THE CNRS IN ASEAN & OCEANIA2020

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THE CNRS IN ASEAN & OCEANIA 2020

DIRECTORS OVERVIEW CNRS asserts its presence within the global research ecosystem thanks to a long-term commitment to dense scientific networks and an ability to initiate, structure and maintain international cooperation with prestigious partners. Our international deployment is backed by a network of 8 representative offices, which monitor, support and contribute to the development of several structuring cooperation schemes. Until 2019, the Singapore office was responsible for the 10 ASEAN countries. It extends now to Oceania, to support the development of our partnerships with Australia and New Zealand. Better structuring CNRS partnerships with Oceania while maintaining a high level of cooperation with Singapore and other ASEAN countries is in line with the President of the Republic's affirmation of the strategic importance for France of the Indo-Pacific axis and the identification of our strategic partners, notably Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The CNRS, through its offices in Delhi, Tokyo, Beijing and Singapore, is part of the stabilizing and inclusive French presence in a region which, because of its mass and demographic and economic dynamism, and its level of energy intensity, represents a major global challenge for the worldwide collective security, economic development, innovation, environment and health.

Unsurprisingly, Singapore with its four International Research Laboratories (IRL) and its three recently launched International Research Projects (IRP) concentrates most of the CNRS partnerships in ASEAN. This predominance will be reinforced by the first steps taken by the CNRS@CREATE subsidiary, created in 2019, which sees the launch in October 2020 of three "intra-create" projects, each worth 4 million SGD and lasting three years. CNRS@CREATE has also launched the construction of a large collaborative program in artificial intelligence dedicated to decision-making in critical urban systems, called DESCARTES, which will run for five years. This program will be submitted in early 2021, within the framework of NRF's CREATE, for evaluation and possible selection in mid-2021. Activities are also significant in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with 4 IRP operational and two IRL among which IRASEC, based in Bangkok, which could extend its activities to Singapore from 2021. The extension of the Singapore office's area of competence to Oceania responds to the growing interest of the French scientific community in partnerships with Australia and New Zealand. The remarkable growth in the number of structuring schemes in 2020 in these two countries : 3 IRP, 3 International Research Networks (IRN), 6 International Emerging Actions (IEA), as well as the signature on 15 December 2020 of the consortium agreement for the first Australian IRL CROSSING (French-Australian Laboratory for Humans / Autonomous Agents Teaming) by associating the CNRS, IMT Atlantique, the three universities of South Australia and the French defense group Naval Group are emblematic of this interest. This spectacular growth in our activities with Australia reflects its appetite for the CNRS model and image of excellence. Of course, it is impossible to draw up a balance sheet for the year 2020 without referring to the global health crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the international scientific cooperation by freezing visits, travels, events and exchanges. It should be noted that thanks to the highly structuring nature of its facilities abroad, and more particularly the IRLs which for the most part work with affected researchers, the CNRS has been able to maintain a very high level of interaction with its foreign partners. The year 2021 will see CNRS continue its efforts to develop and structure its international cooperation. For the ASEAN and Oceania region, Singapore and Australia will remain the privileged sites of our efforts. This 2020 booklet provides a focus on the 4 IRL and the CNRS@CREATE subsidiary in Singapore by giving voice to their respective scientific directors. The 2021 edition will focus on the IRLs developed in Thailand, Vietnam and Australia. Dr. Jean-Paul TOUTAIN Prof. Dominique Baillargeat CNRS Regional Director for ASEAN and Oceania Scientific Executive Director of CNRS@CREATE

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WHAT IS THE CNRS?

The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (National Center for Scientific Research) is a public body under the authority of the French Ministry of Education and Research. Founded in 1939, the CNRS is the largest fundamental research organization in Europe. It carries out research in all fields of knowledge through ten specialized Institutes.

CNRS INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COOPERATIONS TOOLS

International Research Laboratories are international schemes in which research work is jointly conducted around a shared scientific focus. They structure, within an identified location, the significant and lasting presence of scientists from a limited number of French and foreign research institutions (a single foreign partner country). International Research Laboratories are proposed by the scientific

Institutes of the CNRS based on structured international collaborations. They involve a high degree of internationalization among the participating teams, as well as a strong concentration of research activity within a partner organization. These IRL last 5 years, and can be extended several times.

International Research Projects are collaborative research projects established between one or more CNRS laboratories and laboratories in one or two foreign countries. They enable the consolidation of already established collaborations through short or medium-term scientific exchanges. Their purpose is the organization of working meetings or seminars, the development of joint research

activities including field research, and the supervision of students. French and foreign teams must have already demonstrated their ability to collaborate together (for example through one or more joint publications). These programs last 5 years and can be extended for 5 more years.

The International Research Networks aims at structuring an international scientific community around a shared theme or research infrastructure. It promotes the organization of international workshops and seminars or thematic schools organized by the network partners, in France and abroad. It brings together researchers from one or more French laboratories, including at least one CNRS

laboratory, and from several partner laboratories abroad for a period of 5 years.

International Emerging Actions are “PI-to-PI” projects whose aim is to explore new fields of research and new international partnerships through: short-term missions, the organization of working meetings, the initiation of initial joint research work around a shared scientific project. These actions have a duration of 2 years.

Cover illustration: © Centre for Quantum Technologies. Close-up of an experiment on quantum gases done at MajuLab IRL: Cloud of trapped laser-cooled Strontium atoms in a vacuum glass cell and emitting blue light.

IRP

IRN

IEA

IRL

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CNRS COOPERATIONS IN ASEAN AND OCEANIA

The CNRS Office is located in CREATE Tower and hosted by CNRS@CREATE. This Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) is an international research campus and innovation hub launched in 2017 by the National Research Foundation (NRF). It hosts several interdisciplinary research centers from top universities and institutions such as: HUJ, MIT, ETH Zurich, Cambridge University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Berkeley University, TUM, Illinois, NTU, NUS and the CNRS.

