The French National Research Agency (ANR) is a public administrative institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation. The agency implements project-based research funding for public operators, either in collaboration with one another or in partnership with private companies.
The ANR was established in 2005 to promote project-based research in France and stimulate innovation by encouraging the emergence of collaborative, multidisciplinary projects and fostering public-private partnerships. It also aims to strengthen the positioning of French research at the European and global levels. The agency's missions, defined in the decree of August 1, 2006, revised on March 24, 2014, include:
- Funding and promoting the development of fundamental and applied research, technological innovation, technology transfer, and partnerships between the public and private sectors.
- Implementing the programming determined by the Minister in charge of Research, who consults with the ministers overseeing research organizations or public higher education institutions.
- Managing large-scale State investment programs in higher education and research and monitoring their implementation.
- Strengthening scientific cooperation at the European and international levels by aligning its programming with European and international initiatives.
- Analyzing research developments and measuring the impact of the agency’s funding on national scientific output.
The ANR’s activities are thus designed to support the excellence of French research across various levels of technological maturity, to advance fundamental research, to encourage academic and public-private scientific partnerships, and to foster European and international collaborations. To achieve these goals, the agency issues competitive calls for projects and implements rigorous selection processes based on peer review, adhering to international principles: impartiality, fairness, confidentiality, ethics, scientific integrity, and transparency.
The intervention budget is used to commit the amount for research projects selected for funding within the framework of the budgetary year. It is allocated among:
- The Generic Call for Proposals (AAPG);
- Specific Calls for Proposals;
- Outside Calls for Proposals, which includes resources allocated to the Carnot Program, the National Cancer Institute (INCa) responsible for calls for proposals in the field of cancer, and the overhead funding (see below).
The intervention budget of the ANR – corresponding to the commitment authorizations granted to beneficiaries – amounted to nearly €1.2 billion in 2023, an increase of €75.1 million compared to 2022.