Research strategy
The University of Strasbourg's research strategy aims to:
- Support exceptional research projects across all disciplines, pushing the boundaries of knowledge at the highest international level
- Encourage international partnerships with leading research centres in every field
- Promote interdisciplinarity and dialogue between disciplines
- Strengthen the links between research and education by providing an outstanding environment for PhD students and early-career researchers
- Foster dialogue between science and society and support open science practices
This research strategy is based on:
- A close partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique – CNRS), the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale – Inserm) and the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique – Inria)
- A strategic partnership with the University Hospitals of Strasbourg, bringing together clinical work and research through the involvement of university hospital staff
- Long-term funding under the Initiative of Excellence (IdEx): the University of Strasbourg was among the first institutions to receive the IdEx label and has benefited from continuous funding since 2016
- Playing a leading role in the Alsace research landscape
- Active participation in strategic alliances such as Eucor - The European campus and the European Partnership for an Innovative Campus Unifying Regions (EPICUR)
- Active participation in national networks such as Udice and international networks such as the League of European Research Universities (LERU)
Research priorities
The University of Strasbourg’s research strategy is organised around three main priorities:
Priority 1 – Providing a world-class research environment to enhance attractiveness
- Investing heavily in cutting edge research infrastructure
- Developing the skills of engineering and technical staff to ensure research facilities run effectively
- Reinforcing research support systems (computing, data storage and sharing, artificial intelligence, data management, etc.), in line with national priorities
- Offering researchers an attractive working environment that fosters collaboration, career development and wellbeing
Priority 2 – Strengthening the internationalisation of research
- Building on the existing international collaborations of Strasbourg's research units
- Supporting researchers in joining and contributing to international networks
- Modernising human resources practices to encourage international mobility for researchers
- Drawing on existing international networks (Eucor – The European Campus, EPICUR, the Maison universitaire France-Japon), while developing new strategic partnerships
Priority 3 – Advancing interdisciplinary research to address tomorrow’s societal challenges
- Leveraging the 15 existing Interdisciplinary Thematic Institutes (ITI) to continue supporting cutting-edge research over the long term with a strong societal impact, encouraging risk-taking
- Strengthening the links between research and education at every level of study
- Fostering collaboration between researchers and clinicians to advance fundamental, applied and translational research
Financial and human resources
Around 3,500 people contribute to research at the University of Strasbourg. They include researchers, lecturer-researchers, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and scientific and technical staff working across 66 laboratories and 13 other research structures spanning all disciplines.
The University dedicates 28% of its budget to research, which is used to:
- Support the CoRTecS network of scientific research and service platforms
- Fund the salaries of scientific and technical staff
- Support the activities of the Research and Doctoral Studies Office (Direction de la recherche et de la formation doctorale – DRD)
- Provide funding for research units
- Maintain research facilities and buildings
- Invest in research infrastructure