Invest in Côte d’Azur

Education, Research and Innovation

EDUCATION

Côte d’Azur has the highest concentration of international schools in France, after Paris. Some 2,600 students are enrolled in 12 international institutions, which serve a cosmopolitan population.

Created in 1965, the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis has 27,000 students, 17% of which are of foreign origin.
The Côte d’Azur has the highest concentration of international schools in France after Paris.
From nursery school to PhD level, diversified and high quality education is one of the main factors that fuels development on the Côte d’Azur.
The area’s public schooling system is the fastest growing in France, a result of the strong demographic evolution witnessed over the past few years. The region has thus become a pilot academy on a national level in various fields, with a focus on ensuring that educational programs correspond to business needs: multi-disciplinary channels, specialized masters degrees, international exchange programs.

International education is dispensed in a dozen schools, addressing the needs of a cosmopolitan population that has settled in the region. About 2,600 pupils follow a comprehensive international cursus, giving access to the best universities in the world.

The University of Nice- Sophia Antipolis, a pioneer in multi-disciplinarity, proposes over 200 university courses shared between Nice and the Science and Technology Park of Sophia Antipolis. Many partnerships have been set up with the region’s industrial and business sectors.

Prestigious institutions of higher education
have chosen the Côte d’Azur to offer cutting-edge programs. Over 1,000 students are enrolled in the area's engineering schools, which notably include Polytech’ Nice-Sophia, the Eurecom Institute, the University of Nice's ICTS graduate program, and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris.

Business and management schools,
such as CERAM Sophia Antipolis, EDHEC (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) and IAE (Institut d’Administration des Entreprises), educate over 3,500 students of more than forty different nationalities, offering specialized Master's degrees and MBAs in business, marketing and management.

RESEARCH

As a key channel for creativity and innovation, academic research has long been a focus for the Côte d'Azur area and one of its principle assets.

Some 950 million euros are invested annually in public and private research in the Alpes-Maritimes department.

• The University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis counts 62 research units, 116 research teams and 35 research labs associated with major research organizations.

Côte d'Azur is known worldwide for its research facilities that welcome between 300 and 400 foreign researchers a year.

INNOVATION

The Côte d’Azur is one of the most innovation-friendly areas in France.

Access to incentives set up by the French government is facilitated. Some of these incentives are particularly advantageous, like research tax credits, which are the most favorable in Europe, and measures for new innovative enterprises, the most generous in the OECD.

SMEs under eight years old can claim new innovative enterprise status which gives the right to income tax exemptions and reductions in mandatory social contributions for up to 50% of R&D expenditure.

Innovative companies may also apply for a regional development R&D and innovation bonus of up to 15,000 euros per job created, funded by the government to foster R&D projects.

The research tax credit is designed to support research (fundamental and applied research and experimental development) by private companies and can amount to 30% of R&D spending.