Université Côte d’Azur (UCA) is a research-intensive university relying on a strong ecosystem of higher education and research institutions (Observatory of the Côte d’Azur, CNRS, INRIA, etc.), that:  

− Welcomes over 30 000 students 

− Employs over 4 000 persons involved in research in A or A+ ranked laboratories 

− Relies on 493 active research and training partnerships

− Has a strong experience in the management of European projects (over 100) and National projects 

− Won 76 national and 48 international research prizes awards

− Counts on 113 active patents and 37 licenses 

Over the past few years, UCA has shifted its structure to a dynamic and flexible organization in order to meet the needs of society and better prepare young scholars and professionals for a changing world. The actual UCA model of university relies on transdisciplinary cooperation, an experimental model for coordination between research, training, and innovation, as well as strong and sustained partnerships with private sector entities and local policymakers. To implement these collaborations and increase its flow of knowledge towards its ecosystem, UCA knowledge actors, which form the backbone of the university, are closely interlinked through 5 academies of excellence, 8 graduate schools, creating a continuum between training and research, 4 institutes of innovation and partnerships connecting the academic ecosystem with businesses and other external stakeholders.

Based on its innovative approach of inclusive and collaborative practices, UCA has the ambition to play a prominent role in the creation of outstanding conditions for excellence that leads to the emergence of cutting-edge research, top-level science, and future innovations that will drive major economic and societal transformations. 

In the past years, the innovative approach, designed by UCA, has been rewarded through different grants obtained at a national level (IDEX grant, 3IA, Grant….).

At a European level, the research excellence of UCA’s ecosystem is also recognized through several ERC grants and Marie S.Curie projects including a CoFund program. Our research community also participated as coordinators or partners of several Pillar 2 H2020 projects. UCA is also very active in Erasmus + program through Capacity building projects, Strategic partnership projects, International mobility projects….

Balkan Institute of Science and Innovation of the Université Côte d’Azur (BISI) has two components: REINOVA: a research and innovation unit dedicated to cooperation activities in applied research, innovation, scientific communication, and technology transfer; NiceCAMPUS Balkans: a training and information unit dedicated to cooperation in training, pedagogy, and scientific and technological information.