First Year Results of the AXA Research Fund: Over Euro 13 Million Allocated for Research in 2008
March 24 2009 - 5:35AM
PR Newswire (US)
PARIS, March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The AXA Research Fund
closed out its first year of existence. During the year ended, the
Fund granted more than Euro 13 million to various European research
institutions. The purpose of the Fund is to promote the
understanding and prevention of major risks in the world by
supporting cutting edge scientific research. The AXA Research Fund
has been endowed with Euro 100 million over five years, making it a
major initiative in the realm of scientific philanthropy in Europe.
"The current environment only reinforces our conviction that
academic research is critical to meeting the challenges of a global
society," noted Henri de Castries, Chairman of the AXA Group
Management Board. "We are particularly proud of the work
accomplished by the Fund over the course of this first year, and we
confirm AXA's long-term commitment to contributing to emergence of
the talents and technologies needed to ensure the development of
our societies. Researching today is protecting tomorrow." In 2008,
the AXA Research Fund granted funding to: Three leading academic
institutions: -- IHES (Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques):
Euro 3 million capital endowment for the creation of a permanent
Mathematics chair -- Toulouse Sciences Economiques: Euro 3 million
capital endowment to the Jean-Jacques Laffont Foundation -- INSERM
- Paris V: Euro 1.25 million financing for the creation of a
five-year chair devoted to Longevity Studies Four multi-year
projects conducted by world-class scientific teams: -- Project on
the impact of climate change on major flooding in Europe (Institute
for Meteorology in Berlin) -- Project dedicated to the study of the
impact and dynamics of marine aliens in the context of climate
change (Queen's University Belfast) -- Project dedicated to
assessing civil conflict risks (Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona)
-- Project entitled A structural approach to inflation and term
structure (EDHEC Business School of Lille) 58 young researchers of
promise, working in 13 countries -- 28 postdoctoral fellowships of
Euro 60,000 each -- 30 doctoral fellowships of Euro 120,000 each
"The AXA Research Fund chose to help outstanding institutions widen
their reach in a sustainable manner, through capital endowments, a
tool that is very new to Western Europe," said Ezra Suleiman,
president of the Scientific Board. "We wanted to guarantee absolute
independence and freedom to the researchers who receive our
funding, since they are critical to success. We plan to pursue our
action in 2009, and will bolster the international dimension of our
investments." Information about the AXA Research Fund, in
particular that pertaining to the selection criteria and process
for researchers and institutions interested in being considered for
financial assistance can be found at our website:
http://researchfund.axa.com/ 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. For full year 2008, IFRS revenues amounted
to Euro 91.2 billion and IFRS adjusted earnings to Euro 3.7
billion. AXA had Euro 981 billion in assets under management as of
December 31, 2008. 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 website: http://www.axa.com/
AXA Media Relations: Emmanuel Touzeau: +33.1.40.75.46.74 Laurent
Secheret: +33.1.40.75.48.17 Armelle Vercken: +33.1.40.75.46.42
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DATASOURCE: AXA Group CONTACT: Emmanuel Touzeau, +33-1-40-75-46-74,
or Laurent Secheret, +33-1-40-75-48-17, or Armelle Vercken,
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