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CNRS COOPERATIONS IN ASEAN

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH SINGAPORE

• National University of Singapore – NUS. http://www.nus.edu.sg/ • Nanyang Technological University – NTU. https://www.ntu.edu.sg/ • Agency for Science, Technology and Research – A*STAR. https://www.a-star.edu.sg/ • National Research Foundation – NRF. https://www.nrf.gov.sg

4 International Research Laboratories CINTRA (Engineering) http://cintra.ntu.edu.sg IRL between CNRS for France; NTU for Singapore; and Thales as industrial partner. Based on NTU campus, CINTRA was established in 2009. CINTRA develops research activities on nano-electronics and nano-photonics technologies. MAJULAB (Physics) http://majulab.cnrs.fr/ IRL between CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur (UCA), Sorbonne Université (SU) for France ; NUS and NTU for Singapore. MajuLab was established in 2014. This IRL works on Quantum Technologies, Quantum Computing, Photonics, Material Science. IPAL (Artificial Intelligence) http://ipal.cnrs.fr/ IRL between France and Singapore in Artificial Intelligence. The partners of IPAL are CNRS for France; NUS and A*STAR for Singapore. BMC² (BioMechanics) https://www.viasnofflab.com/ The IRL BMC² (Biomechanics of Cell-Cell Contacts) is part of the Mechanobiology Institute (NUS). It was funded in 2014. It studies cell-cell adhesion, microfabrication of controlled environment for cell culture, biophysic of single molecules.

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3 International Research Projects

SYNBIOECO (Biotechnology): Synthetic Biology for a Bio-inspired Economy. FR: CNRS (TBI) SG: NUS (SynCTI).

STRETCH-SMART (Materials): Heterogeneous STRETCHable Systems, MechAnical propeRTies and associated functionalities at small scales. FR: CNRS (LSPM, PPRIME) SG: NUS.

FIBERMED (Biotechnology): Specialty optical fiber based biosensing for medical applications. FR: CNRS (XLIM). SG: SBIC A*STAR.

2 International Research Networks

SINERGIE (Energy): French-SINgaporean network on renewable enERGIEs. FR: CNRS (25 laboratories in France: full list available on the SINERGIE’s web page). SG: NTU. Industrial partner: ENGIE-Lab.

ASEAN CHINA NORMS (Social Sciences): China’s Rise and the New Social Norms in Southeast Asia. FR: CNRS (CASE, IFRAE). SG: NUS.

1 International Emerging Action

SO-PRETTY (Chemistry & Health): SODmimics-Oxaliplatine Platinum(IV) conjugates with REduced ToxiciTY. FR: CNRS (LBM, Institut Cochin). SG: NUS.

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH THAILAND

• Chulalongkorn University. http://www.chula.ac.th• Mahasarakham University. https://inter.msu.ac.th/

1 International Research Laboratory

IRASEC (Social Sciences): Based in Bangkok, IRASEC (Institut de Recherche sur l'Asie du Sud-Est Contemporaine) is a French leading research institute dedicated to the study of Contemporary Southeast Asia (ASEAN countries and Timor Leste). FR: CNRS (CASE, IPRAUS, IrAsia, IAO). TH: Chulalongkorn University.

1 International Research Network

PALBIODIV-ASE (Biodiversity): Paleobiodiversity in South-east Asia. CNRS, CRP-UMR7207. FR: CNRS (CR2P, ISEM, LEHNA, LGLTPE, LGENS, HNHP, ISYEB). TH: Mahasarakham University, Chulalongkorn University.

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2 International Emerging Actions

FOOLFLY (Biodiversity): Convergent evolution of deceptive pollination syndrome in Ceropegia and Aristolochia. FR: CNRS (CEFE). TH: Chulalongkorn University.

COSMOGRAVITY (Physics): New challenges for cosmology and gravitation. FR: CNRS (LPTHE). TH: Chulalongkorn University.

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH VIETNAM

• Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology – VAST. http://www.vast.ac.vn/en/• Vietnam National University, Hanoi. www.vnu.edu.vn• University of Science and Technology of Hanoi – USTH https://www.usth.edu.vn/en/

1 International Research Laboratory

FORMATH (Maths): Formath Vietnam Singapore. fruitful collaborative links and networks around selected topics in mathematics. FR: CNRS (LAGA, IMT, IDP, IJF, LJAD, I2M, LaBRI, LJL, IRMAR, LPP); Université Paris 8 (MITSIC). VN: VAST, VIASM. SG: NUS, NTU.

2 International Research Projects

FOCOMAT (Materials): Functional Composite Material. FR: CIRIMAT. VN: VAST.

FV-TEL (Ecology): France-Vietnam Tropical Ecology Laboratory. FR: CNRS (MECADEV, ISYEB, IMBE, MCAM). VN: IEBR, ITB, IMBC, VNMN, MERC.

4 International Emerging Actions

GRAPHENE SHEET (Chemistry): Graphene sheet deals with new opportunities in catalytic applications offered by graphene. FR: CNRS (IRCELYON) VN: VIIC

FISHµBIOM (Biodiversity): Biodiversity and role of FISH MICROBIOMes in coral reef socio-ecosystems. FR: CNRS (MARBEC, MIVEGEC). VN: IBT, USTH, IO.

MODHVDC (Engineering): Providing modelling approaches of transient and steady state processes occurring in HVDC cable systems, with consideration of non-equilibrium thermal conditions on the cables. FR: CNRS (Laplace). VN: EPU, Hanoï.

ArGex (Maths): Arithmetic and Galois extensions of function fields. FR: CNRS (Institut Camille Jordan). VN: VAST.

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CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH MALAYSIA

• University of Malaya. www.um.edu.my• Taylor’s University. https://university.taylors.edu.my

2 International Research Projects

IFM NATPROLAB (Chemistry): International French Malaysian Natural Products Laboratory. FR: CNRS (ICSN). MAL: University Malaya.

