University-Business Partnerships

The University of Montpellier fosters partnerships between its research laboratories and the socio-economic world through internal mechanisms and responses to external calls for projects that encourage collaboration and promote innovation.

Around 400 contracts are signed each year between the University of Montpellier and its academic and industrial partners, in the form of research collaborations, service provision, consortium agreements (ANR, Horizon Europe, etc.), equipment provision, licensing contracts, co-ownership agreements and start-up hosting.

How can a company forge an R&D partnership with a research laboratory?

The Research partnership between a laboratory and a company can take the form of :

• A research collaboration
• Service provision, drawing in particular on the expertise of our technology platforms of the University of Montpellier

How can a company employee join a Research laboratory?

The University of Montpellier offers the Companies And Campus program, which aims to increase the presence of socio-economic players on campus by providing dedicated funding. This program aims to facilitate the establishment of new partnerships, including the arrival of company employees or those with business start-up projects, in research structures around a topic of common interest.

What measures can be taken to strengthen exchanges between Research laboratories and companies?

Numerous schemes exist to strengthen exchanges between research laboratories and the socio-economic world , or to encourage the employment of PhDs in companies:

• Regional level: actions can be financed within the framework of the Schéma Régional de l'Enseignement Supérieur, de la Research et de l'Innovation,
• National level: calls for projects are issued by theANR (Labcom, PRCE...), BPI France or other foundations, or the CIFRE scheme, which enables a company to receive financial assistance to recruit a doctoral student.
• European level: Calls for projects are issued via the Horizon Europe research and innovation funding program.

The teams at the University of Montpellier are there to help the scientific community find the most appropriate solution.

How to host a company at the University?

As part of the implementation of a research contract with one of the institution's laboratories, the UM makes premises available to start-ups or young companies less than 2 years old. This enables these companies to be located on campus, close to our research facilities and technology platforms. These premises are available on a paying basis for a maximum period of 6 years.