Talents

Being awarded a CNRS medal is a great moment of recognition that honours those who contribute to the vibrancy and renown of the organisation in terms of research and innovation and also through their support for research.

• The gold medal : created in 1954, the purpose of the gold medal is to recognise the whole body of work of a scientist who has made an exceptional contribution to extending the influence of French research. This award is one of the highest honours in science.
• The innovation medal : created in 2011, the innovation medal honours those women and men whose exceptional research has led to a significant technological, therapeutic or social innovation that raises the profile of French scientific research.
• The scientific mediation medal : recognises scientists and research support staff for individual or collective actions, either on a specific project or their ongoing work, which highlight the value of science to society and help disseminate scientific information and knowledge beyond the walls of their laboratories.
• The silver medal : honours researchers for the originality, quality and importance of a body of work that is recognised nationally and internationally.
• The bronze medal : rewards researchers in the early stages of their career whose work has established them as specialists in their field. This award is a form of encouragement from the CNRS to continue with ongoing research that has already proved successful.
• The crystal medal : recognises research support staff working alongside researchers whose creativity, technical mastery and sense of innovation has contributed to expanding knowledge and to excellence in French research.
• The collective crystal award : honours teams of research support staff who have carried out projects with outstanding technical mastery, a collective dimension, applications, innovation and influence. This award has two categories: “direct support for research” and “research backup”.

The CNRS is the leading beneficiary of individual research grants awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) to scientists from all over the world.

The ERC program offers four types of individual grants:

• Starting Grant : for young researchers, two to seven years after obtaining their PhD.
• Consolidator Grant : for researchers, seven to twelve years after obtaining their PhD.
• Advanced Grant : for established researchers.
• Proof of Concept : for research valorisation support. This grant is for ERC grant recipients only.
• Synergy Grant : for a group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.