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Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
A method known as quantum key distribution has long held the promise of communication security unattainable in conventional cryptography. An international team of scientists has now demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, an approach to quantum key distribution that is based on high-quality quantum entanglement — offering much broader security guarantees than previous schemes.
A French-South American consortium led by the LSCE (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ) is working to explain the chronology and spatial distribution of radionuclides deposited in South America following atmospheric nuclear testing. Their research, based on measurements of plutonium isotopes in soil and sediment samples, will enable the precise reconstruction of the evolution in land use since the 1960s.
On April 5, the European Patent Office (EPO) published its annual report, the Patent Index 2021, an innovation barometer listing worldwide patent applications on the European market. The CEA is the only French research organization in the top 50, ranking 35th with 528 patent applications filed with the EPO in 2021. In the field of semiconductors, the CEA is the only European player in the top 5.
The CEA recently published its intellectual property charter developed for its industry partners. Objectives: present the key points of its strategy implemented to protect and exploit R&D results to enhance the competitiveness, technological sovereignty and technology transfers of its partners.
Improving the quality of life for people with psychiatric problems thanks to more targeted treatment protocols, or even preventing the appearance of such pathologies, would be a major breakthrough for public health care. This is one of the objectives of researchers at NeuroSpin, the CEA centre for innovation in neuroimaging in Saclay, near Paris.
Relying on isotopic measurements, a collaboration involving BIAM (CEA-CNRS-AMU) and the LSCE (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ) has succeeded in quantifying the amount of carbon released into the soil by the roots of millet after only a few weeks of growth. The researchers were thus able to identify millet genotypes (lines) that offer optimal carbon storage while preserving the older carbon stocks already present in the soil.
Researchers at the Irig, in collaboration with the CEA-Leti, have developed a microfluidic chip that can measure insulin secretion from a single pancreatic islet. The same technology can be adapted to other biological tissues and secretomes.
Involvement in funding programmes, contribution to public policies through its scientific expertise, and development of major partnerships: the CEA has strengthened its European strategy over the past few years, making cooperation its watchword. Bertrand Bouchet, the CEA director of European Affairs, discusses the CEA’s position on Europe and the French presidency of the EU Council.
Using data from the Healthy Brain Network cohort, a team from the CEA-Joliot (NeuroSpin) has discovered a correlation between certain symptoms, which may be precursors of mood disorders in adulthood, and structural changes in the developing brain in more than 650 young people.
The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment (KATRIN) has just crossed a symbolic threshold. The collaboration, which includes the CEA-Irfu, has revealed a new upper limit of 0.8 eV/c2 for the mass of neutrinos. This result is of fundamental interest for both particle physics and cosmology.
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CEA is a French government-funded technological research organisation in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world.