New 2023 Call for ANR’s Joint Laboratories (LabCom) Programme

ANR has launched the 2023 call for its LabCom initiative, providing funding to establish joint laboratories between academia and industry. The programme supports all disciplines, with this edition having a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI).

The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR – National Research Agency) was first established in 2005 and is governed by the French Ministry of Research. It provides funding to public research organisations and universities, as well as to private companies, for both basic and applied research in all fields of science.

ANR established the Joint Laboratories (LabCom) programme to encourage the formation of new structured research partnerships in France between research groups and small, medium or intermediate sized businesses (SMEs or ETIs). The programme’s goal is to encourage the exchange of knowledge between research institutions and businesses in order to promote innovation, improved competitiveness and long-term collaboration and job creation.

To be eligible, the proposed joint laboratory project must be composed of one French public research laboratory and one private enterprise (SME or ETI).

The 2023 edition of the LabCom programme prioritises strengthening partnership research in artificial intelligence (AI). The aim is to develop strong interactions with the sectors identified in France’s national AI Plan: health, transport, energy and environment, security.

Projects funded by ANR LabCom systematically include two periods, the initial construction phase and the operational phase. A maximum of €363,000 will be awarded to the successful research institute partner. The funds will be divided into payments for two phases:

  • Initial construction phase (maximum funding €50,000). This phase has a duration of six months.
  • Operational phase (maximum funding €313,000). This phase has a duration of 48 months.

There are two evaluation sessions. For the first evaluation session, proposals must be submitted by 10 May 2023. The deadline for the second and final evaluation is 20 September 2023.

(This report was the subject of a ResearchConnect Newsflash.)