alberto

AU - Guemas, Virginie

AU - Hamelin, Lorie

AU - Hill, Eric

AU - Hoveyda, Amir

AU - Hughes-Allan, Lara

AU - Jatav, Sanjay

AU - Javourez, Ugo

AU - Kaplan, Jed

AU - Keppetipola, Nilanka

AU - Kiko, Rainer

AU - Lauvaux, Thomas

AU - Lazarus, David

AU - Lee, Carol Eunmi

AU - Lguensat, Redouane

AU - Lucas-Picher, Philippe

AU - Mallick, Monalisa

AU - da Costa, Joenio Marques

AU - Melnikova, Irina

AU - Monnain, Guillaume

AU - Özen, Volkan

AU - Palomo, Ignacio

AU - Parepa, Madalin

AU - Possner, Anna

AU - Renard, Delphine

AU - Ridde, Valery

AU - Rivada-Wheelaghan, Orestes

AU - de Faria, Gabrielle Rodrigues

AU - Sanderson, Benjamin

AU - Scheer, Clemens

AU - Schulz, Philip

AU - Strutz, Stavana

AU - Subramanian, R.

AU - Tanaka, Katsumasa

AU - Teixidó, Núria

AU - Tesche, Matthias

AU - Thomas, Helmuth

AU - Todorović, Sara

AU - Tsai, Yutsung

AU - Turnheim, Bruno

AU - Uchida, Takaya

AU - Vadez, Vincent

AU - Valla, Pierre

AU - van Riemsdijk, Isolde

AU - Villard, Lionel

AU - Vincent, Emmanuel

AU - Wang, Chien

AU - Wu, Henry

AU - Zuerch, Michael

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Richards et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2026/3

Y1 - 2026/3

N2 - Global change poses “wicked problems” that have become ever more complex, pervasive, and damaging. Developing innovative solutions increasingly require diverse research approaches. The Franco-German Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program was designed to create a unique international network of top-level research, from fundamental to solution-oriented projects. MOPGA stands out from other large research initiatives by focusing not on a singular central research challenge but on facilitating multidisciplinary interactions between traditionally separated fields. MOPGA recognized that social, natural and engineering sciences share a unifying aim to address global change. In addition to addressing timely and innovative research questions within disciplines, MOPGA worked to improve communication across disciplines via annual meetings for all laureates and their research groups, scientific board exchanges, and public online seminars. Drawing on our MOPGA experiences, we discuss how such exchanges should be extended to meet the needs identified by the scientific community, international policy-makers, and regional stakeholders. In the current political landscape of scientific suppression and heightened mistrust in scientific expertise, the need for such bold, independent and collaborative scientific initiatives is greater than ever.

AB - Global change poses “wicked problems” that have become ever more complex, pervasive, and damaging. Developing innovative solutions increasingly require diverse research approaches. The Franco-German Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program was designed to create a unique international network of top-level research, from fundamental to solution-oriented projects. MOPGA stands out from other large research initiatives by focusing not on a singular central research challenge but on facilitating multidisciplinary interactions between traditionally separated fields. MOPGA recognized that social, natural and engineering sciences share a unifying aim to address global change. In addition to addressing timely and innovative research questions within disciplines, MOPGA worked to improve communication across disciplines via annual meetings for all laureates and their research groups, scientific board exchanges, and public online seminars. Drawing on our MOPGA experiences, we discuss how such exchanges should be extended to meet the needs identified by the scientific community, international policy-makers, and regional stakeholders. In the current political landscape of scientific suppression and heightened mistrust in scientific expertise, the need for such bold, independent and collaborative scientific initiatives is greater than ever.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105032555696

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

DO - 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105032555696

SN - 2767-3200

VL - 5

JO - PLOS Climate

JF - PLOS Climate

IS - 3 March

M1 - e0000849

ER -

Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program

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