CRI Sophia
© Inria / photo G. Scagnelli

Inria centre
at Université Côte d’Azur

The Inria research centre at Université Côte d'Azur was created in 1983. Its dynamism is part of the development of the Sophia Antipolis and Nice sites, with Université Côte d'Azur. Since 2003, it has also had a branch in Montpellier, in partnership with the University of Montpellier, where it supports the development of the MUSE I-site.

 

The centre's project teams are located :

  • in Sophia Antipolis and Nice for 29 of them ;
  • in Montpellier for 5 of them and
  • in Marseille for a joint team with Inserm.

Two of the centre's teams are based in Europe: one in Bologna and the other in Athens.

The centre employs nearly 700 scientists and research and innovation support staff of 55 different nationalities.

Research areas of the Inria centre at Université Côte d'Azur

Starting with computer science and applied mathematics, the research and innovation projects of the center's teams touch all dimensions of digital science and technology:

Positioning & Strategic issues

Scientific priorities

  • Computational medicine, neuroscience and biology ;
  • AI, geometry, heterogeneous data and modeling ;
  • Collaborative robotics for open and dynamic environments.

Strategic development areas :

  • Ubiquitous computing: software engineering, security, reliability and certification

In addition, the Inria branch at the University of Montpellier aims to conduct interdisciplinary research in data sciences, the environment, agronomy and medicine.

Ecosystem & Partners

In Sophia Antipolis and Nice: the centre has been a partner of Université Côte d'Azur since its creation, and a founding member of the UCAJedi IDEX. It is a co-founder of the interdisciplinary artificial intelligence institute 3IA Côte d'Azur and the IHU Respi'ERA.

Project-teams are shared with the following academic partners: Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, INRAE, Inserm and Sorbonne University.

In Montpellier: the centre is a member of the MUSE I-SITE. The "Montpellier University of Excellence" (MUSE) project, led by the University of Montpellier and its partners including Inria, has been awarded the "Initiatives-Science-Innovation-Territoires-Economie" (I-SITE) label, with the aim of meeting three major challenges for the 21st century: feeding, protecting and caring, thanks to its expertise in life sciences, the environment and agriculture.

The project-teams are shared with the following academic partners: Université de Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE and Inserm.

The centre, which hosts the 3IA Côte d'Azur and the Neuromod Institute, also has a number of other partnerships:

  • Innovation ecosystem: SCS, Eurobiomed, SAFE, Telecom Valley, Incubateur Provence-Côte d'Azur, SATT Sud Est, Sophia Club Entreprises, Educazur, CCI Côte d'Azur, French Tech Côte d'Azur Région Sud, IRT St Exupéry.
  • Local authorities: Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Alpes Maritimes department, CASA (Sophia Antipolis agglomeration community), Nice Côte d'Azur metropolis, Occitanie region.
  • Companies: Major groups : Airbus, Alstom, Amadeus, Ariane Group, EDF, Fujitsu, Microsoft Research, Orange, Naval Group, Nokia, PSA, Safran, Samsung, ST Microelectronics, Thales, Total.
  • International academic partners: University of Athens (NKUA), University of Bologna.

Recruitment at the Inria centre at Université Côte d’Azur

Scientists

Would you like to work on challenging projects in an international, innovative and interdisciplinary environment? Every year, Inria recruits interns, doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, research fellows and research directors, either through a competitive process or on contract.

In order to ensure that young researchers are able to carry out their work in optimal conditions from the moment they arrive, a "Welcome package" is offered to each research fellow (CRCN) and Inria starting faculty position (ISFP) newly recruited to the center. A complementary grant from the Université Côte d'Azur, including a thesis grant as well as a €60,000 operating budget, can be added to this if the research theme concerns strategic subjects for the site.

Technology development

Inria offers a unique environment for many talented people in the field of technological and software development. The research engineer is the key player in supporting and guaranteeing the production of knowledge and value by research teams.

Research support

Inria calls on talent in more than forty research support professions in order to achieve its ambitions, from human resources to administrative assistance and financial management, not to mention communications... The 900 women and men in the support services who accompany research and innovation activities are a source of pride for the Institute and form the backbone of Inria.

Maureen Clerc
Photo Aurélie Macarri - Université Côte d'Azur

Maureen Clerc

Director of the Inria centre at Université Côte d’Azur

Practical informations

CRI Sophia

Address

Inria centre at Université Côte d'Azur

2004, route des Lucioles

BP 93

06902 Sophia Antipolis  Cedex

Contact

  • Tel. : +33 (0) 4 92 38 77 77
  • Fax : +33 (0) 4 92 38 76 33
  • e-Mail
    Carrières et Métiers
    © Inria / Photo C. Morel

    Working at Inria

    You wish to become a researcher, an engineer, to accompany the research within the institute? Or simply do an internship?