Academic partnerships
Changed on 05/09/2022
On Wednesday 19th January the University of Rennes 1 and Inria signed a strategic partnership agreement, officially announcing the creation of the “Inria centre at Rennes University”. This agreement is geared towards promoting synergy between the two institutions in the field of digital science and technology.
It is also part of the development of an établissement public experimental, as part of a French government initiative encouraging new ways of grouping together further education and research institutes, involving the University of Rennes 1, Inria and the university's partners.
As a national institute for research into digital technology and science, Inria has set itself the strategic ambition of helping to establish France as a scientific, technological and industrial leader, both in and through digital technology within a European dynamic. This ambition is centred around consistency and synergy between its national and regional policies - the institute is fully committed to the development of world class research universities, established within entrepreneurial and industrial ecosystems given fresh impetus by digital technology.
Through established relationships with national research institutes, the University of Rennes 1 has positioned itself as a place of intensive research, helping to stimulate research at a metropolitan, regional and interregional level.
From a scientific perspective, its focus is on three main transitions - digital, sustainable development and health - which the university is seeking to support through the development of far-reaching, fundamental knowledge and innovative research topics.
Shared values
Through the Inria Rennes - Bretagne Atlantique research centre, the University of Rennes 1 and Inria have worked closely with each other for many years, through joint initiatives such as the Comin Labs and Henri Lebesgue ‘Laboratories of Excellence’ (LabEx), the university research schools (EUR) Cyberschool and DigiSport, and C3, the Cybersecurity Competence Center, or their joint participation in the mixed research units IRISA and IRMAR, the centre of excellence Images et Réseaux (‘Images and Networks’) and the technological research institute b<>com.
The two institutes share common core values: not only a belief that universities - whether in France or internationally - have a major role to play in the interlinked dynamics of education, research and innovation, but also that their actions must contribute to development at a regional level, bringing together academics, businesses, associations and regional authorities.
A strategic partnership
Convinced that their two models complement each other well, the University of Rennes 1 and Inria have now entered into a strategic partnership aimed at working together - and with all of the university’s partners - to strengthen digital science and technology and the ways in which they interact with other disciplines.
Working together to promote and develop interdisciplinary research
The University of Rennes 1 and Inria both share a desire to support the digital dimension in all fields of research, beyond digital as a discipline in its own right, and are keen to develop new modes of cooperation, including joint project teams involving personnel from different units in biology and health, the environment, human and social sciences and materials. The joint work they carry out and the relationships they have with the university’s partner establishments are centred around six key priorities:
- Cybersecurity and a safe digital society
- Interactions between humans, robots and virtual worlds
- Digital health
- Digital ecology and smart environments
- Smart campuses and cities
- Images and networks
Tackling major challenges facing research and encouraging risk-taking in science
By promoting joint synergies, this policy will help to streamline interactions between the University of Rennes 1 and Inria, whether this involves working together to seek out personnel and financial resources, or implementing an aggressive and attractive HR policy in order to recruit and hold on to the brightest talents.
Promoting the involvement of researchers in education
Education through research, in specific shared areas of digital science, is a vital component of the partnership between the University of Rennes 1 and Inria. Shared objectives include boosting the appeal of these subject areas in order to attract top-level students from both France and overseas to join courses and research teams.
Boosting the site’s impact and appeal
By pooling their strengths, the University of Rennes 1 and Inria are helping to increase the university’s international appeal in a way that will benefit both teaching and research, in fields where the two institutions have a shared mission. Joint initiatives will stimulate economic impact and help to create jobs in the region.
Inria centre at Rennes University
This partnership between the University of Rennes 1 and Inria is exemplified by the “Inria centre at Rennes University”, which comprises both a shared vision and a joint implementation roadmap. The aim is for this strategy to be widely shared with other figures within further education, research and innovation at the university. It is in this context that the University of Rennes 1 and Inria - along with their partners – have committed to developing an établissement public expérimental, the purpose of which will be to become both a driving force and restructuring framework for the university at an organisational level.
@Frédéric Obé - UR1