Franche-Comté, where innovation comes naturally

From Louis Pasteur, the microbiology pioneer, to Hilaire de Chardonnet, the inventor of artificial silk… From the Peugeot family, to Joseph Fréchin who developed the first quinoline-based products… From the polar exploration of Paul Emile Victor to the company Dryade which equips "classical" sailboats on all of the world's oceans with its reinvented blocks… They all have one thing in common: a particular region and the historical ability of "people from here" to innovate.
The people of Franche-Comté have learnt to handle radical technological change, as in the case of microtechnologies emerging from their watch-making know-how.
From watch-making to micromechanics, from the development of microtechnical industries to research on nanostructures, Franche-Comté is a prime mover in the world of innovation because of the rich source of know-how in the region.
It is also a force to be reckoned with in its commitment to introduce innovation by understanding techniques and then transferring that knowledge so that the technologies used can be developed further. This approach has resulted in numerous industrial successes in Franche-Comté.
The strength of Franche-Comté lies in its smallness because geographical proximity forges closer links between people, technologies and companies.
In addition to research activities focusing on engineering sciences, innovations are being developed largely in the fields of human sciences and life sciences. Through combinations of history and information technology, information technology and linguistics, ergonomics and physiology, micromechanics and medicine, Franche-Comté is producing many innovative young companies.

Key figures on research in Franche-Comté:

• 530M€ i.e. 2.1% of Franche-Comté GDP invested in R&D
• 5,840 people working in public and private research
• 41 research units – 2,757 researchers
• R&D workforce: 1.2% of total employment
• largest region in France for private R&D with 86% of expenditure coming from private sources
• the French Blood Agency: the largest blood, placenta and cornea bank