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With investment in listed companies down by 98 per cent – and still falling – France's biotech trade association is asking for help.

One year after a new law gave French universities autonomy, progress has been made – but they still lack the means to compete in the global war for talent.

The French government has just announced the six first campuses to benefit from a €5 billion investment from the sale of shares in the energy company EDF. And Paris is not included.

Microsoft start-up programme Idées is going local in Lille – a prelude to going local globally.

The likes of Microsoft, Oracle and IBM are all queuing to access Aulas’ French software company Cegid’s specialist niches in the small and medium-size companies market.

Companies from the US and Japan are investing and launching partnerships in France to take advantage of its nanotechnology expertise.

The French presidential election is unlike any previous one: this time, both right and left are hoisting research policy to the top of their agendas.

France’s best-known engineering school, the École Polytechnique, is mapping out a major expansion drive for the next five years.

French president Jacques Chirac pledged €3 billion for innovative start-ups. But can France’s venture capital community manage this largesse?