FOODSTUDIES (Social Sciences): Food, Cultures and Health. Transformation of the food system organisation and of the social representations and meanings associated to food during the process of modernization in Southeast Asia countries. FR: CNRS CERTOP, MAL: CRiT, Taylor University.

1 International Emerging Action

SHARKSEA (Ecology): Evolution of freshwater hybodont sharks and climatic changes. Biostratigraphic potential of freshwater hybodont sharks in Southeast Asia. FR: CNRS (LEHNA, LGLTPE). MAL: University of Malaya.

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH MYANMAR

• University of Mawlamyine. http://www.mlmuni.edu.mm/

1 International Research Network

TANAOSRI (Environment): Collaborative research between French, Thai and Burmese institutions. It focuses on the Moken, a population of sea-nomads scattered along the western coast of Southern Myanmar and Thailand. FR: CNRS (Eco-Anthropologie). MYA: University of Mawlamyine.

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH INDONESIA

• Institut Pertanian Bogor. IPB. https://ipb.ac.id/

1 International Emerging Action

SULMACGEN (Environment): SULawesi MAcaques GENetics. Sociality of Sulawesi macaques: revisiting the impact of kinship on social behaviours in wild crested macaques. FR: CNRS (Eco-Anthropologie). IND: Macaca Nigra Project.

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CNRS COOPERATIONS IN OCEANIA

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA

• Australian National University – ANU. https://www.anu.edu.au/• University of Melbourne. https://www.unimelb.edu.au/• RMIT University. https://www.rmit.edu.au/• Deakin University. https://www.deakin.edu.au/• Monash University. https://www.monash.edu/• Swinburne University of Technology. https://www.swinburne.edu.au/• Flinders University. https://www.flinders.edu.au/• University of South Australia – UNISA. https://www.unisa.edu.au/• University of Tasmania. https://www.utas.edu.au/• Macquarie University. https://www.mq.edu.au/• University of New South Wales – UNSW. https://www.unsw.edu.au/• University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/• University of Newcastle. https://www.newcastle.edu.au/• University of Queensland. https://www.uq.edu.au/• University of the Sunshine Coast. https://www.usc.edu.au/• Queensland University of Technology. https://www.qut.edu.au/• Curtin University. https://www.curtin.edu.au/• Murdoch University. https://www.murdoch.edu.au/• University of Western Australia – UWA. https://www.uwa.edu.au/

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1 International Research Laboratory FUMA (Maths): Fundamental Mathematics in the field of basic and applied mathematics. FR: CNRS (Institut Camille Jordan) AUS: Australian National University (ANU). 8 International Research Projects ALPhFA (Photonics): Associated Laboratory in Photonics between France and Australia. FR: CNRS (INL). AUS: RMIT. CANECEV (Ecology & Health): Investigating the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of cancer. FR: CNRS (MIVEGEC); IRD; UM AUS: Deakin University, UTAS. IRP-ARS (Robotics): Advanced Autonomy for Robotic Systems. FR: CNRS (I3S); UCA. AUS: ACRV, ANU. SocNetMM (Ecology): Social Communication Network in Marine Mammals. FR: CNRS (Institute of Neuroscience); AUS: Macquarie University. AMHELIE (Materials): Additive Manufacturing for High pErformance materiaLs and lattIce structurEs. FR: CNRS (I2M). AUS: University of Queensland and Monash University. APICOLIPID (Infectious deseases): Apicomplexan parasites lipid and membrane biogenesis. FR: CNRS (IAB), INSERM, UGA. AUS: University of Melbourne. GEODESIC (Signal processing): Geometry-Driven Signal and Image Processing. The lab conducts research in the field of data science, with emphasis in signal and image processing applications. FR: CNRS (GIPSA, CRIStAL, IMS) AUS: University of Melbourne. REDOCHROME (Chemistry): Organo-metallic assemblies redox-active and multipolar for photonics and molecular electronics. FR: CNRS (ISCR) AUS: ANU, UWA. 5 International Research Networks FACES (Energy): French-Australian research network on Conversion and Energy Storage for stand-alone & maritime applications. FR: CNRS (ICMPE, ICMCB, IEM, IMN, FEMTO-ST, IMS, LAPLACE, AMPERE). AUS: MERLin, UNSW, Deakin University, UNiSA, and Flinders University. EHEDE (Ecology & Health): Ecosystem Health and Environmental Disease Ecology, aims to promote exchanges and improve the readability of research conducted in Eurasia linking ecosystems health and the ecology of diseases. FR: CNRS (Chrono-Environnement; LADYSS) AUS: Australian National University

WONDER (Biotechnology): Biofuel and material production from microalgae. FR: CNRS (GEPEA) AUS: Murdoch University Algae R&D Centre

