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
Alps
Eiffel
Tower
Reims
Cathedral
Monet
Rodin
Provence
Brittany
Chambord
Mont St Michel
Hugo
Cannes festival
Burgandy
Versailles
 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
Tour de France
Daft Punk
France: A major contributor to scientific achievement
Famous French scientists : 65 Nobel Prizes, 12 Fields Medals
Pierre & Marie Curie
Louis Pasteur
René Descartes
High quality research facilities
Successful technologies
Françoise
Barré Sinoussi
Nobel 2008
Cédric Villani
Fields 2010
Serge Haroche Jules Hoffmann
Nobel 2013
Nobel 2012
Artur Avila,
Fields 2014
Jean Trole
Nobel 2014
Thematic Coordination of Research in France
Alliances and Joint Programming Initiatives
 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)
“Investments for the future” launched in 2010
to boost Research and Innovation
Initiatives of Excellence
47 B€
Technology Research Institutes
26.6 B€
Research Hospitals
for Research
and Higher
Education
Technology Transfer Acceleration
Companies
Integrated Campuses
New structures
Laboratories of Excellence
Laboratory level
Equipment of Excellence
ANR: The National Research Agency
 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 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
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
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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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CNRS AT A GLANCE
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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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
●
I Researchers
No citizenship
restrictions
- 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 Engineers
- Annual competitive recruiting process: call for proposals in May, start in December
●
I Permanent Associate Professor positions
- Qualification deadline: December
●
I Researchers and Engineers
-1 to 3 years – renewable
●
I Post-docs
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CEA: Facts and Figures
Mobility programs : for PHDs and post-docs
funds your personal research project at CEA
 Project duration: 1 to 3 years
 3 calls/yr until 2018
 Open to PHDs of any nationality
 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)
 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 undergrad & grad students
 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]
France in Space
•
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
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
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
CONTACT
Minh-Hà Pham, PhD
Counselor for Science and Technology
Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
[email protected]
Website : http://www.france-science.org