The presence of a large number of research laboratories in Grenoble is a key feature of the economic fabric of Isère. The majority of research facilities are located in and around the city, an urban area on a human scale. With a well-established gift for leading-edge technology, research in Grenoble maintains effective links with industry and university, a fact that is reflected in numerous courses.

21,000 people work in research in Grenoble, making it the leading centre in France, outside Paris, for public and private research. Grenoble-Isère is the top French department for patent registration in electronics, electricity and instrumentation and for engineering science publications, according to the Science Citation Index.

 

Fundamental research and international cooperation

Grenoble regularly attracts a considerable amount of European Union investment which helps to consolidate the area's international vocation. This concerns both traditional specialities such as mathematics, physics, nuclear power, materials, electronics, computing or magnetism, as well as fields that are currently enjoying rapid growth here such as life science and structural biology.

Fundamental research in Grenoble accounts for about 14,500 jobs, with five major international laboratories and eight national facilities. These include CEA-Grenoble, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, CNRS, Institut Laüe Langevin and the science universities.

 

Business contacts with dynamic applied research

The publicly funded laboratories at CEA-Grenoble (LETI, CEREM, etc.), INRIA, INSERM, IMAG and Grenoble-INP, and international companies such as ST Microelectronics, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Bull, Hewlett-Packard or Arjomari Wiggins Appleton are the prime movers, locally.

The technology start-ups that have emerged from the research centres and big groups are also extremely active and, in many cases, have established international reputations.

In addition, industrial groups such as Caterpillar, ST Microelectronics, Schneider Electric make good use of the area's potential to develop their industrial R&D activities.

In all, applied research in Isère accounts for about 6,500 jobs. Though particularly well developed in information technology (from microelectronics to software), local laboratories also focus on paper, materials, mechanics, energy and healthcare.

 

ITW - Peter Pfluger, CEO Tronics Microsystems

Key figures

Research

Grenoble, top centre for research in France, outside the Paris area:

• 21,000 research personnel in more than 200 laboratories.
• 14,500 in public research
• 6,500 in private research

8 national research centres:

• CEA, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique de Grenoble (atomic energy)
• CEMAGREF, Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Research
• CEN, Snow Study Center
• CNRS, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique,
• CRSSA, Centre de Recherches du Service de Santé des Armées (medicine)
• INRA, National Institute for Research an Agronomy
• INRIA, Institut National de la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (IT and automation)
• INSERM, National Institute for Health and Medical Research

4 major university centres with numerous laboratories.

4 European research centres:

• ESRF, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility,
• ILL, Laüe-Langevin Institute
• IRAM, Millimetric Radio-Astronomy Institute (astronomy).
• EMBL, European Molecular Biology Laboratory.

Numerous private research laboratories: AWA, Lafarge, Vicat, Air Liquide, Sun Microsystems, XRCE, ST Microelectronics.

And development centres: CETIM (Mechanical industry) CTP (paper), CSTB (building)

Innovation and technology transfer:

• 775 patent requests by inventor, 301 patent requests filed in Isère in 2006
• 73 grants by OSEO-ANVAR for a total of 12.6 M€ in 2005
• prime funding, seed capital : Emertec, I-Source, Grenoble-Angels

Top