“It’s the unknown that appeals to me. I’m always looking for Ariadne’s thread each time I come across a labyrinth” Pierre-Gilles de Gennes AUTREMENT l’innovation 2008-2009
“It’s the unknown that appeals to me. I’m always looking for Ariadne’s thread each time I come across
a labyrinth”Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
AUTREMENTl’innovation
20
08
-20
09
An alternative route to Innovation
In the footsteps of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes ....................................... p. 04
A strategy, An organization ....................................... p. 06
Toward a new model of innovation ....................................... p. 08
Responding to business issues ....................................... p. 10
Building innovation in three stages ....................................... p. 12
Laboratories, Projects ....................................... p. 14
Developing talents, Transmitting knowledge ....................................... p. 16
Scientifi c excellenceAlumnus of the École Normale Supérieure, scientifi c visitor in the group of Charles Kittel
at Berkeley from 1967 to 1971, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes became the Director of the École
Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles [Graduate School of Industrial Physics and
Chemistry] in 1976, professor at the Collège de France, and eventually was awarded the Nobel
Prize in physics in 1991. PGG lately joined the Curie Institute in 2002.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes left us a vast body of achievements. He essentially created the fi eld of
soft-matter physics, opening up an area that was viewed by his peers as irrelevant at that time.
His enthusiasm and his sense of curiosity led him unceasingly to address issues that were new
to him (for instance neurosciences).
There is a certain approach to physics that can be characterized as the “de Gennes” style,
typifi ed by the conviction that the phenomena observed in everyday life also pose worthwhile
scientifi c problems and challenges – that shall be explained in simple terms and understood
by everyone, regardless of the complexity of the underlying mechanisms.
His unfl agging desire to convey knowledge and share his discoveries impelled Pierre-Gilles de
Gennes to teach throughout his life: at the Faculté des Sciences d’Orsay [Orsay School of the
Sciences], in primary schools and colleges after receiving his Nobel prize, and at the Collège de
France, where he held the condensed-matter physics chair until 2007, the very year when he
passed away at the age of 75.
The meeting of industrial know-how and academic knowledge
For Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, the essential thing was to breach the barrier separating industrial
research from basic Science. PGG was able to maintain links with industrial engineers, based
on intellectual stimulation and exchanges, supported by a truly egalitarian approach. His own
researches into aquaplaning and emulsions were heavily infl uenced and driven by his industrial
experience. As he himself said, “Both sides have everything to gain!”. The discoveries of Pierre-
Gilles de Gennes contributed toward numerous industrial innovations, such as the role played
by polymerization processes in the plastics industry, or the mastery of textures and the release
of active ingredients in shampoos or detergents, and the assisted recovery of petroleum.
The convictions held by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes include the need for concerted action, for a
dialog, and for the creation of two-way channels between the academic world and the industrial
world. In his own words, “a proper national policy would consist of harmonizing both spheres, so that industrialists will be able to delegate the problems that they themselves cannot address, because of the extremely long timeframes of those issues.”
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
In the footsteps of
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 4
Inspired every day by scientifi c interdisciplinarity, and with a commitment
to major societal missions (the symbiotic cooperation of basic and
industrial research, the dissemination of scientifi c progresses in the fi elds of
health, the environmentally concerned sustainable development, and the
transmission of knowledge), Pierre-Gilles de Gennes left a mark on science,
business, and society. It was with the goal of enshrining his missions
within the continuation of the activities of this great servant of science
that the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research was created.
The convergence of scientifi c disciplines“The frontiers between great empires are often populated by the most interesting peoples. Similarly, the interfaces between two blocks of matter cause the most unexpected effects.” Pierre-Gilles de Gennes crossed the boundaries of numerous different scientifi c domains – or,
in other words, he took advantage of those boundaries in order to make them more fruitful
and to derive from them the full measure of their substance and their potential. He explo-
red the physics of condensed matter, the chemistry of polymers, and the universe of plastics
– which, he was fond of saying, represented an ideal marriage between physics and chemistry.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was an explorer : a frontierman who never lost his enthusiasm, even
while working at the Curie Institute on the physico-chemical foundations of the biology of the
brain.
