Funding instruments
Supporting early-stage research
Within the Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG), the ANR offers five funding instruments to fund individual research projects coordinated by young researchers under the "Young researchers" instrument (JCJC); ambitious and innovative research projects coordinated by a team under the "Single-team research project" instrument (PRME); and collaborative research projects:
- between national public entities under the "Collaborative research project" instrument (PRC),
- between public and private entities in a national context under the "Collaborative research project - enterprise" instrument (PRCE) or
- between public entities and foreign partners in a bilateral international context 12 under the "International Collaborative Research Project" instrument (PRCI).
A generic call for proposals with two selection stages
Review the eligibility criteria, submission conditions, selection process and timetable of the AAPG
Developing partnership-based research and technology transfer
The ANR also offers funding instruments and implements specific programmes to support and strengthen research partnerships between public and private-sector players:
LabCom
This programme support the creation of laboratories established jointly by a public research laboratory and a microbusiness, a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a middle-market company. It aim to develop academic research players’ potential for industrial partnerships and knowledge transfer and help to set-up long-term partnerships.
A dedicated call for proposals with two to three selection sessions per year
Industrial chairs
This instrument supports the creation of chairs in public laboratories, established jointly with companies, on ambitious, innovative research programmes with industrial applications. The chair is co-funded equally by the ANR and the partner companies. The partnership is coordinated by a researcher with an international reputation who provides teaching on the research topics targeted in line with their activity.
A dedicated call for proposals open to all research topics
Challenge
The Challenge programmes finance several teams simultaneously to explore multiple research approaches to the same problem with the aim of overcoming scientific, technological or methodological obstacles that may have major social implications. The work is organised around campaigns of experiments to track, test and compare the approaches taken.
A dedicated call for proposals whose communication is made in association with the co-funding partners.
Carnot programme
The ANR also manages the Carnot programme, which aim to recognize and support French laboratories engaged in positioning partnership-based research (and particularly bilateral contractual research) at the heart of their strategy. To support public research institutions with the “Carnot institute” label and bring them closer to private stakeholders, the ANR makes an annual contribution to these bodies based on their partnership revenues. This additional allowance is designed to help them develop their skills and maintain the scientific lead they need for their performance and attractiveness.
Public-private research projects (PRPP)
The purpose of this collaborative instrument is to encourage the development of new public- private partnership dynamics or enable technological or social maturity of research projects. This new instrument involves at least one academic partner and one private partner.
Meanwhile, the Agency funds or organises collaboration programmes with national institutional partners to support projects in sectors of interest to its co-funders and coordinate the provision of support for research and innovation. Financed by the DGA and organised by the ANR, the Astrid and Astrid Maturation programmes dedicated to dual civilian and military research benefit from mixed ANR-DGA monitoring. These programmes aim to support and develop the maturity of research and innovation work on themes of interest to defence and civilian research.
Find out more about the ANR’s national partnerships
Supporting urgent research needs
ANR has a specific instrument to respond to urgent needs for research on specific themes, including subjects relating to events or natural disasters of exceptional magnitude: Flash calls. This instrument enables a scientific community to be mobilised very quickly. Project selection and funding take place in just a few months, without compromising the principles of peer review.
A dedicated call for proposals subject to specific communication.
Encouraging the participation of French teams in European and international programmes
Collaborating with foreign funding agencies, the ANR takes part in specific international calls for proposals (ERA-NET, ERA-NET Cofund, EJP, Article 185, JPI, bi- or multilateral calls) to promote cooperation between French teams and the best European and international teams on specific strategic research themes. For this reason, it only finances the participation of the French teams.
The ANR also offers two specific calls for proposals to facilitate access by French researchers to large-scale European or international funding programmes and strengthen their leadership:
- MRSEI, to help researchers constitute a scientific network at an internationally recognised level on subjects from all disciplines with a view to submitting a project to a European (such as Horizon 2020) or international call for proposals.
Presentation of the MRSEI instrument
- SRSEI to support the application, to a European or international call for proposals, of research networks already implemented and coordinated by a French partner. The coordinator of a project selected in the first stage of such a call can apply for SRSEI funding to further their application to improve their chances of success in the second stage.
Find out more about the SRSEI instrument
- T-ERC, which offers a further chance of success to young researchers from French public research organisations who, despite very strong applications, have not been awarded funding under the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant or Consolidator Grant schemes.
- Access-ERC, a new experimental call in SHS, to fund and host young post-doctoral researchers in a French research laboratory, regardless of their nationality, who undertake to apply to an ERC (European Research Council) programme.
European and internationally focused initiatives and funding instruments
Alongside this, the ANR manages several specific calls for proposals on behalf of third parties through partnerships.
