@article{Richards2026,
Title = {Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program},
Author = {Richards, Christina L. and Ervens, Barbara and Parmesan, Camille and Amato, Pierre and Andrade, Christhel and Asatryan, Gayane and Balaji, Venkatramani and Ballantyne, Ashley and Barbier, Marc and Blanc, Stéphane and Bossdorf, Oliver and Bouchard, Frédéric and Boucharel, Julien and Cantrell, Christopher and Capron, Emilie and Carbonne, Chloe and Carrier, Marion and Ceratti, Davide and Choi, Heechae and Christoforodis, Konstantinos and Clark, James and Cojocaru, Ludmila and Derry, Louis and Dewar, William and Dubo, Titouan and Espinoza, Jhan-Carlo and Fedorov, Alexey and Forte, Alessandro and Giambastiani, Giuliano and Giannini, Alessandra and Goldthau, Andreas and González-García, Alberto and Guemas, Virginie and Hamelin, Lorie and Hill, Eric and Hoveyda, Amir and Hughes-Allan, Lara and Jatav, Sanjay and Javourez, Ugo and Kaplan, Jed and Keppetipola, Nilanka and Kiko, Rainer and Lauvaux, Thomas and Lazarus, David and Lee, Carol Eunmi and Lguensat, Redouane and Lucas-Picher, Philippe and Mallick, Monalisa and da Costa, Joenio Marques and Melnikova, Irina and Monnain, Guillaume and Özen, Volkan and Palomo, Ignacio and Parepa, Madalin and Possner, Anna and Renard, Delphine and Ridde, Valery and Rivada-Wheelaghan, Orestes and de Faria, Gabrielle Rodrigues and Sanderson, Benjamin and Scheer, Clemens and Schulz, Philip and Strutz, Stavana and Subramanian, R and Tanaka, Katsumasa and Teixidó, Núria and Tesche, Matthias and Thomas, Helmuth and Todorović, Sara and Tsai, Yutsung and Turnheim, Bruno and Uchida, Takaya and Vadez, Vincent and Valla, Pierre and van Riemsdijk, Isolde and Villard, Lionel and Vincent, Emmanuel and Wang, Chien and Wu, Henry and Zuerch, Michael},
Editor = {},
Journal = {PLOS Climate},
Year = {2026},
Pages = {e0000849},
Volume = {5},
Doi = {10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849},
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.},
}
TY - JOUR
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
TI - Multidisciplinary science funding is more than ever a planetary priority: Reflections from the Make Our Planet Great Again (MOPGA) program
T2 - PLOS Climate
PY - 2026
SP - e0000849
VL - 5
DO - 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000849
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.
ER -
