Asia, Oceania & Russia

Ambitious opportunities for a challenging science

© INRIA - Photo J.-M. Ramès

The relationships developed over the years with flagship research centres in China, Russia, Japan and Australia are a long-standing feature of Inria's scientific landscape. Whether it be China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore or India, most Asian countries are experiencing strong economic growth and their investments in education and research notably in the field of information and communication science and technology (ICST) are key assets in their race for competitiveness.

Building relationships with countries of high research and development potential

"The digital economy is thriving in Asia", points Angélica Biard, program manager in the International Affairs Department (DRI) "Not only from a business standpoint, but also for basic and applied research. Japan and China in particular are ranked third and fourth in the world for R&D spending. It is an increasingly influential continent, and we would like our scientists to be familiar with the rising stars in the area". To achieve that goal, the DRI is financing exchange programmes (Associate Teams, Internships, etc.); it is also involved as a partner, side by side with other research organisations in France and abroad to build international collaboration on the long run. Accordingly, Inria played a pioneer role with the China Academy of Sciences when they jointly created the LIAMA, i.e. the Sino-French Lab in Computer Science, Automation and Applied Mathematics. Other structuring efforts include for example cofinancing bilateral projects with the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Inria is also involved in the region's ICT-Asia Programme, initiated by France's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs alongside the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Institute Telecom, the Intstitute for  Research and Development (IRD) and universities.

We would like our scientists to be familiar with the rising stars in Asia.

The DRI also encourages young researchers to participate in the "Frontiers of Science and Engineering" symposiums (France-Taiwan and France-Japan). These annual events have the dual purpose of encouraging cross-disciplinary interaction between young, high-potential researchers and promoting mutual knowledge of the scientific environment between France, Japan and Taiwan. 

Promoting collaboration on targeted topics

Part of the DRI activity is dedicated to prospecting up-and-coming opportunities for the researchers. Closer institutional relationships with key organisations and universities in rising countries widen the networks that scientists build.

"The DRI now aims at fostering collaboration with such and such country on targeted topics", explains Angélica Biard. "For example, there is an interest in joining forces with Japanese researchers in robotics which is cutting-edge in that country. It would also be interesting to encourage collaboration related to numerical modeling because we are partners in the ITER fusion programme […]. In 2010, the Tianhe supercoputer based in Tianjin, China, ranks first on the TOP 500 list ; this country also shows major ambitions for electric vehicles. India is home to internationally recognised skills in software development and is looking for innovative solutions to cover the needs of its huge territory. Korea is investing heavily in  its broadband internet infrastructure... These are just some of the fascinating opportunities for our scientists in that part of the planet."

LIAMA – a groundbreaking laboratory in China

The Sino-French Lab in Computer Science, Automation and Applied Mathematics (LIAMA) was created in 1997 by Inria and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); it is hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation (CASIA) at the heart of Beijing's 'Silicon Valley'. The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), CIRAD (A French research institution working with developing countries on international agricultural and development issues) and France's Écoles centrales (engineering schools) joined the project from 2000 onwards. LIAMA has since become a consortium gathering several European and Chinese institutions. About a hundred French and Chinese researchers are working together on research projects on software, multimedia interpretation and interaction, computational medicine and environmental modeling issues. In addition to this platform for collaborative projects, LIAMA also helps in promoting the Scilab open source software in China.

LIAMA website

Poncelet France-Russia joint laboratory

Inria has a long history with Russian science, made tangible by the founding in the early 1990s, of the Lyapunov laboratory with the University of Moscow. Since 2006, exchanges between France and Russia in computational science have increased in scale and Inria has become an associate member of the Poncelet Laboratory in Moscow. This laboratory is a CNRS Joint International Unit founded with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Independent University of Moscow and the Moscow International Research Institute for advanced systems. Inria contributes to the scientific exchanges between France and Russia with a joint call for projects "Inria-Russia".

See the Inria-Russia call for projects.

ICT-Asia programme to initiate regional collaboration

The regional programme ICT-Asia is an initiative of the French cooperation launched toward Asia and aiming at creating and reinforcing high-level collaborations and networks in the region, for research and development in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Inria is a member of this scheme alongside the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the Institut Telecom and the Research and development institute (IRD) and the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The main purpose of ICST-Asia is to strengthen top level collaboration with emerging and developed Asian countries for mutual benefit, and to contribute to the inclusion of less advanced countries within the information society. It targets fundamental and applied research projects between France and at least two partner countries in Asia, having a potential innovative and technology transfer outcomes.

See the ICT-Asia call for projects.

Countries eligible for the ICST-Asia programme:

Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India and Pakistan.

Keywords: Asie Poncelet laboratory Ayame programme STIC-ASIE IIT Rajasthan project Partenerhips LIAMA

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