Missions
The ANR was founded in 2005 to promote French project-based research and to stimulate innovation by promoting the emergence of collaborative multidisciplinary projects and encouraging collaboration between the public and private sectors. It also aims to strengthen the position of French research at European level and worldwide. The Agency's missions, defined in the decree of 1 August 2006 amended on 24 March 2014, are:
- To fund and promote the development of basic and targeted research, technological innovation, technology transfer and public-private partnerships
- To implement the Work Programme approved by the French Minister of Research, following consultation with the supervisory ministers of France’s research bodies and public higher education institutions
- To manage major government investment programmes in the fields of higher education and research and to oversee their implementation
- To strengthen scientific cooperation across Europe and worldwide by aligning its Work Programme with European and international initiatives
- To analyse trends in research offering and assess the impact of the funding it allocates on scientific output in France
The ANR's activities are thus designed to support the excellence of French research at a variety of techno-logical readiness levels (TRL), support basic research, encourage academic and public-private scientific partnerships and promote European and international cooperation. To achieve these goals, it organises competitive calls for proposals and conducts rigorous selection processes based on peer review, in compliance with international standards: impartiality, equal treatment, confidentiality, ethics, scientific integrity and transparency.
The ANR, the national operator of France 2030 programme
The Agency has also been the national operator of France 2030 in the field of higher education and research. The ANR was appointed in 2010 as the French government's operator for the actions of the Investments for the Future programme (PIA) and confirmed in the same role for the second programme in 2013, the third in 2017, and as part of France 2030 in 2021. This involves organising the selection, negotiating agreements, providing funding and monitoring, auditing and reviewing the impact of the projects and the activities of the programme in the field of higher education and research.
An agreement between the State and the ANR sets out for each action the framework for its financing and the operational modalities for its implementation.
Programming based on consultation with research stakeholders
The ANR's programming is decided by the French Research Ministry and developed on the basis of priorities defined in the National Research Strategy (SNR), in coordination with European and international research funding initiatives. The Programming Advisory Panels constitute the consultation bodies that draft the Work Programme describing the proposed actions and calls for proposals for the coming year. This document offers scientific communities an overall view of the ANR's funding provision.
A continuous improvement approach
As part of its quality policy, the ANR is strengthening the reliability of its procedures and continuously adapting them to guarantee selection quality, optimise the quality of the service delivered to its community of users and ensure the organisation’s activities efficiency. The Agency has ISO 9001 certification for its selection processes.
The Objectives and performance contract between the State and the ANR
Download and the COP summary (in French)
