​The research conducted at the CEA's basic research direction (DRF) concerns the great societal challenges and to explore the limits of the knowledge. These objectives are widely shared with other higher education and French research institutions. Academic partnerships with these institutions are a major component of the CEA - DRF' research policy.

The diversity of its research teams is an asset to DRF: the complementarity of scientific, technological and technical specificities and their pooling within CEA-DRF benefit its research. DRF are constituted of 42 joint research units (UMR), or 80% of the CEA's UMR.

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The framework agreements between the CEA and public agencies are regularly renewed, confirming the dynamic of these academic partnerships. This policy is implemented through the concrete development of ambitious scientific projects, thanks to the site policy jointly conducted with public partners in higher education and research. Hence CEA-DRF' director figures at the board of Paris-Saclay University and Grenoble Alpes University.

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