Protection
Protecting research results is crucial for innovation and paves the way for scientific advances to be transformed into benefits for society. Protecting the results produced by the…
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Our innovations
01 juillet 2025
The CNRS encourages and supports technology transfer, in which research results are transformed into concrete and long-lasting innovations that benefit both companies and society.
Research as the source of innovation
Innovation at the CNRS means drawing on outstanding results from scientific research to develop new products and solutions that will tangibly change lives. Every year, CNRS and its partner laboratories produce remarkable breakthroughs. A conscious and deliberate innovation policy helps these breakthroughs to progress through to society.
3rd most innovative research institution in the world (SCImago Institutions Ranking)
Over 300 CNRS–company associated laboratories active in 2025
100 start-ups created every year
Innovation at the CNRS
The CNRS's innovation policy is based on 3 major areas:
- Protecting the intellectual property of inventions.
- Supporting the creation of start-ups.
- Strengthening links with the economic sphere.
Joint creation
Partnership with companies is the bedrock of the CNRS’s technology transfer policy. We have links that sometimes go back many years with major business groups, and these are growing across…
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VivaTech: The essential start-up and tech event
With discussions, lectures, exhibitions, speakers, demonstrations and much more, VivaTech is Europe’s biggest innovation event. The CNRS has taken part in this unmissable rendez-vous since 2019.
Here, among the major innovations that will shape tomorrow’s society and the leading trends that are feeding into today’s research, the CNRS presents the countless innovations that have been produced in its laboratories and by its start-ups.
VivaTech is a major event that celebrates the key role of the CNRS when it comes to innovation
Keep up to date with the latest CNRS innovations
- On LinkedIn
- On X
- On the CNRS Innovation Newsletter (in French)
The innovation medals
Created in 2011, the CNRS innovation medal honours those women and men whose exceptional research has led to a significant technological, therapeutic or social innovation that raises the profile of French scientific research.
This medal highlights significant breakthroughs that transfer from public research to the market.
Researchers who take up the challenge of technology transfer are the starting point for delivering any innovation to society. It is therefore of primary importance to reward such efforts which begin in our laboratories. Innovation medal winners can be genuinely inspiring role models for their peers
Photo credit: © Fabien CARRÉ / Yann GADAUD / Sensome / CNRS Images
