International Research Laboratory (IRL)
IRL are laboratories located in partner universities which bring together researchers, students, post-doctoral students, engineers and technicians from both the CNRS and partner institutions in other countries.
IRLs are international research structures in which joint research is carried out on shared scientific directions. They provide structure in a specific location for the significant and lasting presence of scientists from a limited number of research institutions from France and other countries (just one partner country).
IRLs include establishments which bring together scientists belonging to different units and international units - joint research units with partners abroad (UMI) and service and research units (USR) located abroad. They are set up when backing from a dedicated operational research structure (SOR) is required.
IRLs last for 5 years.
CROSSING in Australia
The IRL frenCh austRalian labOratory for humanS/ autonomouS agents teamING (CROSSING) aims at proposing solutions so that humans, artificial intelligences (AI) and autonomous systems collaborate together, effectively and ethically.
Established in Australia, and launched in early 2021, it associates the CNRS, the IMT Atlantic with three major Australian universities (Adelaide University, University of South Australia, University of Flinders) as well as Naval Group, European leader in naval defense.
A strong focus is on multidisciplinarity, in order to interact with industries such as health, defence and «Industry 4.0».
See also:
FILOFOCS in Israel
The IRL French-Israeli Laboratory on Foundations of Computer Science (FILOFOCS) is created for five years (2019-2023) and associates five French and Israeli partners in the field of fundamental computing. FILOFOCS brings together researchers from the Institut de Recherche en Informatique Fondamentale (IRIF - CNRS/Université Paris-Diderot), a joint laboratory of the CNRS and Université Paris Diderot working in the field of theoretical computing, and researchers from three of Israel’s leading scientific institutions in this field: Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
ILLS in Canada
The IRL International Laboratory on Learning Systems (ILLS) aims at developing mathematical tools to improve machine learning algorithms and secure their use. For example, these algorithms could be used for natural language and speech processing or for applications related to computer vision and signal processing. Established in Montreal and launched in April 2022, it associates the CNRS, McGill University, the École de technologie supérieure (ETS) de Montréal, the Institut Québécois d'intelligence artificielle (Mila), Université Paris-Saclay and CentraleSupélec.
Voir aussi :
Ipal in Singapore
IPAL: A Franco-Singaporean collaborative initiative in computer science.
IPAL is an International Research Laboratory (IRL 2955) of the CNRS, established in Singapore in 1998. Originally founded as a collaborative framework between the CNRS, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and A*STAR, it was granted IRL status — the highest distinction for the CNRS’s international programmes — in 2007.
Partnerships and Development
Over the years, IPAL has expanded its network by establishing numerous academic partnerships with French universities. Its current partner universities include the University of Cergy-Pontoise, the University of Grenoble Alpes and the University of Toulouse.
These various collaborations have helped to strengthen scientific projects in computer science, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.
IPAL leads or participates in numerous collaborative projects between Singapore and France. Notable examples include the Descartes project, in which IPAL was the lead laboratory, the new Embodied AI project, and hosting the Joint AI Programme between the French and Singaporean Ministries of Defence.
Current Programme (2026–2030)
In 2026, IPAL launched its sixth iteration for the period 2026–2030. This initiative draws on the expertise of its founding partners and ongoing partnerships with universities hosting Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Institutes (3IA), whilst remaining open to new innovative projects. This new AI-focused research programme is structured around six main themes:
- Theme 1: Explainable and Trustable AI
- Theme 2: AI & Human-Computer Interaction, Augmented Human
- Theme 3: Natural Language Processing
- Theme 4: Data Science and Applications
- Theme 5: Efficient AI
- Theme 6: Smart Collaborative Robotics
JFLI in Japan
Since 2012, the Japanese-French Laboratory for Informatics (JFLI) has been a hub for remote cooperation between France and Japan. This international research laboratory organizes regular workshops and welcomes researchers in the Japanese capital for short stays, as for longer visits.
The research conducted at JFLI covers a wide range of fields: next-generation networks and the Internet of the future, cryptography, high-performance computing, software, programming models and formal methods, virtual reality, multimedia, quantum computing, etc.
JFLI succeeds the Associated International Laboratory (LIA) of the same name, created in 2009. It associates the CNRS, Sorbonne University, and the Japanese side: the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo, the National Institute of Informatics (NII) of Tokyo and the University of Keio.
ReLaX in India
The Research Lab in Computer Science (ReLaX), located in Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu in South India, serves as a hub for Indo-French collaborations in theoretical computer science (algorithms, logic, combinatorics, models of computation, complexity, formal methods) and its direct applications like verification, distributed systems or data science.
Founded in 2017, after over fifteen years of joint projects between French and Indian research teams, this IRL is open to the natural interactions between theoretical computer science and mathematics. It also supports industrial collaborations, with French and Indian companies.
ReLaX associates CNRS, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Université de Bordeaux, the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc).