Choosing France
Opportunities in the French Higher Education, Research and Innovation system Minh-Hà PHAM Counselor for Science and Technology
A country of diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage Hosts the world's 4th largest number
of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, drawing around 83 million foreign tourists annually (1st in the world)
Temperate climate with maritime influence leading to diverse landscapes
Renowned sites, architectural heritage, museums
Rich cultural tradition
Alps Provence Brittany Burgandy
Eiffel Tower
Reims Cathedral Chambord Mont St Michel Versailles
Monet Rodin Hugo Cannes festival Tour de France Daft Punk
France: A major contributor to scientific achievement Famous French scientists : 65 Nobel Prizes, 12 Fields Medals
High quality research facilities
Successful technologies
René Descartes
Pierre & Marie Curie
Louis Pasteur
Françoise Barré Sinoussi Nobel 2008
Cédric Villani Fields 2010
Serge Haroche Nobel 2012
Jules Hoffmann Nobel 2013
Artur Avila, Fields 2014
Jean Trole Nobel 2014
At the national level, better reactivity through better coordination of research communities
Looking forward and suggesting directions for long term research programs Extend national alliances’ activities to the European level through joint programming (e.g. Alzheimer’s) Five thematic Alliances
AVIESAN : National alliance for life sciences and health (April 2009)
ANCRE : National alliance for energy research coordination (July 2009)
ALLISTENE : National alliance for digital sciences and information technology (December 2009)
ALLENVI : National alliance for the environment (February 2010)
ATHENA : National alliance for the humanities and social sciences (June 2010)
Thematic Coordination of Research in France Alliances and Joint Programming Initiatives
“Investments for the future” launched in 2010 to boost Research and Innovation
47 B€
26.6 B€
for Research
and Higher
Education
Initiatives of Excellence
Technology Research Institutes
Research Hospitals
Technology Transfer Acceleration Companies
Laboratories of Excellence
Equipment of Excellence
Integrated Campuses
New structures
Laboratory level
Budget: 553.7 Million Euros 414.4 Million allocated through call for proposals More than 8000 peer-reviewers
1071 projects funded
20% of funded projects are international projects co-funded by sister agencies
1256 International projects co-funded since 2005
ANR: The National Research Agency
ANR Funding Opportunities
Young Researchers (JCJC)
Goal: prepare the new generation of young scientists to become leaders and pioneers in French scientific research
Open to researchers - having completed a doctoral thesis less than 10 years ago - no age limit - provides for the funding of the young researcher’s team €100 k and €300 k for periods of 24 to 48 months
ANR Funding Opportunities Hosting High-Level Researchers (ACHN)
Two different French and foreign researcher profiles
Very high potential juniors (funding ~€500 k )
Top-tier seniors (funding ~1M Euros)
Funding duration: 36 to 48 months
High Impact Research Project
Candidates must have spent most of their scientific careers outside France. be able to relocate to France on short notice.
Transatlantic funding programs and cooperation tools EU programs opened to non-european countries including United States
Marie Curie-Sklodowska felowships for PhD and postdocs ERC (European Research Council)
NSF, NIH, DOE international programs NSF international program PIRE: NSF-ANR, NSF-CNRS agreements (signed in 2014) NSF-GROW to France NIH-Inserm agreements DoE-CEA agreement
Fulbright fellowships opened to PhD students and confirmed researchers
Bilateral programs between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and American Universities: MIT, Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia (seed funds)
Partner University Fund (PUF), now Jefferson Program
Chateaubriand Fellowship program (STEM & SSH)
Specific tools developed by French research institutions with international partners (CNRS, Inserm): UMI (7 in the US), LIA (>15 in the US)
Research Positions in France Research Organizations: publicly funded (totally or partially) either multidisciplinary (CNRS) or more
specialized (Inserm/Health, CEA/Energy, CNES/Space, INRA/Agronomy, Inria/Computer sciences, Ifremer/Marine sciences…)
Permanent position after a national competition exam (public servant)/temporary position
Recruiting starting at Doctoral/Postdoctoral level Full time research activity (the position follows the researcher) Open to non-nationals, and non speaking French scientists
Universities: 73 in 2014, publicly funded, comprehensive universities Permanent position after a local competition exam (public servant)/temporary position Recruiting starting at Doctoral/Postdoctoral level 50% teaching (150-200 hours/year) + 50% research activity (the position belongs to the University) Open to non-nationals, courses mainly taught in French
Companies: hire scientists at Master/Doctoral/Postdoc level for permanent (CDI) or temporary positions (CDD)
Note: most research laboratories are mixed labs between Research Organizations and Universities, and are located on University campuses. Positions of Ingeniors, Technicians, Administrative staff are available.
Financing SMEs development: Bpifrance
Seed fund loans • For startup financing, up to €150,000 to facilitate fundraising with VCs
R&D grants and loans • Typically less than €1 M. Exceptional projects can get up to € 10 Million • Company must pay for more than half of the project
Innovation support loans • Up to €1.5 million loans for industrial development, commercial launch and
company internationalization
Development loans • To accelerate the development of solid commercial firms • Combination of Public and Private loans, up to €9 million in total
How to apply to a French Research Organization?
Contact PI(s) in France
Visit Laboratories - Give a talk
Identify your host laboratory
Select the relevant scientific committee(s) to submit your application
Once selected, prepare for the interview
Information can be found at
Consulate General of France in the US: http://www.consulfrance-washington.org
The Office for Science and Technology at the Embassy of France: http://www.france-science.org
Euraxess: [email protected]
Fondation nationale Alfred Kastler (FNAK): http://www.fnak.fr/
Legal service
Guest researcher card
CNRS National Center for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
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I Largest research performing organization in Europe
I All fields of knowledge
I Strong partnership with universities, R&D organizations, private sector
I 1 100 Research units
I A workforce of 33 000 (including 11 200 tenured researchers)
I 43,000 publications/year (world leading organization)
I 26 Framework agreements with large industrial groups
I A portfolio of 4,535 patent families
I More than 1,000 start-ups launched since 1999
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CNRS AT A GLANCE
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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
● I Engineers
- Annual competitive recruiting process: call for proposals in May, start in December
● I Researchers
- Annual competitive recruiting process: call for proposals in December, start in October
- CR: 1st class or 2nd class (5 <years)
- DR : 1st class (8< years) or 2nd class (12 <years)
● I Researchers and Engineers
-1 to 3 years – renewable
● I Post-docs
No citizenship restrictions
● I Permanent Associate Professor positions - Qualification deadline: December
CEA: Facts and Figures
funds your personal research project at CEA
Project duration: 1 to 3 years
3 calls/yr until 2018
Next call: May, 31 2016
4 thematics Energy, Environment and Climate change (EEC),
Life Sciences and Biotechnologies (LSB),
Key Enabling Technologies : microelectronics,
nanosciences and nanotechnologies, advanced
materials, photonics, robotics, embedded systems,
advanced chemistry for energy, advanced manufacturing
science and high performance computing (KET),
High energy Physics, high energy density physics and
Physics of the Universe (HPPU)
Open to PHDs of any nationality
Once you apply, you will be connected with laboratories with the same thematic to narrow your research project
Apply to : http://eurotalents.cea.fr
Mobility programs : for PHDs and post-docs
10 to 12 weeks summer internship program for undergraduate and graduated students
Partner University in the US : • University of Pennsylvania • Louisiana State University / Howard Hughes Medical Institute • NSF international Research Experience for Undergraduates (iREU) program via
LSU • MIT: MIT-France program
All-included program (scientific seminars, monthly internship stipend, health
insurance …)
Contact : [email protected]
Mobility programs : for undergrad & grad students
France in Space
Second-Largest Budget in the World
• CNES budget for 2016: €2,120 M
Five Fields of Activity
• Ariane: to assure independent access to space and competitiveness of launchers
• Sciences: fundamental physics, astrophysics, astronomy, the solar system, exobiology, ISS
utilization
• Observation: study of the Earth, atmosphere, oceanography, land surfaces, climate and
natural disasters
• Telecommunications: satellite Internet, navigation, data collection, search and rescue
• Defence: observation, telecommunications, intelligence, space surveillance and tracking
• 1965: France becomes the world’s third space power
• 1979: the first launch of Ariane
• 1986: France acquires with Spot1 a strategic and commercial
space-based observation capability
Innovation & Inspiration
Multi-year roadmap agreement between the French government and CNES, setting objectives
and performance targets. CNES working to implement national strategic guidelines
• Innovation: from conception to new applications
• Development of French sectors of excellence
• Ariane 6, New Generation Platform, new generation atmosphere sounder, Surface
Water Observation Topography, Scientific research
• Industrial policy: skills and competitiveness for national and export programmes
• Defence
CNES and the United States
• The U.S. space programme has been CNES’s main and
historical partner since its creation
• Many successful programmes pursued with NASA and NOAA,
from Mars exploration to oceanography
• Mutual trust, transparency and long-lasting partnership
• Bilateral cooperation: Intergovernmental Agreement (2007)
To learn more about Phd and Post-Phd in CNES
• https://cnes.fr/en/web/CNES-en/7430-research-grants.php
Website : http://www.france-science.org
CONTACT Minh-Hà Pham, PhD Counselor for Science and Technology Embassy of France 4101 Reservoir Road, NW Washington, DC 20007 [email protected]