Innovation within start-up ventures“The most fruitful industrial research is being done at small start-up ventures, where life is exciting but diffi cult. I love this example of stubborn, penniless experimenters. Small high-tech companies, which embody the hopes for our future, thrive on these kinds of people.” The goal of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was to prevent the drain of technological projects away
from their place of birth and to create conditions that would encourage the emergence of
industrial applications from the locus of initial discovery, the academic laboratories.
For him, helping innovative young companies take off, thanks to the convergence of skills and
resources, was the ideal way to concretize the inherent potential of Research.
p. 5
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
At a time when the ability to discover, invent, and transform knowledge into applications is
becoming globalized, more than ever the modern world needs technological breakthroughs
and major innovations in order to maintain a sustainable development, create value for inves-
tors, bring new resource-preservation solutions to light, and fi ght against the great diseases
that plague humanity. It was within this setting that the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for
Research was created in March of 2007. And it is in this spirit that the Foundation now invites
innovative businesses to create the conditions for innovation breakthrough in partnership with
the research laboratories within its network.
Through the meeting of industrial know-how and academic research
Through the creation of new research topics and new sources of inspiration
Through the simplifi cation of the administrative management of joint public-private projects
Through the responsiveness and fl exibility provided for individual, collective, academic, and
industrial initiatives
The Foundation:
Allows access to a think-tank of extremely high-level researchers Facilitates meetings
among potential partners and the creation of partnerships Serves as a facilitator for joint research projects Provides security for the
acquisition of proofs of concept Offers three sequential stages for the secure establishment of
partnerships (see p. 13)
The Foundation:
Invests 2.5 million euro/year in research projects proposed by researchers within the network Offers an alternative source of inspiration and challenges: exploring the hard-to-reach scientifi c area consisting of industrial know-how Proposes working alongside industrial partners Evaluates and sets up projects in a responsive manner
The Foundation is building and enriching its network of private partners (including innovative
small and medium-sized businesses, as well as major companies) alongside the laboratories of its
founding members. Dedicated to industrialists and academic researchers, the Foundation laun-
ches public-private research projects and facilitates the transformation of discoveries into inno-
vative applications. Between now and the year 2012, the Foundation will be investing its initial
capital of 20 million euros in the fi nancing of research projects undertaken by its laboratories.
For academic researchersFor industrialists
A strategy...
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 6
Board of Directors YVES GULDNER, Deputy Director, ENS
MARYLÈNE MESTON DE REN, Secretary General, ENS
FRANÇOIS FUSEAU, Treasurer of the PGG Foundation,
Secretary General of the ESPCI
JACQUES PROST, Director, ESPCI
GIUSEPPE BALDACCI, Deputy Director, the Curie Institute
CORINNE CUMIN, Secretary General of the Curie
Institute Research Center
CHRISTIANE BRANLANT, Research Director, CNRS
PATRICK NETTER, Life Sciences Director, CNRS
CLAUDE BOUCHEIX, Research Director, INSERM
CÉCILE THARAUD, General Director, INSERM Transfert
JEAN-PIERRE HENRY, Chairman of the Montagne Sainte
Geneviève Association
JEAN-CLAUDE LEHMANN, qualifi ed individual
ANDRÉ LEVY-LANG, qualifi ed individual
HERVÉ LE LOUS, Chairman of the PGG Foundation
MAURICE QUENET, Government Commissioner and
Dean of the Academy of Paris
JEAN-LOUIS MISSIKA, Deputy Director for Innovation,
Research, and the Universities, in the Offi ce of the
Mayor of Paris
ANGÉLA TADDEI, representative of researchers, teaching
researchers, and teachers
PASCAL SILBERZAN, representative of researchers,
teaching researchers, and teachers
OLIVIER VALLON, representative of researchers, teaching
researchers, and teachers
For the determination of its broad guidelines and oversight of their implementation, the
Foundation relies on a Board of Directors consisting of representatives of its fi ve founding members, the scientifi c community, local collective bodies, and civil society. To defi ne its scientifi c strategy, specify its goals, and evaluate its performance, the Foundation
consults its International Science Committee. To manage its activities, the Foundation has established a dual operational entity consisting of
an Executive Team and a particularly responsive Steering Committee. As a driving force
behind the Foundation’s excellence, this Steering Committee identifi es and selects the best
opportunities among internal research projects and projects conducted in the form of industrial
partnerships.
The École Normale Supérieure (ENS), the École Supérieure de
Physique et de Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI), the Institut Curie, the CNRS
and the INSERM have built a virtual center of excellence based on
interdisciplinarity, exchanges among the institutions and public-private
partnerships: a center known as the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
for Research
Steering Committee DANIEL LOUVARD, Director of the Curie Institute
Research Center
FRANÇOIS DOZ, Chairman of the Clinical Trials and
Research Committee (CERC) of the Curie Institute
CLAUDE BOCCARA, Science Director of the ESPCI
JANINE COSSY, Director of the Organic Chemistry
Laboratory of the ESPCI
ANTOINE TRILLER, Director of the Biology Department
of the ENS
VINCENT CROQUETTE, Director of Research at the
Physics Department of the ENS
Science Committee B. CANNON, Wenner-Gren Institute
A.H. GANDJBAKHCHE, National Institutes of Health
B. GEIGER, Weizmann Institute
D. TAWFIK, Weizmann Institute
E. SACKMANN, University of Munich
K. SIMONS, Max Planck Institute
P.A. PINCUS, University of California
P. VOGEL, École Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne
An organization
p. 7
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
In the traditional Tech-Transfer model, the industrial partnership is established only downstream
for the translation of an “academic innovation” into marketable applications. However, this de-
layed dialog between the industrial interests and the publicly funded research activities makes it
very unlikely that this type of innovation will fi nd its market.
Toward a new model of innovation
The Foundation by the numbers 140 research teams 1,450 researchers 20 million euros: seed capital 2.5 million euros: pro-
prietary funds for projects per year, over a 5-year period 1 to 3 months to validate a research project 3 to 6 months to launch partnerships Less than
one month to recruit a researcher
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 8
The Foundation is refi ning the traditional model for
research enhancement. Its approach converts the
meeting between the academic community and the
industrial world into a driving force for innovation.
Discovery alone cannot lead to innovation. In the model proposed by the Foundation, the
upstream combination of the industrial know-how and the knowledge of academic research
constitutes a “partnership for discovery” that encourages the transformation of discoveries into
innovation breakthroughs, with a greater likelihood that those innovations will fi nd their market.
The prerequisite for this original approach is the creation of an interface between the locus
of discovery and the locus of innovation. The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research
provides this interface between the academic and industrial worlds.
The Foundation’s operations attest to its alternative vision :
To open up an avenue for innovative companies, the 4 public founding members and the
Curie Institute have installed an executive team with solid experience in small and me-
dium-sized companies.
The Foundation intent is to use its seed capital between now and the year 2012, and
thereafter to ensure its sustainable growth through the implementation of public-private
partnerships.
For applications in healthThe Foundation invests in research projects that shall lead to specifi c breakthroughs in the health
fi eld, including mastery of natural and pathological tissue dynamics; new diagnostic tests; medical
imaging systems; targeted therapeutic systems; new biotechnologies; new analytical devices; new
neurosensory modeling methods; and biomimetic chemistry.
p. 9
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
Facilitating access to basic research Capitalizing on industrial know-how
The laboratories in the Foundation’s network and, more generally, those in the French public
Research, include world-class researchers and hold an enviable position in terms of international
scientifi c excellence. They are a primary locus for scientifi c discoveries.
In parallel, an industrial company that has a stock of know-how is the owner of a true asset and
a powerful engine for growth through the renewal of its innovations and the enhancement of
this asset.
