UGA professor Ted Gragson has been awarded more than $900,000 as part of a research project and visiting professor appointment funded by the French government. The IDEX-Initiatives d’excellence-program is designed to attract high-profile senior scientists to engage in long-term collaborations with units at the Université de Toulouse.
Gragson, a professor and head of the department of anthropology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed an IDEX “Attractivity Chair” at the Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès in France for academic years 2015-2019.
As an Attractivity Chair, Gragson is provided 660,000 euros-more than $900,000-in direct funding to lead a trans-disciplinary team of seasoned researchers, early-career investigators and graduate students in an examination of the historical ecology of the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France on the border with Spain.
Gragson will remain a faculty member at UGA and will serve as a visiting professor at the Université de Toulouse for a cumulative period of 12 months during the course of his appointment. He will be attached to TRACES–the Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés–a French National Center for Scientific Research research-training unit with 94 permanent members from academia and diverse government agencies. It is the second largest archaeology laboratory in France.