The University of Rennes: a player in territorial dynamics

The University of Rennes is strongly established in Rennes (3 campuses) and in Brittany (in Lannion, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo). These are areas of excellence and a fertile ecosystem, in line with its areas of training and research.

Rennes, university capital of the western regions

8th largest university metropolis, Rennes successfully banked on the best resource for the future: grey matter, which it has made its motto, Rennes, living in intelligence. Rennes Métropole is a key site in the French higher education and research landscape, with 67,000 students and 6,000 people dedicated to research in the area.

Rennes metropolis: intelligent, enterprising and creative

Rennes, a territory of research and innovation


An attractive agglomeration, conducive to innovation and business creation

The creation of companies from laboratories is progressing (10 to 15 per year) and the results of the national competition for the creation of innovative companies are encouraging, with Rennes being the 4th most awarded city in France. Audiar Observatory 2016

The university, a leading socio-economic player

Rennes' universities generate nearly €600M in economic spin-offs and 9,400 jobs in the region (Audiar study, novembre 2016). Through the impact of its wage bill and its investment and operating expenses, the University of Rennes contributes to two thirds of these benefits.

70% of this impact is in the Rennes metropolitan area. A significant part, 241.3M€ out of 600, is induced by the mere presence of students on the territory. There were 43,000 of them in 2013, the year used as a reference for the study. Each of them has an average budget of €600 per month, half of which is spent on accommodation alone. Rennes' real estate market is therefore benefiting, not surprisingly, from the activity of higher education. This trend will continue to grow as the number of students continues to increase. Another important criterion is the presence of university employees. This generates 9,363 jobs, with greater purchasing power than students.

Observatoire Audiar 2016

The University of Rennes, a player in the innovation ecosystem, is a founding member:

  • of the competitiveness hub Images et réseaux in the digital field and Valorial in food innovation
  • of the technopole Rennes Atalante and the French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo
  • of the SATT Ouest Valorisation which ensures the valorisation of public research results in order to offer innovation resources to companies
  • of the IRT b<>com, innovative technological research institute in hypermedia, ultra high-speed networks and e-health

Partnerships with the local economic world but also internationally

The laboratories of the two universities have developed more than 200 projects, in relation with 420 companies. These links are not just local, as half of these partners are based abroad, particularly in Germany (51) and the United Kingdom (31). These connections link the Rennes area to 160 European cities. In addition to the geographical aspect, the Rennes laboratories collaborate with many large groups. These include the Thalès group (24 joint projects), Orange (13 projects) as well as EDF R&D, Alcatel-Lucent and Technicolor R&D (6 projects each). Audiar Observatory 2016.

Brittany, an active region in research and innovation

  • 5th French region in terms of research and development staff
  • 1st agri-food region in Europe and 5th industrial region in France
  • Digital: 2nd in France for employment and 35% of French public research. 2nd national centre for telecommunications with 2,000 ICT researchers in Brittany and 5th French region for electronics
  • A benchmark in cybersecurity
  • French leader in health, imaging and e-health technologies with unique know-how in biotechnology
  • Leading skills in the environment: water quality treatment and management, waste treatment and recovery, renewable energies and eco-bio-resources, health and environment, Green I

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