On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of CNRS's establishment at Paris-Saclay, a CNRS article highlights the unique science-industry ecosystem that has developed in this territory, where C2N holds a central place.

Published in La Lettre du CNRS, the monthly newsletter for decision-makers and research leaders, the article entitled "80 years of CNRS at Paris-Saclay: a model of collaboration between science and industry" portrays a scientific and technological cluster that has become one of the most powerful in the world. C2N is cited on several occasions as one of its pillars, through its exceptional cleanroom, its award-winning researchers and the start-ups born from its work.

C2N's cleanroom: an outstanding infrastructure
The first asset highlighted is C2N's cleanroom, described as one of the largest academic technology facilities in Europe. This unique equipment is an essential link in the chain from fundamental research to industrial transfer. It is precisely there that Jacques Gierak, CNRS research engineer at C2N and recipient of the CNRS Innovation Medal in 2023, developed the technologies that gave rise to the start-up Ion-X, now a world reference in the field of ionic liquid propulsion systems, working alongside CNES and Airbus.

The quantum revolution born at C2N
As a CNRS Research Director at C2N, Pascale Senellart co-founded Quandela from her research carried out within the laboratory on single-photon sources. The organic link between C2N and the start-up lives on today through an active joint laboratory on quantum light sources, the LabCOM QDLight. Laureate of the CNRS Innovation Medal in 2025, Pascale Senellart embodies the research-to-innovation continuum that defines C2N's strength.

A globally recognised model
C2N is part of a territory that has generated more than 260 patents in five years, some sixty start-ups since 2016, and 117 European Research Council grants awarded since 2014 to CNRS scientists. The Université Paris-Saclay, one of C2N's supervisory institutions, ranks 13th worldwide in the 2025 Shanghai ranking. For CNRS President Antoine Petit, the organisation contributes to making Paris-Saclay "one of the flagships of French technological sovereignty" — an ambition to which C2N contributes every day, through its cutting-edge research and close ties with industry.

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Photo: Installation of an Ion-X start-up engine, founded by Jacques Gierak, in a vacuum chamber for a thrust test © Cyril FRESILLON / C2N / Ion-X / CNRS Images