PARIS, March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On March 14, 2008 the Scientific Board of the AXA Research Fund held a meeting chaired by Ezra Suleiman to approve Fund's scope of action as well as its financial support allocation processes. As announced on October 10, 2007 the AXA Research Fund will be allocated a five-year 100 million Euro budget and will be managed by a Scientific Board chaired by Ezra Suleiman, Professor in Political Sciences at Princeton University (U.S.A.) and member of the AXA Supervisory Board. AXA believes that part of its engagements as a good corporate citizen means that the private sector can and must help public funding to promote academic research. Areas of interest for the AXA Research Fund The AXA Research Fund will focus its actions on four main areas of research; all related to the understanding and the prevention of major risks to humans and the environment: -- Economics & Finance: risk assessment and measurement, modelling of behaviors when facing risks, systemic financial risks, and economics of medical research for example -- Sciences: climate change & associated risks and impacts, longevity, long-term care and rehabilitation, science and technology i.e. sociology of modern research -- Technologies: security of networks, quantum information & its impact on information systems for example -- Social Sciences: sociology of modern research & innovation, social reactions to innovation and to risks, market evolutions & consumers' behaviour, adaptability of organizations, etc. Means of action of the AXA Research Fund 1. Grants to institutions: a. Endowments or Chairs: Every year, one or two research institutions will be awarded an endowment which, when invested, will generate a regular stream of income. b. Financing of specific chairs: Every year two to four 250,000 Euro chairs will be awarded to research institutions to work on specific topics for a period of 3 to 5 years. 2. Scholarships to researchers (upon proposal from their respective research institutions). a. Every year AXA will award 2 > each with a 250,000 Euro prize. b. The AXA Research Fund will grant 30 post-doctorate scholarships and 40 PhD scholarships (of which 10 CIFRE-scholarships). 3. Financing research projects: Every year the Fund will allocate a total amount of 6 million Euros dedicated to innovating research projects. 4. Promoting Research Literature: The AXA Research Fund will help increase the visibility of the work by researchers through the financing of the publishing of scientific literature, the set-up of efficient databases as well as supporting the organization of various conventions or conferences. Researchers and institutions will have the opportunity to apply for support from the AXA Research Fund by visiting http://researchfund.axa.com/ where all selection processes and criteria are detailed. About AXA AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. Full year 2007 IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 94 billion and adjusted earnings to Euro 6,138 million. The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 - Bloomberg: CS FP - Reuters: AXAF.PA). The American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA. This press release is available on the AXA Group web site: http://www.axa.com/ DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: Media: Christophe Dufraux, +33-1-40-75-46-74, or Armelle Vercken, +33-1-40-75-46-42, both of AXA Group Web site: http://www.axa.com/ http://researchfund.axa.com/

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