Within this complex dialog between innovation and discovery, innovation breakthroughs
cannot exist without prior discoveries. The meeting of industry and academic research is
fertile for this discoveries. The Foundation has set itself the primary task of bringing about this meeting, facilitating and maintaining the dialog between these two worlds, and encouraging (through a drastic administrative simplifi cation) the initiation of research projects in the form of partnerships.
The engineer should be able to formalize her/his know-how in order to create new scientifi c
challenges that will be presented to high-level academic researchers. This capitalization of know-how is made possible through access to all of the areas of scientifi c expertise within the Foundation’s network, while the Foundation itself provides security for the formalization phase by protecting the confi dentiality of the information.
Responding to business issues
Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research - International visibility
Harvard Karolinska OxfordUniv. Coll.
London
Inst.
Pasteur
Fondation
PGG
Immunology 32,7 14,6 24 16,7 18,5 27,6
Neurosciences 30,6 18,1 28,5 22,6 22,4 27,4
Mol. Biol. / Genetics 51,5 26,5 38,3 35 30,8 33
Citation Index - Essential Science Indicators - ISI (1996 - 2006)
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 10
For businesses, supporting the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research means embarking on a unique intellectual and economic adventure. It means participating, either directly, as an innovative entrepreneur,* or indirectly, as a fi nancial partner,** in the genesis of a new culture of innovation and discovery. *Through its know-how , the company contributes to the identifi cation and implementation of new research projects in partnership
with the Foundation’s laboratories, and to the industrial implementation of the discoveries. The company benefi ts from a Research Tax
Credit that lowers the cost of equity to 5.6%.
**The partner becomes a member of the Foundation’s scientifi c community; benefi ts from all of the information generated by the
network; supports the Foundation’s numerous activities (international symposia, chairs of excellence, and the establishment of junior
teams). As a contributor to a Fondation Reconnue d’Utilité Publique [Foundation of Acknowledged Public Interest], the company enjoys
tax-related benefi ts, in the form of a tax allowance in the amount of 60% of its contribution.
The Foundation’s natural industrial partners are innovative companies
in the health fi eld, which invest in R&D in order to support their
growth and the durability of their economic success. They have the
courage to stake and to share their know-how, in order to create
breakthroughs.
Customized offerings For innovative businesses, the Foundation offers multiple levels of partnership and involvement
in the Foundation’s life:
Its industrial and fi nancial partners are an integral part of the Foundation’s network of labora-
tories. Depending on their level of involvement, they can then sponsor or contract for research
projects inspired by their own know-how, from the furthest upstream stage down through the
proof of concept. Partners then become agents for the benefi cial industrial development of a
shared discovery, from innovation through market introduction. And in so doing, they build their
own ongoing future as innovative businesses.
Example for one joint research project between one Industrial Partner and the Foundation
Opportunity
cost
Turnover
Tax Reduction
Research
Tax Credit
Cost
of equity
2 full time equivalent researchers (PhD and/or Post-doc)
200 000 € 68 800 € 120 000 € 11 200 €
Consumables 35 000 € 12 040 € 21 000 € 1 960 €
Others costs 15 000 € 5 160 € 9 000 € 840 €
Total 250 000 € 86 000 € 150 000 € 14 000 €
Research Tax Credit 2008-2009
p. 11
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
Support the Foundation and join its networkSpecifi cally, the” action partner” supports the Foundation in sponsoring individual events
(conferences, seminars, recruiting programs, etc.). Yttrium partners (named after a key element
in the fi eld of superconductivity) and Iridium partners (named after an element used in numerous
therapeutic applications) participate in the Foundation’s life. They become active members
of the Foundation’s research community, with benefi ts that include access to the extranet
platform, recognition in communications media, invitations to internal events, and meetings with
the network’s researchers.
The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research offers Iridium partners unrestricted access to
fi ve specifi c value axes that are being developed around the Internet/extranet platform:
Talent
Knowledge and know-how
Ideas
Projects
A ”label of quality” in the world of innovation
• The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research is rooted in an outstanding talent pool that also embraces the human and social sciences, literature, and philosophy.
