The Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region ranks 3rd in France in terms of research and development activities, after the Ile-de-France and Rhône-Alpes regions. Key statistics : 7% of the national science and technology budget 7% of papers published nationwide 6.6% of French researchers, in terms of staff numbers
Economic activity in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region represents about 6.9% of the national GDP, with internal R&D expenditure of € 1.958 million (public and private sector), accounting for 6.2% of the Civil Budget for Research & Development. The region hosts more than 11,700 researchers, of whom approximately 5,900 are teaching and research fellows and public sector researchers working in about 400 recognised laboratories, and 5,800 work in the private sector. In the public sector, the 400 recognised laboratories cover all areas of science and are linked to higher education institutions in the Aix-Marseille (4 Universities) and Nice (2 Universities) Education Authorities, alongside the University of Sud-Toulon and the Var, the University of Avignon and the Pays du Vaucluse, as well as national research organisations such as CEA, CNRS, INSERM, IFREMER, INRA, INRIA, CEMAGREF, BRGM, INRETS, ONERA. According to OST (French Science and Technology Monitor), 38% of researchers were working in material sciences at the beginning of 2003, with 31% in life sciences and 30% in humanities and social sciences. These ratios are very close to national averages; and the spread of staff across all the disciplines is more or less consistent with this. There are slightly higher-than-average numbers of researchers in physics and life sciences and slightly lower-than-average numbers in chemistry and engineering sciences. The development of large research facilities has generally had a structural effect. The ITER project, next to the CEA site at Cadarache is the catalyst for a significant development of research activities linked to nuclear fusion and is injecting life into businesses and hi-tech equipment providers in the region (optics, robotics, metrology, software, mechanics, etc.). Renewable energies play an unavoidable and increasing part in the world energy market. The region is blessed with rich natural resources and lots of potential for development. (For example: ATV Fuveau, Techsen, Groupe des Eaux de Marseille, Giordano Industries, etc.). Private research is carried out extensively within the corporate sector (Alcatel, Philips, Eurocopter, Dassault, BP Innovene, Virbac, Sanofi, IBM, ST Microelectronics, ATMEL, Gemplus, Thales, etc.) but also by small companies and young innovative start-ups. Annual private sector spending on R&D has risen significantly over the last 5 years and represents an annual investment of about € 1,360 million (of which more than 50% is spent by large companies, 20% by small businesses, and 20% by microenterprises). It should be noted that this significant increase is essentially the due to the growth of microelectronics in the region. The research topics are obviously somewhat dependent on developments in industry. 85% of research spending comes from companies with more than 500 employees which belong to large corporate groups, but more recently smaller start-ups, have got involved in research and development by making the most of financing facilities, thanks to the emergence of venture capital since 1999. * source OST 2004 |