Focus on FONDATION CNRS

As the largest public research body in Europe and second largest in the world, France's national center for scientific research, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), is a leader in facing global scientific challenges. It is currently the largest producer of publications worldwide with 60% of CNRS publications including at least one foreign partner, and today it has more than 1,100 laboratories, 11,000 scientists, and 80 international laboratories.

Recognized for its multidisciplinary approach and its advocacy of independent research, the achievements and continued scientific progress of CNRS truly have a global impact.

Fondation CNRS was founded in 2019 to support the development and visibility of CNRS and advance world-class research on today’s most pressing scientific and societal challenges. Fondation CNRS also strives to build scientific capacity for the future by attracting new talent through chairs, fellowships and prizes.

Highlighting the value of cross-border philanthropy, the first-ever donation to Fondation CNRS was given through Friends of Fondation de France. Made by a U.S.-based company, the donation was inspired by a leader who, as a young researcher, had his own career changed through philanthropic support. The donation supported the fundamental work of an individual scientist exploring the new frontiers of antiviral research. This initial donation opened the way for a fruitful relationship with Friends of Fondation de France that has delivered significant support to Fondation CNRS and, in turn, the ground-breaking work of CNRS.

CNRS has particularly strong links to the US. It produces more than 15,000 annual co-publications with leading U.S. research centers, including NASA, the California Institute of Technology, MIT, and Harvard. The strength of the partnership is particularly well structured through the signature of eight Joint International Research Laboratories covering all disciplines, and two International Research Centers with University of Arizona and University of Chicago.

“CNRS is the only organization in the world to install a telescope at the North Pole, a satellite in space and a submarine on the ocean floor; to study quantum physics at CERN to manufacture medicines in a laboratory. Our knowledge must continue to build new worlds: more sustainable, fairer, more open, more tolerant.” said Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of the CNRS, and President of CNRS Foundation.

“Complementary to national public funding and European financing programs, philanthropy becomes instrumental to provide flexible and targeted support to CNRS’s ambitious and risky projects, and to award talented scientists.”

"Our knowledge must continue to build new worlds: more sustainable, fairer, more open, more tolerant.”

Antoine Petit
Chairman and CEO of the CNRS, and President of CNRS Foundation

Today, innovative independent scientific research that supports global understanding and progress is more important than ever. With its interdisciplinary capabilities and global breadth of scientists, support and impact, CNRS is positioned to provide answers for complex issues, from climate change and energy transition, to AI, and health biology research requiring the integration of biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and biophysics research.  

CNRS projects, supported by Fondation CNRS, generous donors, and partners like Friends of Fondation de France, aim to continue the organization’s leadership, and push the limits of knowledge.