The France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges (FA) is a partnership with the French CNRS to facilitate best-in-class research, focusing on the grandest challenges.

On April 14, 2021, Dr. Robert Robbins, President of the University of Arizona, and Dr. Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges, the first of its kind CNRS International Research Center (IRC). The FA institute enacts the UArizona’s implementation enterprise.

But what is an IRC? 

An International Research Center (IRC) aims to strengthen and perpetuate strategic partnerships with institutions presenting a significant volume of cooperation with the CNRS institutes, involving different institutes and various themes. The University of Arizona appears in the Top 25 of the American universities involved in CNRS - USA co-publications 2018-2020 (rank #18).

The follow-up of the IRC is ensured by a regular high-level strategic dialogue between the two partner institutions to set cooperation objectives. An international research center is managed by bilateral institutions to foster synergies.

Learn more about the CNRS in the United States (2021 edition)