INRIA and the University of Rennes 1 have been collaborating since 1980, the year the Rennes-Brittany Atlantic Center was created. On Wednesday, January 19, the two institutions signed an agreement that confirms their strategic partnership and formalizes the creation of the “Inria Center at the University of Rennes”. This framework agreement will enable them to amplify their interactions in order to develop in Rennes a center of excellence in digital sciences that is visible at the highest international level. The project to build an experimental public institution (EPE), the “University of Rennes”, to which the University of Rennes 1, Inria and the partners of the Rennes site are committed, is part of this agreement.
As an extension of their scientific collaboration initiated in 1980 in the field of digital sciences and mathematics, Inria and the University of Rennes had signed a framework agreement in January 2018. This aimed to develop a coordinated policy in Rennes with the other academic partners of the site, to affirm their competitiveness at the European and international levels.
Four years later, on January 19, the two institutions signed a new framework agreement that confirms this collaboration and acknowledges the transformation of the “Inria Rennes-Bretagne Atlantique Center” into the “Inria University of Rennes Center.”
INRIA’s objectives
Inria, the national research institute for digital science and technology, signed a “2019-2023 contract of objectives and performance” with the French state in October 2019, which gave it a “strategic mission to build scientific, technological and industrial leadership in and through digital technology in France and Europe.” as well as to ” contribute to the development of major world-class university research sites.” Accelerating the creation of start-ups and continuing education are also among these objectives.
Currently, Inria is involved in the technological development of a dozen major industrial groups such as Airbus, EDF, Naval Group, Nokia, Orange, and PSA, and, in parallel, in the development of world-class research universities.
The University of Rennes 1 is a public scientific, cultural and professional institution. Research and its development are its DNA, and the university is a leading player in education, both initial and continuing. David Alis, president of the University of Rennes 1, states:
“The University of Rennes 1, whose roots go back to the 15th century, considers research and its valorization as a priority, as a distinctive brand that makes its reputation internationally and with companies. At the forefront of knowledge, the institution is a leading player in lifelong learning. This role gives it a considerable responsibility towards society and makes it an essential driving force in the socio-economic and cultural development of the region. The university relies on a culture of high standards, openness and innovation embodied by quality training that leads its students to successful professional integration. In France and internationally, we mobilize our expertise to meet societal challenges such as digital transformation, sustainable development, health, security… by developing cooperative ventures to promote exchanges and enhance research advances.”
A common vision
Since 1980, the University of Rennes 1 and the Inria Rennes – Bretagne Atlantique Center, have been working closely together, and this through joint actions such as the Comin Labs and Henri Lebesgue Labexes, the Cyberschool and DigiSport EURs, the C3 Cybersecurity Competence Center or via their joint participation in the IRISA and IRMAR Joint Research Units, the Images and Networks competitiveness cluster and the IRT. Encouraging and maintaining scientific and technological excellence in digital technology is essential to them. Both institutions recognize the key role that universities play in training, research and innovation and in their ability to foster collaboration between different players (companies, associations, local authorities, universities) within project teams.
Developing interdisciplinary research
The collaboration of the Inria Rennes-Brittany Atlantic Research Center with the University of Rennes 1, the University of Rennes 2, Centrale Supelec, INSA Rennes, ENS Rennes and other partner institutions on the Rennes site aims to create joint project teams based on six main priorities:
- Safe digital society and cybersecurity
- Human-robot-virtual world interactions
- Digital health
- Digital ecology and smart environments
- Smart cities and campuses
- Images and networks.
Formalizing the Inria Center at the University of Rennes and building the “University of Rennes” EPE
This agreement has, among other things, formalized the “Inria Center at the University of Rennes”, the new name given to the Rennes-Brittany Atlantic Research Center. The center has 28 joint project teams in Rennes (24 of which are with the IRISA joint research unit), and one in Lannion. Its activities mobilize more than 600 people, scientists and support staff for research and innovation, from 50 nationalities. It is also deployed in Nantes with two joint project teams with the LS2N (Nantes Digital Science Laboratory). Inria, on the other hand, is committed to the University of Rennes 1, the University of Rennes 2, the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, the Ecole des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, ENS Rennes, INSA Rennes, Sciences Po Rennes, the seven institutions of the UniR territorial coordination created on September 28, 2021 to “bring about the emergence of a large, internationally recognized research and training university.”
The experimental public institution, “University of Rennes” should thus see the light of day very early in 2023. David Alis states:
“The result of a collective approach undertaken since 2017 in the service of our communities and the territory, the creation of the University of Rennes is an achievement for the Rennes site, its recognition and its attractiveness at the European and international level. This ambitious new model gives us all the keys to a transformation that will allow us to better support the major transitions in our region – health, environment, digital – by making the University of Rennes a “University of Transitions”.
The new organization will be designed on a site-wide basis and will aim to further strengthen interdisciplinarity, synergies and opportunities around these three transitions in terms of training and research, and to collectively achieve the objectives of sustainable development. We will thus strengthen our capacity to respond to major national and European calls for proposals. In particular, we will promote new integrated master’s degree-engineering programs, as we have successfully begun to do together. The objective is also to intensify the training-research-innovation link, thus amplifying our impact in the service of science, the territory and society.”
Translated from INRIA et l’Université de Rennes 1 annoncent la création du «Centre Inria de l’Université de Rennes»
