Centre national de la recherche scientifique

The French National Centre for Scientific Research (French: Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the largest governmental research organisation in France and the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. It employs 32,000 permanent employees (researchers, engineers, and administrative staff) and 6,000 temporary workers.

Organization

Following a 2009 reform, the CNRS is divided into 10 institutes:

Previously, it was divided into INSU, IN2P3, and several "scientific departments".

The National Committee for Scientific Research, which is in charge of the recruitment and evaluation of researchers, is divided into 47 sections (e.g. section 1 is mathematics; section 7 is computer science and control). Research groups are affiliated with one primary institute and an optional secondary institute; the researchers themselves belong to one section.