Expertise

Consulting

It is possible, under certain conditions and for some types of business (purely intellectual service, with no invention involved such as creating bibliographies, general recommendations, etc.), to request consulting services directly from a researcher. A public official may be authorised to perform a ‘side activity’ for a private or public entity as part of an authorisation granted by the relevant authority. The activity must not interfere with their usual work or with the independent or neutral nature of the service and it must not place the official in a situation involving a conflict of interests.

Scientific competition

Exceptions relating to side activities are eased in the case of lecturer-researchers when the consulting service is provided to a company that promotes the results of public research or university teachings. In such cases, the public official can take part in a scientific competition and possibly acquire a stake in the company.

PhD students’ additional tasks

PhD students can perform one-time tasks when by doing so they meet a need within the university, such as: experimentation, consulting, legal analysis, feasibility or market study, project support, report writing, product or software development, drafting documents, competition analysis, training, creating websites, etc.
The task must be separate from the research work as part of their PhD. It should take either 16 or 32 days (i.e. up to 1/6 of the duration of the PhD agreement) and it must take place during the academic year. The task may be renewed during the three years of PhD study.

What advantages are there for companies who call on this expertise?

• Meeting a need for scientific or technical skills in a specific subject – a need that cannot be met internally
• Being supervised from a scientific and technological point of view
• Creating new momentum for innovation within the company
• Helping a PhD student develop professionally and identifying a potential future employee
• Creating or strengthening ties with university research units to improve its capacity for innovation and launch new projects
• Receive a tax credit (CII, CIR), subject to certain conditions