INRIA sets its sights on 2012 and makes its research priorities in digital sciences known loud and clear

Paris, April 24, 2008

For over 40 years, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control (INRIA), a think tank reporting to the ministries of Research and Industry, is the nation’s primary facility for determining national strategy for research in the area of Information and Communication Science and Technology (ICST) Publication of the Institute’s 4th strategic plan, for 2008-2012, ushers in a new cycle of innovation for all o f society.

INRIA, the Public Sector Standard for ICST Research in France

The Institute’s research activities now emphasize four priority areas, namely, complex systems modeling; development of software to ensure security and reliability of computer systems; designing new communications networks, and interaction between virtual and actual realities. By founding its research activities in these areas, INRIA is developing a forward-looking vision of fundamental French research in computer sciences and applied mathematics.

Since 1994, each strategic plan has proposed choices that came to be the beginning of well known scientific and technological breakthroughs: the development of Internet and the Worldwide Web (1994-1997) and the convergence of computer science and life sciences (2003-2007) being two major examples.

Building the Future Today: The Internet and the Worldwide Web of the Future

Faced with rapidly evolving practices in the area of Internet usage and the ever greater importance given to Web users, INRIA’s ambition is to devise new technological foundations to fix structural weaknesses of the Internet while paving the way for a real transition to a Worldwide Web of knowledge and services.

The Outlook for Research and New Convergences

Today, a new revolution is under way, which will place ICST at the heart of transformations in methods of investigation, experimentation and design in engineering and research.

The social and economic stakes are high. The ambition of INRIA and its partners is evidenced by a will to focus their research work on three areas:

• digital engineering, in particular, designing onboard software for physical objects such as airplanes and bank cards;
• digital sciences, or, how to contribute to bringing together ICST and life sciences, material sciences and environmental sciences,
• digital medicine, towards developing models for medicine and laboratory medicine.

 

A summary of the INRIA’s 4th Strategic Plan is available for consultation on the Institute’s Website, at http://www.inria.fr/inria/strategie/index.en.html.

 

About INRIA

Status: A public scientific and technological research agency reporting to the ministries of Research and Industry.
Leadership: Michel COSNARD, CEO of INRIA; Jean-Pierre VERJUS, Deputy Managing Director.
Annual Budget (2008): 186 M€, more than 20% of which is provided by outside sources, such as businesses, French and European government agencies and communities.
Regional Research Centers: Paris - Rocquencourt, Sophia Antipolis - Méditerranée, Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes, Nancy - Grand Est, Rennes - Bretagne Atlantique, Bordeaux - Sud-Ouest, Lille - Nord Europe, Saclay - Ile-de-France.
150 research project groups, 85% of them shared with other major organizations, schools and universities.
2800 researchers, 1,000 of them doctoral candidates
790 active research contracts
89 businesses created since 1984.

To learn more, please visit our Website: http://www.inria.fr/index.en.html

 

Press contacts:

INRIA Vincent Coronini Tel.: +33 (0)1 39 63 57 29

Lowe Stratéus for INRIA Clémentine Duguay / Matthias Le Fur Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 41 56 11/ 66

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