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: northamerica@euraxess.net

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 : elodie.suttling@cea.fr

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 conseiller@ambascience-usa.org