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PhilInBioMed (Social Sciences): The Institute for Philosophy In Biology and Medicine aims at advancing philosophy in the biological and medical sciences. FR: CNRS (ImmunoConcept); AUS: University of Sydney Theory and Method in Biosciences Group I² (Astrophysics): Interstellar Institute. FR: CNRS (AIM). AUS: Australian National University; Macquarie University 14 International Emerging Actions MECAPOP (Environment): Underlying MEChAnisms of seabird POPulation performances at sea: spatio-temporal prey accessibility. FR: CNRS (IPHC). AUS: Phillip Island Nature Parks. PSEUDOSPECS (Chemistry): dedicated to the use of a new method (SPECS) to unveil the pseudocapacitive behavior of electrode materials. FR: CNRS (IMN) AUS: University of Newcastle. NANOMOBILITY (Geochemistry): Resolving element mobility at the nanoscale in phosphate minerals. FR: CNRS (LGL-GTPE); ENS; Université Lyon 1. AUS: Curtin University Geoscience Atom Probe group. ROSIA (Engineering & Health): Bone remodeling and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: to better understand the mechanisms of the disease through coupled experimental & theoretical approaches. FR: CNRS (MSME); UPEC. AUS: Queensland University of Technology (BSRG). ELIXIR (Chemistry): Electrogeneration of inorganic materials at liquid-liquid nano-interfaces. FR: CNRS (LCPME); Université de Lorraine. AUS: Curtin University. MIR_ALPhFA (Engineering): Integrated medium infrared sources developed within the framework of IRP ALPhFA FR: CNRS (INL) AUS: RMIT University ECHAPH (Environment): Environmental Changes and Heritage in Atlantic and Pacific Hillforts. FR: CNRS (CReAAH); Le Mans University. AUS: University of the Sunshine Coast, School of Social Science. QUAP (Physics): Quantum Polaritonics. FR: CNRS (Institut Néel) AUS: Macquarie University STraS (Ecology) Staining and Tracking Sponge Cells to describe morphogenetic processes. FR: CNRS (ISEM, IMBE, IBDM) AUS: University of Queensland FAACS (Environment): French-Australian collaboration on Antartic Climate Science. FR: CNRS (IGE), Grenoble and CEA-CNRS-UVSQ LSCE). AUS: Australian Antarctic Division (Kingston, Tasmania). SERINT (Physics): Understanding the intriguing mathematical properties of series with integer coefficients emerging in theoretical physics. FR: CNRS (LPTMC). AUS: University of Melbourne. GOAL (Neurobiology): The Neural Basis of goal-directed behaviour in rats. FR: CNRS (INCIA – Bordeaux University). AUS: UNSW.

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NAMICO (Geochemistry): Natural and Mixed Convective mass transfer phenomena impacting solar building envelope performance in urban environment. FR: CNRS (CETHIL) AUS: UNSW; University of Sydney.

COMPEX (Chemistry): Towards exotic compositions of transition metal oxides used as positive electrode materials for Li or Na batteries. It addresses structural changes at atomic scale during recycling of Li or Na batteries. FR: CNRS (ICMCB). AUS: UNSW.

CNRS COOPERATIONS WITH NEW ZEALAND

• University of Auckland https://www.auckland.ac.nz/• University of Canterbury. https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/• Massey University. https://www.massey.ac.nz/• University of Otago. https://www.otago.ac.nz/• National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. https://niwa.co.nz/

3 International Research Projects

VINADAPT (Agrosystems & Climate): High-resolution scenarios for adapting agrosystems to climate change: application to viticulture. FR: CNRS (LETG, Biogéoscience); INRAE (EGFV, AGROCLIM). NZ: School of Earth and Environment of the University of Canterbury.

AntarctPlantAdapt (Environment): Adaptation of Antarctic Plants to Climate Change. FR: CNRS (ECOBIO); INRAE (UMR ESE). NZ: Massey University, University of Otago.

WALL-IN (Physics): Confining walls-of-Light in nonlinear Kerr resonators. Study of nonlinear dynamics occurring in optical Kerr resonators. FR: CNRS (UMR6303 UB – ICB Dijon). NZ: University of Auckland.

1 International Emerging Action

QIWI (Geophysics): Quantitative Imaging of Water-column Inhomogeneities using backscatter acoustic signal. FR: CNRS (Géosciences Rennes) ; IFREMER - NZ: NIWA. AUS: CSIRO; IMAS-UTAS.

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GIVING VOICE TO THE MAIN ACTORS FOR CNRS IN ASEAN AND OCEANIA

Prof. Philippe Coquet, Director of the IRL CINTRA

Can you explain the general context of your research in Singapore within a CNRS International Research Laboratory?

IRL CINTRA is a joint laboratory between France and Singapore. We have three partners. CNRS and its INSIS Institute, NTU Singapore and Thalès. At CINTRA, we are working on nanotechnology and more specifically on nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. The objective of CINTRA is to build a world-class laboratory between these two countries in these research fields.

The IRL CINTRA has been established in 2009. We celebrated last year our ten-year anniversary. But the collaboration between the partners started in the early 2000’s. So it’s already a long term partnership. We are organized in three research thrusts. The first one is related to Carbon Based Materials & Devices (CMD). The second thrust is New Nano Materials & Structures. The last one is NanoPhotonics Technologies. At the moment, we have a total of 65 members working for CINTRA. It includes NTU professors working with us, but we also have PhD students, research fellows and other researchers.

What types of applications do your research activities lead to?

Since 2010, we have trained about 50 PhD students and we have welcomed about 60 interns. We have also hosted about 80 researchers from France and Europe since the creation of the lab. Among our achievements, since 2010, CINTRA has produced or been affiliated with over 800 publications in journals and international conferences. Another interesting part for us in CINTRA is that we have a great premise in the Research Techno Plaza (NTU) building. It’s about 1000 square meters. It’s a place where we can welcome our PhD students, research fellows and our staff. We also have different rooms to conduct experiments with some equipment and some facilities such as high frequency characterization, light matter interaction and thermoacoustic transducer.

How does the Covid-19 pandemic affect your work? For sure we have been impacted by this covid-19 pandemic. First in Singapore, when the lockdown happened, we had to stop our activities. Afterwards, the same happened with our French partners. There was a total of several months where, because we have a lot of projects with France, they had to be shifted between the two countries, so the lockdown had a big impact on us. However, in terms of publications, we feel that the effect will be more important next year. This year we had time to write on the results we already obtained. But because everything has been delayed, for the different agencies in France or in Singapore, even though we could obtain some extension for our projects, we feel that there will be a lack of new results and in terms of publications I feel that the impact will probably be more important next year than this year. So yes for sure, we have been impacted by this pandemic.

What evolutions do you see in the coming years concerning nanotechnologies?

I would say that like in other research fields, it will be the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in what we are doing, to apply machine learning technics to the development of new materials. It’s something we have started to work on, with what we call material by

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designs, in order to apply AI to the process of synthetizing new nanomaterials. But we want to apply this concept to the different activities that we have in CINTRA, for nanomaterials, but also in terms of nanophotonics and so on.