• Thus, the Foundation serves as a bellwether for identifying up-and-coming talents, in conjunction with the vision of its Iridium partners, among the 1,450 researchers, 140 team leaders, 200 post-docs, and 350 young doctoral researchers within its network.
• Iridium partners can obtain the assistance and support of scientifi c experts for questioning the state of the art in new fi elds, or for obtaining a better understanding of development issues.
• Iridium partners participate in the knowledge-dissemination activities organized by the Foundation. The partner’s colleagues, as well as the academic researchers within the network, are enrolled as members of the extranet, and have direct access to these events.
• Iridium partners have an ongoing source of innovative concepts to evaluate.• They can obtain, at a very early stage, a full range of opportunities for development and for innovative partnerships.
• The ideas and meetings initiated through the Foundation lead to R&D projects in partnership with one or more research teams. Iridium partnership opens a pathway marked out by the Foundation:
Upstream validation of the project by the Foundation’s steering committee, clarifying the partnership in terms of the Research Tax Credit (CIR) Simplifi cation of the administrative management of public-private projects, through the installation of a single agent or representative for handling the legal aspects and IP issues The security for the acquisition of proofs of concept, through the Foundation’s supervision of the projects.
• Each year, ten promising ventures are identifi ed within the Foundation’s laboratories. These start-ups are naturally attracted to the Foundation’s Iridium partners in order to participate to their growth.
• Acknowledgment as an Iridium Partner of the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research is a powerful indicator of innovation activism - which, of course, is displayed at the Foundation’s Internet site.
• Iridium partners are mentioned prominent in all broadcast media, at institutional activities, and at all of the Foundation’s events.
Building innovation in three stages
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 12
The Foundation and innovative companies seed innovation in three
successives stages: project establishment, active participation to research
and development of results...
Stage 2: Participate in research projects
The Foundation prepares a provisional budget for the project, and proposes to the Iridium partner:
Two possible types of fi nancing • In the form of tax-exempt sponsored research, under the auspices of the discretion granted to foundations that are
acknowledged to be in the public interest, or
• In the form of contractual joint research that can be included in full under the Research Tax Credit (CIR) assessment.
This contract specifi es, among other things, the treatment of IP.
Optimized management • Founding Members of the Foundation offer a single point of contact for all legal issues and issues relating to the
benefi cial use of the results of the research projects.
• Tax-related matters are optimized, and the handling of intellectual property issues is simplifi ed, through the signing of
contracts directly between the industrial partner and the national laboratories, with no additional intermediaries.
• Progress reports are submitted through access to the Foundation’s extranet project platform, and are also presented
at the milestone and results meetings. This system provides security for the acquisition of proofs of concept.
Although the development of the scientifi c results for benefi cial use can be handled directly by the partners and the public
agencies, the Foundation can support and assist the industrialists or academic researchers in the following three instances:
For the creation of consortia / The Foundation may provide a locus for the creation of the consortia, including consortia
with external French or foreign academic partners, thereby facilitating fundraising or the acquisition of the subsidies that
are necessary for the success of the project.
Technology transfer / The Foundation assists researchers in the establishment of technology transfers.
• The Founding Members appoint a single patent manager, who becomes the Foundation’s partner for the development
and benefi cial use of the invention.
• The Founding Members entrust the pair consisting of the Foundation and the manager with the task of serving as the
point of contact with the industrial partners.
Support for promising ventures / The Foundation encourages the emergence of innovative start-ups by accompanying
them and allowing them to make progress toward technical and/or economic proof of concept, without departing from
the fertile environment of its network.
Stage 3: Develop Innovation
Build research projects:Stage 1:
Yttrium and Iridium partners are directly involved in the Foundation’s activities, and engage in
dialogue with the Foundation’s researchers in order to conduct research projects in partnership.
p. 13
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
Laboratories The Foundation brings together the full potential of the research laboratories of the École
Normale Supérieure, the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles, the
Institut Curie to which come to be added those of the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique
(IBPC). These laboratories unite scientifi c excellence over a full range of disciplines: from clinical
medicine to theoretical physics, and from chemistry to molecular and cell biology.
