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A player in global science

World-class advantages

Successful cooperation between the CNRS and its international partners has led to a number of groundbreaking discoveries. The advantages offered by the organisation make its researchers partners of choice for important international projects.

  • expert researchers and engineers recognised for their excellence;
  • dense scientific networks and structured cooperation, including with industrial actors;
  • recognised expertise in managing research infrastructure and coordinating international teams;
  • capacity to make long-term commitments.

Exchanging ideas for the global dissemination of science

The CNRS is strongly committed to international scientific exchange. It is the world leader in terms of publications, 60% of which involve at least one foreign laboratory. Its top three partners are the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. These joint papers strengthen the visibility and reputation of the CNRS. They are a sign of excellence and testify to the influence of French science.

For someone who is passionate about robotics like myself, it was natural to spend time working in Japan. International cooperation generates unique exchanges between scientists: we are spurred by a desire to understand one another, and stimulated by our many differences. This has inspired my research over the past ten years !
Adberrahmane Kheddar, Director of the Joint Robotics Laboratory international joint unit
Analysis of marine sediments taken as part of French-Chinese paleoceanographic research, MONOCL international associated laboratory (Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l’environnement/Université Paris-Sud/Chine).© CNRS in China 2016, Dang Haowen
The MUSE stellar observation instrument, installed within the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, can explore the distant Universe and study, among other things, the formation and evolution of galaxies.© Éric Le Roux / Eso / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 / CNRS Photo library
Researchers at the Takuvik international joint unit (CNRS-Université Laval partnership) in northern Québec study the melting of permafrost—ground that has been frozen for thousands of years—under the effect of global warming.© Laure Cailloce / Takuvik / CNRS Photo library
The 3D digitisation of the Tholos of Delphi (Greece), carried out in connection with the HuMain interdisciplinary project and in partnership with the École française d’Athènes, will facilitate the inventory and preservation of the monument© Cyril Fresillon / CNRS Photo library
The Great Green Wall reforestation programme, conducted in collaboration with the Environnement, Santé, Sociétés international joint unit in Dakar (Senegal), is aimed at combatting the desertification of the Sahel..© Axel Ducourneau / CNRS Photo library
Boring in the Australian desert has led to the discovery of the oldest traces of mineralisation induced by microorganisms.© Purificación Lopez García / CNRS Photo library
© Bruno JOURDAIN / IGE / CNRS Photo Library

Mobility of borderless talents

The CNRS is highly attractive to young French scientists, and in particular PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. The quality of the positions it offers and extensive research freedom also draw foreign talents who take the competitive entrance examinations. Researchers are highly mobile, travelling regularly to attend international conferences, conduct research in partner laboratories, or access field research sites. The organisation has set up a number of mechanisms to promote both incoming and outgoing mobility, for periods ranging from a few days to a few years.

“Brains in circulation”

They come to work in French laboratories : nearly 4,000 researchers, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows come from outside of France, as did 34% of the researchers recruited in 2016.

They leave for assignments in the best laboratories abroad : approximately 60,000 personnel are assigned to joint research units abroad each year.

2016 data

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