What is the added value of an IRL for establishing a long-term international cooperation?

I think an IRL is a very important tool to establish a long-term international collaboration because this is a real laboratory where we can welcome people from the different countries and different partners. We are able to make them work all together for a long period of time. So it’s a very nice tool and I think it is very rare.

What are the specificities of collaborating with Singaporean partners?

The specificities are that here you have a very good environment for research, because the quality of the research that is conducted here is very impressive. The research funding opportunities are also quite good. So it makes a very enjoyable environment. What we also try to find here is a complementarity

between what we can have here and what we can have with our other partners in France.

What are the biggest challenges about your IRL?

The biggest challenges would be first to continue what we have achieved, especially in terms of quality of the research that we have conducted and to keep it at this level. Also to keep the trust, the involvement and the commitment of our partners. This is one part of the challenge. The other important challenge is to attract researchers from France, but also good students to do internships with us, or to conduct their PhD.

Tell us more about the next chapters for CINTRA in terms of cooperation between France and Singapore?

The next chapter will be to prepare for the renewal of CINTRA. We have celebrated last year our tenth anniversary. Now, we are in our third phase of CINTRA, which is going to finish by the end of 2022. So we already have to prepare for this renewal, which will represent the next term of CINTRA. For this, we have to keep going with our achievements and our momentum, in terms of research projects but also in terms of publications.

CINTRA website: http://cintra.ntu.edu.sg

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Prof. Christian Miniatura, Director of the IRL MajuLab

Can you explain the general context of your research? I would like first to introduce a bit myself. I am a research director at CNRS, and I am the director of an International Research Laboratory (MajuLab), that has been established in Singapore by five partners. On the French side: CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur in Nice, Sorbonne Université in Paris. And in Singapore: National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Most of my activities in fact, are running this lab and organizing collaborations between France and Singapore. Now, as an individual researcher, I’m doing quantum physics myself. I’m not working on foundations of quantum physics; I use the tools of quantum physics to analyze a certain number of phenomena. If I have to highlight one part of my research that would be what we call quantum transport, that is to say how a quantum wave propagates in a random environment.

What types of applications do your research activities lead to? There are two sides to this question. As an individual researcher, I’m doing curiosity-driven, blue-sky research, fundamental research in fact. So when I try to tackle or analyze a physics problem, I don’t have in mind any possible applications. But now, I am also the director of this International Research Laboratory MajuLab and I need to be aware of the potential applications of the research that we do. For example, in Singapore, there are three main pillars in what we call quantum engineering: Quantum computers, quantum communication and quantum sensing. The word quantum is here to just signal that we are trying to use the specificities of quantum physics like wave nature, entanglement to improve the capabilities of sensors.

The quantum computer is at the center of many attentions. Does MajuLab take part in this dynamic? Yes, we do. In MajuLab we have quantum computer scientists working on quantum computers. We also have physicists doing quantum information. But we have to fully appreciate that building up a quantum computer is in the hands of the big companies. This is because we face tough engineering problems and these companies have large funding. They can gather large crowds of engineers. They can even hire many good scientists. We cannot compete. We are not ourselves building up the quantum computer, but what we can do is work around for theoretical investigations, or even experimental investigations,

proof of concepts, accompanying the development of this quantum computer. But certainly, a quantum computer will be realized by a private company.

Are you currently collaborating with French or Singaporean institutes? Obviously yes and this is the living purpose of an International Research Laboratory. For CNRS, an “IRL” is the ultimate international partnering tool. It is a legal entity designed to establish strategic collaborations with a long-term perspective. So, in Singapore, we are collaborating with NUS through the Centre for Quantum Technologies, the Physics Department and the School of Computing. In NTU, with the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) and also with the School of Material Sciences and Engineering. We have also individual researchers working at Yale-NUS or SUTD. In France, we have the Université Côte d’Azur with different labs. The historical partner is the Laboratoire INPHYNI. In Sorbonne Université it is the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel. However, CNRS is a national institution so we can collaborate with any university or lab in France.

What are the upcoming hot topics concerning quantum physics? Oh, they are happening right now. Many years ago, the second quantum revolution started when scientists realized that they can make practical use of the most intriguing feature of quantum physics: entanglement. This is how the concept of quantum computer came out. So quantum computer is a

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computer, but instead of using this classical bits, it uses quantum bits: Qubits. I don’t have time to explain what are Qubits exactly. But you have to know that companies like IBM just produced the first prototypes of a quantum computer. Now, you can see that all the developed countries have their own big programs on quantum technologies. The European Union, each country in the European Union, Singapore also. For example, the National Research Foundation has started a version 2 of their quantum engineering program, focusing on some pillars and of course having applications in mind, deliverable products. I mentioned that before, quantum communication, quantum sensing, quantum computers, but also quantum foundry. You see, everything is happening right now and people are rushing. There is another revolution coming up, it’s machine learning. People are now using machine learning and deep learning techniques in quantum physics. So we are living an exciting moment right now and there is an effervescence everywhere in the labs doing quantum technologies.

What are the biggest challenges about your International Research Laboratory? Head hunting the right researchers. What I mean by this, is obviously we need to have very good scientists. This is for the image and visibility of the French partners. With the right skills, depending on the types of topics that we want to develop. That is not enough though. We also need to have researchers with the right mindset. That is to say a pioneering spirit, people who are willing to develop collaborations with the local researchers, to develop networks, being very dynamic people. Even within this list, you have to convince the people to come because they have personal or even institutional constraints. They have an academic career, they have a family and so on. It is not easy to convince them, even if the CNRS is offering an expatriation package. So this is the biggest challenge to me. And right now I am working on the next mandate and I have to identify the next generation of researchers willing to come to Singapore.

