Key facts

Calvados has no fewer than 1,000 lecturer/researchers, working within 52 research teams or units. Of these, 45 are recognized by the Ministry of Research and 16 are associated with major research bodies ( CNRS, INSERM, INRA, IFREMER, CEA).

Research in the Lower Normandy region as a whole is also supported by the Pôle Universitaire Normand (PUN), a consortium of universities in Caen, Rouen and Le Havre. It represents a research potential of 130 laboratories, 3,500 lecturer/researchers and 2,000 PhD students.

    The region’s top 7 research hubs

• Fundamental and applied biology
• Medical biology and epidemiology
• Social sciences, including economics, management and law
• Molecular chemistry, neuroscience, drug research
• Mathematics, data processing, imaging, information and communication technologies
• Ion-matter interactions
• Materials

Research in these last two fields is centred on ENSICAEN (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Caen), which is home to a group of 8 laboratories.

    Two emerging research hubs

• Geoscience, mechanical engineering
• Environmental control

Unique facilities

Research units can take advantage of large-scale research facilities : GANIL (National Heavy Ion Accelerator), MRSH (Caen-Lower Normandy social science research centre), CYCERON (biomedical cyclotron) and IRBA (Applied Biology Research Institute).

And to get back to where we started - information technology- Calvados is home to one of France Télécom’s eight R&D centres in the country.