IRTs are thematic and interdisciplinary technological research institutes set up by the French Government for industrial competitiveness:
- Their mission is to bring out innovations in future economic sectors through balanced public-private strategic partnerships;
- They operate research programs based on the co-location of researchers and on state-of-the-art technological platforms.
IRTs are by definition multi-partner: their members are public RTOs and research laboratories as well as private industries, manufacturers, SMEs and start-ups. They opted for the co-location of resources: the researchers involved in a project, regardless of the organization on which they depend, come to work on the IRT site with the other members of the project. They collaborate with the IRT’s own R&D resources, including many doctoral and post-doctoral students.
The IRTs are positioned on strategic sectors for France and at the crossroads of disciplines and other sectors, which promotes inspiration and the creation of innovations between these same sectors.
They cover 8 key themes: digital technologies, microbiology, factory of the future, materials, metallurgy and processes, nanoelectronics, railway systems, aeronautics, space, on-board systems and digital systems engineering. In the federative association FIT, the 8 IRT are gathered with 7 other institutes (ITE) focussed on energy transition in different industrial sectors. The following map shows the 15 institutes.
> See more information by browsing the French Institutes of Technology FIT association website (in French).