What are the specificities of collaborating with Singaporean partners? Again, there are two sides to this question. As a researcher, I don’t feel much difference with France. It’s very easy to contact and meet people, start discussions and collaborations, just like in France. Maybe, there is a difference in terms of number of PhDs and post-docs that people have here compared to France. Generally, a collaboration is going through students, post-docs, so here it’s smoother. Now, as a director. Singapore is a small world, so you are closer to the decision makers. If you want to discuss about a project, you can just easily meet these persons and if you have a green light, a “go”, well, everything flows smooth again! In France it is more difficult, I have more the impression of being stratified, it’s not always easy to get the decision in time. Here, it’s more dynamic, more immediate I would say.

Tell us more about the next chapters for MajuLab in terms of cooperation between France and Singapore? I would like to present how an IRL is working. Essentially an IRL is a contract between partners. We sign a convention with legal articles about intellectual property and so on, but I will concentrate on the scientific program. You start with a scientific program, when there are people involved in this program for a certain number of years. The first mandate was four years for us. At the end, back in 2017, we had a review of the unit by an international expert panel and everything went well since the institutions, the signing partners, decided to renew MajuLab for a second term. So we had a new scientific program and new people involved. This mandate is five years. So right now we are in the middle of it. Essentially, I’m left with two years and I need to prepare the next mandate. Meaning I have to find a new director – I won’t be the next director. We also need to discuss with the partners to find out which directions to come, which projects to strengthen, which ones to drop. Once agreed, we need to find the people willing to come and work on this project.

MajuLab website: http://majulab.cnrs.fr/

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Prof. Virgile Viasnoff, Director of the IRL BMC²

Can you explain the general context of your research in Singapore within a CNRS International Research Laboratory? BMC2 is an International Research Laboratory which focuses on understanding the role of mechanical stimulations, mechanics, forces, on the way tissues and cells respond to the environmental constraints. That is to say how cells will proliferate, how a tissue will develop, how a tissue will become a disease tissue rather than staying a normal tissue. To do this research, we have two partners. One in France and one in Singapore. The one in France is CNRS, specifically the Institute of Biology, as well as the Institute of Physics at CNRS. In Singapore, we have the MechanoBiology Institute that actually hosts the research laboratory, as well as the department of biology, which is the general umbrella under which we do Science at NUS.

What types of applications do your research activities lead to? In the BMC² Lab, the research activity is mostly fundamental. We don’t aim at a specific understanding of one specific disease for example. We aim at understanding the general principle that guides the organization of the cells. However, there are some applications. At the moment, the biggest application we found was more from a technological point of view. How to develop the tools that allow you to control environment around cells and force them to grow in a given environment in vitro. It led us to create several techniques and technologies that were patented and some are trying to be commercialized. It involves

microfabrication of environment, controlling precisely the interaction of the cells with an inert polymer. Another technique allows to very precisely image the interaction of the cells together, while confining them in a given environment. We built a new type of microscopy that allows us to measure many cells interactions at a time, in a way that is not usual. We are now trying to get a start-up out of that technology. Again, the main application is more on the technology side, than on the direct consequence of the fundamental mechanisms that we’ve learned so far.

What do you think of the research in Singapore? I think the research landscape in Singapore is first of all very dynamic. There are financial means, there are people around which are qualified, so that makes a very nice and lively community. Then it offers quite a number of opportunities. If you want to test things, it is possible. In a small amount of space here, you are able to meet many different kinds of people and many fields of research. So it’s very easy to run interdisciplinary research which is very much favored in this context. Clearly the facilities that you can find here are world class. So it’s a very interesting thing if you know how to access these facilities and use them properly. Lastly, it also has a long tradition to ease international collaboration. Which I think is very necessary to bring the best of what Singapore can offer as well as what other countries can offer. It’s an ideal place, an ideal hub to build an international research laboratory.

How do you organize your cooperation with Singaporean and French institutes? Yes. The research we have in the lab is intrinsically very multidisciplinary. We can’t do it on our own, so we collaborate with different institutes. Both in France and in Singapore. We are going in different directions. For example, we develop new instrumentation and specifically new microscopy technics. For that we collaborate with the Institute of Neurosciences in Bordeaux. As well as with Cell-C here at NTU. We have of course many daily collaborations with the neighboring labs at the MechanoBiology Institute for sharing materials, sharing ideas. We also have some very interesting collaborations with the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS, an A*STAR institution) to understand the role of mechanics on the genomic data and the genomic impact of mechanics on cells. We have other collaborations. For example, with the

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immunology department at MBI because in immunology there is a strong component of mechanical forces so we have a project with the immunology department at NUS. We also had - it is stopped - a collaboration with SUTD, the Singapore University for Technology and Design because on top of controlling the micro environment we wanted to develop tools which were marketable. SUTD helped us to develop machines to produce the micro environment tools in large quantities. Very recently we started a collaboration with the department of design here at NUS to build an easy to manipulate microscope. Because our microscopy technic is a little bit difficult to handle. The idea is to collaborate with real designers so that they can help us build the instrument and build the software that drives it. We also recently developed some approaches where we wanted to use organoids. Organoids are mini organs that you can grow in small test tubes. And for that we have again a collaboration with the GIS, to grow liver organoids. And we have a collaboration with the Center Turing for Living Matter, in Marseille, where they also develop new kinds of organoids. So, in biology, technology and in microscopy we have collaborations, both in France and in Singapore.

How does the Covid-19 pandemic affect your work? Surprisingly, I thought the lockdown period that we had would be very difficult and it happened to be very productive. We had the occasion for two months to actually not collect the data, but analyze them in much more depth than we would have had the opportunity otherwise. We also developed new software, wrote new articles and so on. So that two-month period for everyone in the group wasn’t that bad. I’d say that it’s the start again after the phase 2 of Covid-19 was a bit more problematic, because everything that was working in the lab before was not working anymore because of that lag of time. The other issue we’re facing for the moment is more for dynamic and morale. In a sense, whatever projects were already ongoing just happened to be resurrected easily. Those which were more starting or those who were more in a

perspective, are much more difficult to actually initiate in time, due to restrictions in getting people in and in actually work in the lab. Although this is now finished at the time of this interview because we have the right to work anytime we want. Lastly, I think it’s more of the very strong dynamics that was here before that has to be restarted because the energy is slowly ramping up, but certainly not yet at the high peak it was before.