The École Normale Supérieure is a teaching and research institution.
The long tradition of basic research at the ENS ranges from mathematics
to the human sciences, via physics, chemistry, and biology.
The mission of the École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Indus-trielles is to train scientifi c engineers in the areas of physics and chemistry,
with a grounding in biology; to develop a world-class research center ; and
to maintain close links with the industrial world. Thus, the ESPCI holds a
position at the heart of a tradition of relations between theoretical and
applied science.
The Institut Curie combines at a single site France’s largest cancer
research center and a hospital that specializes in the treatment of cancer.
The Curie Institute includes biologists, chemists, physicists, biostatisticians,
and physicians, all working toward the single shared goal of providing
diagnostic and therapeutic solutions to human pathologies in general and
to cancer in particular.
Laboratories…
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 14
ProjectsScientifi c rigor, quality, and high risk/impact are the primary selection criteria applied to the
research programs considered by the Foundation’s steering committee.
The Foundation launches only projects that qualify for two out of the three additional criteria :
• Inter-institutional, to maximize the synergies of the research laboratories of the ENS, the
ESPCI, and the Curie Institute.
• Interdisciplinary, to shorten the discovery/innovation cycle, by interfacing physics with
biology, chemistry, and clinics.
• Public-private, to facilitate the implementation of the scientifi c partnerships that support
the research efforts and the rapid implementation of the innovations.
The Foundation’s three founding research centers include 140 teams
and 1,450 researchers working in all areas of chemistry, physics, biology,
and clinical applications.
Intermediate Scales for Translational Research The range between macromolecules size and cell or tissue – on the scale from 100 nanometers to 50 microns – is where
certain major biological events take place: tumor stability, neural communication, and cell adhesion…
The study of all of these events requires a multidisciplinary approach, and is taking on the major challenge of achieving
cooperation among very diverse cultures, e.g., those of physicians, biostatisticians, chemists, biologists, and pharmacologists.
Over the last 40 years, the Foundation’s teams have developed unique skills in the study and modeling of the events that
occur at these so-called “intermediate scales.”
These skills place the researchers in an ideal position for a concrete approach to Translational Research, because the “inter-
mediate scales” are the locus of most of the causes of failure for standard therapeutic development strategies. These scales
may thus make it possible to align animal models with clinical observations. Consequently, the researchers of the Fondation
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research are resolutely embracing this fi eld of exploration, which has often been overlooked
but which is of the utmost importance for the therapeutic successes of tomorrow.
Projects
p. 15
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
Fabio Terpone has joined the
theoretical chemistry labora-
tory of the ENS Department of
Chemistry for post-doc work under the
leadership of Damien Laage. Fabio is a
specialist in the modeling of the behavior
of complex multimolecular assemblies;
he is working on the design of a predic-
tive model for the topology and nature
of water-protein reactions.
Roberto Sitia, a professor of mo-
lecular biology at the Università
Vita Salute San Raffaele in Milan,
is being hosted by the Cell Compart-
mentalization and Dynamics Labora-
tory headed by Bruno Goud (UMR 144
CNRS / Curie Institute) and the ENS De-
partment of Biology as a member of the
team led by Jean Massoulié (UMR 8544
CNRS / ENS).
Sarah Yasmine Suck is working on
her PhD at the Laboratory for
the Photons and Matter (LPEM
- UPR5 ESPCI), under the supervision
of Gilles Tessier. Her project focuses on
numerical holography and microscopy of
the electromagnetic fi eld around nano-
systems of biological interest.
Developing talents...
The Foundation’s researchers1,450 men and women with broad backgrounds and scientifi c careers, distributed
among the 140 laboratories in the Foundation’s network, constitute a lea-
ding international scientifi c community. These researchers are ready to work with
industrial know-how to which they do not currently have access, in order to derive from it
the discoveries that will be tomorrow’s wellsprings of innovation. These are the researchers
who have the courage to face new challenges by leaving the well-beaten paths of the
traditional approach of research.
