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| Laboratoire d'excellence | |
|---|---|
| Name | Laboratoire d'excellence |
| Established | 2010s |
| Country | France |
| Type | Research funding program |
| Parent | '' |
Laboratoire d'excellence Laboratoire d'excellence was a French national competitive program created to strengthen select research centers through concentrated funding and strategic coordination among universities, grandes écoles, and research organizations. It aimed to enhance international visibility, foster interdisciplinary projects, and align selected centers with priorities set by national and European agencies. The initiative intersected with policy initiatives and institutional reforms involving ministries, funding agencies, and higher education stakeholders.
The program pursued concentrated support for flagship research units by awarding multi-year grants to consortia combining institutions such as Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, École Polytechnique, Collège de France, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, and Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique. It operated alongside instruments like Agence nationale de la recherche, European Research Council, Horizon 2020, Investissements d'Avenir program, and national initiatives associated with Ministry of Higher Education and Research (France). The scheme engaged partners from regional authorities such as Région Île-de-France and institutions including CNES, Inria, and international partners like Max Planck Society, CNRS International offices, and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
The program emerged in the context of reform debates involving actors such as Valérie Pécresse, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, and advisors linked to Commissariat général à l'investissement and the Programme des investissements d'avenir. Early pilots and calls reflected models from German Excellence Initiative, UK Research Excellence Framework, and lessons from National Science Foundation programs in the United States. Major milestones included national calls for projects evaluated by juries with members from Académie des sciences, Royal Society, Deutscher Hochschulverband representatives, and panels drawing on reviewers from European Research Council cohorts. Institutional consolidation and reorientation followed debates involving Rectorat de Paris, Conference of University Presidents, and stakeholders from La Sorbonne networks.
Selection relied on competitive calls assessed by international and national experts affiliated with institutions like University of Oxford, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, and Max Planck Society. Evaluation metrics blended bibliometric indicators linking to databases maintained by Clarivate Analytics, collaborations recorded with European Commission project registries, and site visits conducted with representatives from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and UNESCO observer delegates. Panels considered strategic alignment with roadmaps from Agence nationale de la recherche, the French Strategic Research Council, and regional innovation strategies from Métropole du Grand Paris.
Funding streams combined allocations from the Programme des investissements d'avenir managed by Caisse des Dépôts and co-funding from partners including Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, European Investment Bank, and private donors such as foundations modeled on Fondation Bettencourt Schueller or corporate partners like Airbus and TotalEnergies. Governance arrangements typically involved boards with representatives from CNRS, Inserm, CEA, university presidents from Université Grenoble Alpes, and independent scientists linked to Institut Pasteur and international advisory committees drawing on experts from Johns Hopkins University and Tokyo University. Legal frameworks referenced decrees and contracts used by Ministry of Higher Education and Research (France) and compliance with audit practices of Cour des comptes.
Consortia often included higher education actors such as École Normale Supérieure, Université de Strasbourg, Université de Lyon, Sciences Po, INSEAD, École des Ponts ParisTech, and research infrastructures like ESRF, SOLEIL, Grenoble-INP, and hospital partners including Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris. International collaborations engaged networks like Global Research Council, CERN, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Institut Pasteur International Network, and bilateral labs with Max Planck Society or CNRS partner institutes. Public–private partnerships brought in companies and foundations modeled on Sanofi collaborations and philanthropic entities similar to Fondation de France.
Selected centers covered themes represented in flagship projects spanning quantum sciences linked to Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, climate and environmental research tied to IPCC frameworks, health and translational medicine aligned with World Health Organization priorities, digital sciences interacting with European Open Science Cloud, and materials research leveraging facilities such as ILL and EMBL. Achievements included increased high-impact publications indexed by Web of Science, competitive success at European Research Council calls, coordination of major infrastructure proposals to European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, and deployment of training programs comparable to doctoral schools associated with Erasmus Mundus and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
The initiative influenced debates in policy arenas including the Conseil national de la recherche and triggered institutional reforms discussed at meetings of Conference of University Presidents and in reports by Ministry of Higher Education and Research (France). It shaped priorities in subsequent national strategies, informed France's positioning in Horizon Europe negotiations, and affected merger decisions among universities and research organizations akin to reorganizations seen at Université Paris-Saclay and Université PSL. Discourses in academic media such as Le Monde, policy analyses by France Stratégie, and briefings from Institute Montaigne reflected on the program's role in concentrating excellence and promoting international competitiveness.
Category:Research funding programs in France