Science: INRIA and Microsoft join forces to found joint laboratory in France

In April, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) and Microsoft announced plans to create a joint laboratory in the Paris region. The new laboratory is scheduled to open in January 2006.

“The joint laboratory operated by Microsoft Research and the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control is scheduled to open in January 2006”, announced Jean-Pierre Verjus, director of scientific information and communication at INRIA. Located on the Plateau du Moulon in Orsay (Paris region), the site will accommodate thirty permanent employees. “We will investigate two key research areas: software and systems security, and the development of new computing tools for scientists”, continued Mr. Verjus. The laboratory will focus on improving complex software systems reliability and security - an extension of ongoing collaborative work between both partners. Additionally, it will also help accelerate scientific advancement through the development of new software tools for the management and analysis of highly complex scientific data such as physical, biological and meteorological phenomena, chemical interactions, etc.

Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies. Microsoft Research employs 750 people in six labs located on three continents (USA, U.K, India and China). Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art in such areas as graphics, speech recognition, user-interface research, natural language processing, programming tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical sciences.

INRIA, the national institute for research in computer science and control, is dedicated to fundamental and applied research in information and communication science and technology (ICST). Throughout its research units located in seven major regions (Aquitaine, Brittany, Lorraine, Ile-de-France, Nord-Pas de Calais, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes), the Institute employs some 2,700 scientists conducting research in five major areas of research: communicating systems, cognitive systems, symbolic systems, numerical systems and biological systems. INRIA develops many partnerships with industry and fosters technology transfer and company foundation in the field of ICST - some eighty companies have been created. INRIA’s international collaborations are manifested through the welcoming and recruiting of foreign students and by significant research exchanges. Priority is given to geographical areas with strong economic potential - European Research Area, Asia and North America - while maintaining continuous activity with South America, Africa and the Middle East.

The agreement between the two partners, based on the Microsoft Initiative, was announced on 26 April 2005. “We have maintained a strong relationship with INRIA for a long time”, explained Bernard Ourghanlian, technical and security director at Microsoft France. “Our researchers work in close collaboration. For us, establishing a joint laboratory with the Institute seemed perfectly natural. Moreover, INRIA guarantees access to very high research standards”. The two partners plan to finalise their collaboration agreement by the end of October. “In particular, we need to specify the methods for creating joint projects and reflect upon intellectual property mechanisms. But of this we are already certain: Microsoft will not be the sole owner of the licensing rights for software developed by the laboratory”, stated Jean-Pierre Verjus. The results of the lab’s work will be made publicly available through scientific publications and, in some cases, software tools and prototypes will be provided free to the scientific community. Any commercial exploitation of the results will be agreed by INRIA and Microsoft jointly in the framework of French legislation.

The joint laboratory is a unique project launched as part of the Microsoft European Science Initiative. Announced in February 2005 by Bill Gates, the initiative is focused on accelerating fundamental innovation and advances in new kinds of science and computing that can generate long-term benefits to science and society. “This is the only laboratory of this type currently under consideration”, adds Bernard Ourghanlian. “However, if our enterprise is a success, we may initiate other projects. First, we need to wait three or four years to ensure that the first laboratory is functional”.

Delphine Barrais

Websites: ]_ National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control: www.inria.fr
Microsoft Research: www.research.microsoft.com

Last updated: 23.11.2005