Tell us more about the next chapters for BMC² in terms of cooperation between France and Singapore? BMC² has been created here about seven years ago in Singapore. Over the years, we have established very strong collaborations with, as I mentioned, the Institute in Bordeaux and also Centre Turing in Marseille. These are the two prominent centers for mechanobiology in France. These people have come here, we developed interactions, sending students, writing projects together which are ongoing. One of my dreams in the future would actually be to do the reverse. And be able to convince the Singaporean institutions that having satellite lab of mechanobiology in France where they can also tap into the extraordinary diversity of people that are there is a good option. Their knowledge would be very beneficial to CNRS and whatever university we collaborate with, and NUS here, or other universities here, but also very interesting in terms of scientific programs because the two sides have their own strengths in terms of mechanobiology in general and also in medicines. So the idea would be in the next year to come, to build a collaborative program where there can be one part in France and one part in Singapore and strengthen the link on the long term. For that, the French partners have been contacted and of course everyone agrees. The whole thing is in the details. Where, when and how. But at least there is an agreement in principal. NUS was very eager to that sort of things before the covid-19, now that there is a new perspective money wise but also strategy wise, the perspective is not blocked but it has to be reargumented to some extent. But there’s a large group of people interested in this project, so we’ll see where it goes. Hopefully that’s going to be developed in the next one to two years.

BMC² website: https://www.viasnofflab.com/

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Dr. Christophe Jouffrais, Director of the IRL IPAL

Can you explain the general context of your research in Singapore within a CNRS International Research Laboratory?

The IPAL laboratory is an international research laboratory in computer science. It is a joint laboratory between the CNRS, Institut Mines Télécom (IMT) and Université de Grenoble-Alpes (UGA) in France, and National University of Singapore (NUS) and A*STAR in Singapore that promotes high quality collaborative research on five themes: Explainable and Trustable Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Natural Language Processing, Data Science and Applications, and Efficient AI. As a researcher in this laboratory, I am interested in cognitive technologies, i.e. technologies that are designed to facilitate the interaction between humans and the system but also to assist or augment humans. I am particularly interested in assistive technologies for people with visual impairments. It is a research field at the interface between cognitive sciences, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, cognitive ergonomics, and design.

What types of applications do your research activities lead to? In the IPAL laboratory, there can be multiple applications in the field of health, smart cities, transport, etc. As far as I am concerned, the applications are more specifically focused on assistive and educational technologies.

What do you think of the research in Singapore? Research in Singapore is of an excellent level, with well-trained people, very good research support and very good universities and research centers. In addition, funding for basic and applied research is significant, which opens up great opportunities.

Are you currently collaborating with French or Singaporean institutes? Of course! We collaborate with many French universities such as Toulouse, Grenoble, Cergy. But also with other Singaporean universities: Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for instance. Obviously, we also have collaborations with other foreign universities such as Auckland, Geneva, San Andrews.

How does the Covid-19 pandemic affect your work? The COVID is a real problem for IPAL. Two assignments of French researchers at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 have been suspended,

pending better conditions. New French trainees and PhD students cannot start their projects in Singapore. As for me, my research is an experimental research based on interaction with different communities (people with visual impairments, but also the professionals who take care of them). We have of course reorganized ourselves to do online work but experimental research activities are currently dormant.

IPAL has been created in 2007 with a focus on biomedical imaging and ageing. Can you explain the evolution of the topics towards AI? I must confess that this development responds to a joint request from our supervisory authorities (CNRS, IMT, UGA, A*STAR and NUS) who wish to strengthen Franco-Singaporean cooperation in this research field. However, it is a very natural evolution. AI, as you know, is a research field that has greatly improved in recent years, particularly because of its applications in health and smart city. IPAL members were already, for many of them, AI specialists in the field of images and other types of data. The opening of the laboratory to a wider field of research such as AI is therefore a scientific fact.

What is your point of view about doing research on AI in Singapore? There is a set of favorable factors for AI research in Singapore. The IPAL is a laboratory that has been existing for almost 15 years and is recognized as a

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dynamic and productive collaborative place for computer sciences research. The IRL IPAL has made it possible to bring together the best French researchers on AI (especially in the new 3IA centers) with our Singaporean partners (NUS and A*STAR) that are high-quality partners in this field of research. Finally, the CNRS has just created its subsidiary CNRS@CREATE, which has proposed to strengthen Franco-Singaporean collaborations in AI. IPAL has quickly and efficiently supported the CNRS@CREATE approach and we are working with other French and Singaporean colleagues on the proposal of a large-scale research program. As you can see, there are currently many convergences on AI research in Singapore.

Tell us more about the next chapters for IPAL in terms of cooperation between France and Singapore? The next step is the renewal of the IPAL agreement in 2021. We have received the encouragement of the CNRS, NUS and A*STAR for this renewal. We have

the ambition to strengthen our links with NUS and A*STAR partners by enlarging the scope and hence the number of colleagues involved in the laboratory. We also wish to establish strong links with the 3IA centers in France and with new partners such as Toulouse 3 University, CYU, but also two excellent engineering schools (INP Toulouse and ENAC). In addition to this renewal, 2021 will be an important year for IPAL if the CNRS@CREATE program is granted because almost all our members will be involved in this program developed based on Franco-Singaporean collaborations.

What are the biggest challenges about IPAL? As the IRL director, the biggest challenge is to get institutions that do not have the same administrative procedures to work together. But I have to admit that Singaporeans are well organized and very proactive. For the lab, the biggest challenge at the moment is to renew the agreement in the best conditions with very good prospects for 5 years of work.

