Affiliated with universities or research organizations, French laboratories offer researchers a quality work environment. Different directories allow you to find the most relevant laboratory according to your own area of research:
The Campus France website’s directory of doctoral schools also enables you to find a specific research laboratory’s contact information. This portal helps you search for doctoral schools by keyword or by discipline. The “Laboratories” tab then allows you to scroll down through the list of associated research laboratories.
Other search engines enable you to find a researcher or a French laboratory in your area of research:
Below is a non-exhaustive list of the main research centers in France:
The CNRS is the largest French public organization for scientific research.
Its scientific work is divided among ten national institutes specialized in the following areas: humanities and social sciences, biology, chemistry, ecology and the environment, information science, engineering and systems sciences, mathematics, physics, particle and nuclear physics, sciences of the universe.
They lead nearly a thousand units or laboratories as well as labeled departments, most of which are co-managed with other facilities: universities, scientific public establishments (EPST), grandes écoles, industries, etc.
Under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, the INSERM specializes in medical research (molecular and structural bases of living organisms, cellular biology, development and evolution, cancer, immunology, inflammation, infectiology and microbiology, neuroscience, cognitive science, health technology, etc.).
The CEA specializes in the fields of energy, defense, communication and information technology, materials science, and life and health sciences. It operates in ten sites across France.
Under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAA), the INRAE specializes in the domains of agriculture, food, forests, the environment, water, biodiversity, bioeconomics, the circular economy, and sustainable land and risk management.
The IRD is a French public establishment under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Its model rests upon equitable scientific partnerships with developing countries, mainly those located in intertropical regions and around the Mediterranean.
The INRIA’s mission is to support the development of research, as well as promote communication and information sciences and technology on both the national and international levels. The institute also coordinates the French national program in artificial intelligence research.
Under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI) and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), the CIRAD’s core mission is to contribute to the rural development of tropical and subtropical countries through research actions, training actions (in France and abroad), as well as the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge.
This center works in cooperation with over 100 countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
The IFREMER is an integrated marine science research institute. It specializes in the surveillance, usage and promotion of coastal seas, fishery resources, the exploration of ocean floors and their biodiversity, the circulation of marine ecosystems, and oceanography.
The CNES is tasked with designing and implementing the French space program. Its scientific missions pertain to astronomy, solar system exploration, the study of the Earth as part of binational cooperations, as well as the development of launchers and communication and navigation satellites.
The BRGM is the reference public establishment for the application of Earth science to the management of resources, soil and subsoil risks, in a sustainable development perspective.
The Institut Pasteur is a non-profit foundation whose mission is to contribute to the prevention and treatment of illnesses (infectious ones in priority) through research, innovation, education and public health actions.
The institute has made historical and revolutionary breakthroughs that have enabled medicine to monitor and control viral illnesses such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, influenza, yellow fever, epidemic plague, hepatitis B, and AIDS.
Among numerous other activities, the Institut Curie develops basic, translational and clinical scientific research in the areas of physics, chemistry, biology and radiology. Its core mission is to put science at the service of humanity in an effort to combat illnesses, particularly cancer.
