Premises and accommodation
Located on extensive grounds in the heart of Marseille, IMéRA comprises two main buildings—a large 19th century house called Maison des Astronomes (Astronomers' House) and a vast university building dating from the 1960s—, and a three-bedroom flat on the first floor of an adjacent building.
Two work phases have made it possible to provide the site with working areas and lodgings that can accommodate 14 residents at a time in the best possible conditions since September 2015.
IMéRA provides residents with fully equipped apartments, with all linen (sheets and towels), some of which can accommodate families.
Residents also have the benefit of an equipped desk in a large open space, meeting rooms, a conference room (50 seats) and recreation areas.
In the Heart of a Unique Scientific Environment
The Institute is located in a cutting-edge area in terms of research and development: the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) Region ranks 3rd in France for research potential, with its 4 universities (Aix-Marseille, Nice Sophia Antipolis, Avignon and Pays du Vaucluse, Sud Toulon Var), numerous engineering, business, art and architecture schools, 195 public research units, 6 science parks of international repute and 10 national competitiveness clusters.
IMéRA is part of Aix-Marseille University (AMU), which is currently the largest French-speaking university, covering all disciplines of knowledge: art, humanities, languages and social sciences; law and political science; economics, management and business administration, health, science and technology. AMU has been recognised as one of France’s 8 excellence sites for the “Great Loan” purposes, resulting in the creation of the AMIDEX (Aix-Marseille Excellence Initiative) Foundation, a partner of IMéRA.
AMU includes 132 research units, most of them in partnership with national research bodies; several of those are founding members of IMéRA (CNRS, Inserm, EHESS). Five major fields are specifically invested: energy, environment and universe sciences; life and health sciences; advanced science and technology; social sciences.