IPAL website: http://ipal.cnrs.fr/

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Prof. Dominique Baillargeat, Director of CNRS@CREATE CNRS@CREATE in Singapore: "In one year, we have shown that we are on the right track". CNRS@CREATE is the first CNRS subsidiary abroad. Since mid-2019, CNRS@CREATE has been working with Singapore's universities and research institutes, as well as with the international partners of the CREATE campus, to develop projects in areas that are in line with the social and economic challenges of the City-State. At its head, Dominique Baillargeat reviews this first year.

For the CNRS, this first subsidiary was a wager on the future. After a year, where do you stand? Dominique Baillargeat (1): The "Campus for research excellence and technological enterprise" (CREATE) was created by the National Research Foundation (2)

(NRF) in 2006 to increase the dynamism and diversity of the R&D ecosystem in Singapore, bringing together some of the most prestigious international research centers such as MIT, ETH Zurich, Cambridge University, University of California at Berkeley, Munich University of Technology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. CNRS is the first research organization to join this campus, a unique model of research collaboration. I took up my position on September 1, 2019 and worked on both the administrative aspects of the subsidiary and our research projects. In one year, we showed that we were on the right track. On the research side, we have already answered two intra-CREATE calls for projects that aim to bring together CREATE members. Three of our projects have been selected by CREATE on the basis of international expertise, which exceeds our expectations. This allowed us to really launch the activity, by starting to recruit. For this, it was also necessary to set up the entire administrative structure of the subsidiary, to define procedures, internal rules, financial and human management. This work is less visible, but it is essential to support research. It is also complex to carry out because in many aspects we have to comply with the regulations of both countries. On which areas do the three selected projects focus? D. B.: The CREATE campus addresses broad themes, considering the city as a whole (people, energy, mobility, environment, etc.). We give ourselves the opportunity to answer all calls for

projects: this is the strength of the interdisciplinary CNRS and its academic partners. Thus, CNRS@CREATE is the main leader for the EcoCTs project, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), which proposes to develop "synthetic biology for a circular bio-economy". We also responded to the "Intersection of engineering and health" call for proposals and two of our projects were selected: Calipso, on cell growth managed by artificial intelligence, for which we are the lead developer, and ScaNCellS for 3D cell printing, for which we are supporting Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

Inauguration of CNRS@CREATE in 2019, in the presence of Antoine Petit, CEO of CNRS. © CNRS@CREATE This research will start on October 1, 2020, for a period of 3 years, and is carried out in collaboration with the best universities in the country. In addition to the human resources recruited by our partners, CNRS@CREATE will recruit 10 post-docs for these projects with a budget of 5 million Singapore dollars each (about 3 million euros). This gives excellent

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visibility to CNRS in Singapore, but it is above all a test to be transformed. You are preparing to submit a major project around artificial intelligence to the National Research Foundation (NRF) in Singapore. What is at stake behind this step? D. B.: This ambitious program is our way of setting our priorities. It is not a response to a call for projects. The CNRS is submitting a proposal to the NRF for a research program focused on artificial intelligence for decision-making in critical urban systems, applied for example to urban mobility, energy management, etc. The research program will focus on the use of artificial intelligence in urban critical systems. Within CREATE, there was a place to be taken on artificial intelligence associated with this theme and it was important for us to make an original contribution. In addition, developing collaboration with France on these aspects is part of Singapore's overall strategy: in 2018, on the occasion of the France-Singapore Year of Innovation, an agreement to this effect was signed between the dedicated Singaporean agency, AI Singapore, and the research institutions CNRS, INSERM and INRIA. In France, four interdisciplinary artificial intelligence institutes (3IA) were also created in the same year, which gives us real credibility with our partners in Singapore. Moreover, the 3IAs are sources of collaborations in this future program. I therefore proposed this specific theme to CNRS management in December 2019 and we filed a detailed declaration of intent with NRF-CREATE, the first step, at the end of July. This project, worth several tens of millions of Singapore dollars and planned over 5 years, has been named "DesCartes". It already involves scientists from the CNRS and 10 French universities and, on the Singaporean side, we are in discussions for partnerships with 4 universities and

the A*STAR institute. We hope to submit the full proposal, which will be studied by an international panel, by November 2020 and start the program in the second half of 2021. But nothing is certain yet, we are currently in the construction phase. Has the COVID-19 health crisis had a strong impact on the work of CNRS@CREATE? Has it changed the country's long-term priorities? D. B.: We had to adapt. For example, the EcoCTs project was supposed to start in April, but was postponed to October because of the COVID-19 crisis. It is also difficult at the moment to obtain work visas for the people we are recruiting and have to bring them into Singapore, although this seems to be resolving. To date, I have not heard of any change in direction in terms of research strategy. Subjects around the virus have obtained exceptional funding in recent months, and in a context of extremely limited external links, the country's willingness to develop its food independence (3) will undoubtedly accelerate. For the time being, it is announced by the authorities that there will be no return to normal without vaccine. We are therefore mostly working from home. Our "DesCartes" program was built entirely by videoconference, with 50 scientists who have not yet met! Is this subsidiary model intended to be replicated? D. B.: The CNRS@CREATE model was imposed by the NRF, as for all other foreign members of CREATE. It is specific to Singapore's own framework and represents an important work of organization. If the CNRS judges that this model is worth the effort within the framework of its international policy, it could be adapted to other countries. But for the moment, we are focusing on proving ourselves.

NOTES 1.Director of the XLIM laboratory (CNRS/University of Limoges) from 2013 to 2019 and of the Labex Sigma-Lim from 2014 to 2019, Dominique Baillargeat has been appointed Scientific Executive Director of CNRS@ CREATE in 2019. 2.Reporting to the Prime Minister's Office, the NRF defines national priorities and funds the country's strategic research programs, similar to the French ANR. 3.Today, Singapore produces only 5% of the food its population needs, the rest being imported CNRS@CREATE website: http://cnrsatcreate.cnrs.fr/