From basic to applied research, from theory to inventions and industrial development for
benefi cial use, from concepts to therapeutic solutions, the Foundation’s research centers form
a unique scientifi c hub for the creation of international “chairs of excellence,” while welcoming
visiting scientists, young researchers, and PhD students.
International chairsInternational research chairs allow well-regarded researchers to conti-nue their work on scientifi c projects, by implementing a new thematic approach to research and a new team, while strengthening the bonds among the Foundation’s laboratories.
Visiting scientistsThe Foundation is a site for scientifi c exchanges and the sharing of knowledge. It draws to France recognized researchers who, during their stay, participate in the research programs conducted by the Foundation’s laboratories.
Post-docsThe scientifi c excellence of the laboratories within the network make the
Foundation a center that is particularly well suited to the needs of young
researchers seeking a post-doctoral fellowship. Accordingly, the Founda-
tion offers grants, in order to:
Allow the Foundation’s laboratories to expand their research potential
in a responsive manner, and
Attract bright young researchers.
Ph.D.sThrough the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, the
Foundation’s laboratories welcome foreign doctoral candidates and offer
them all of the conditions necessary for their training, e.g., fi nancing, a
high-level research laboratory, and personal coaching.
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
p. 16
www.trc.fondation-pgg.org
Transmitting knowledge
The Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes for Research organizes scientifi c
conferences, created the PGG International Seminars, and sponsors
university summer sessions. Its goal, through these events, is to offer
the scientifi c community high-level lectures on the research topics that
it addresses, and to strengthen the international scientifi c scope of its
network. The dissemination of knowledge through scientifi c events also
gives the Foundation’s partner businesses access to the latest progress
in their research fi elds.
PGG International Seminars 2008-2009 Translational Research & CancerThe purpose of the international seminars sponsored by the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Foundation is to present the state of the art in a given research fi eld, and to contribute to it
through a new vision or a novel approach.
With the launch of the PGG International Seminars, the Foundation is offering a cycle of
multiple conferences in 2008 and 2009, whose goal is to enable a better understanding of
translational research in the fi eld of oncology through complementary viewpoints.
Translational research aims to bring about cooperation among diverse cultures, and to combine
individual approaches that are in a state of constant evolution (including applied mathematics, the
physical of wave-matter interaction, molecular biology, and advanced biotechnological systems) with
solidly established know-how (including clinical observation, anatomopathology, and technical and
regulatory affairs). Thus, the conduct of translational research and the conversion of its fi ndings
into specifi c applications are particularly dependent not only on the sharing of knowledge, but
also on the union of skills and the creation of public-private partnerships.
It is within this context that the Foundation has made an investment in translational research and
organized a cycle of meetings. Eight meetings will present, from four different viewpoints (clinical
practice, imaging, molecular biology and bioinformatics, and industrial challenges), a multidisciplinary,
public-private, and up-to-the-minute vision of translational research in the fi eld of oncology.
The DeGennesDays 2008Held in Paris in May 2008, the De Gennes Days international seminar seek to encourage closer
links among different disciplines, including physics, biology, chemistry, biophysics, and biochemis-
try. Recent developments in the scientifi c fi elds that are most heavily infl uenced by the work of
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes were presented.
www.fondation-pgg.org/events/degennesdays
p. 17
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
Iridium Partners
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLES
DE GENNES
Photos: Originals Photos :
Serge Chapuis for the Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
p. 4 : © Gilles Bassignac - Fondation d’Entreprise L’Oréal
The founding
Members
FONDATIONPIERRE-GILLESDE GENNES
PR
OD
UC
TIO
N/C
ON
CE
PTI
ON :
ATC
G-P
AR
TNE
RS T
EL
: +33
(0)6
33
34 0
8 27
• D
ES
IGN: B
BP
CO
MM
UN
ICA
TIO
N /
TE
L: 0
1 55
70
05 5
9 •
PR
INT:
STE
LL /
TE
L: 0
4 91
19
60 6
0
www.fondation-pgg.org