Dec. 2007
Dec. 2009
Feb. 2010
Introduced by the Conseil Général as the largest
higher-education construction project in the Alpes-Maritimes,
the ICT Campus will bring a new dimension and international
visibility to this area’s key players and reinforce Sophia Antipolis
expertise in the promising field of informationand communication
technologies.
How it all began
During a think tank on the “future of
the 3rd millennium university”initiated
in 1999 in Sophia Antipolis, and under the
impetus of EURECOM, the TelecomValley
leaders outlined an ICT Campus with
several higher-education and research
schools. Immediately supported by local
government agencies, the project would
create a critical mass, and comprehen-
sive education ranging from Technician
to Doctorate level (via a Master’s degree),
while offering amultidisciplinary research
potential that would meet the needs of
businesses. It would also reinforce the
position of Sophia Antipolis in the area
of ICT.
On July 8, 1999, EURECOM, INRIA, UNSA
and Telecom Valley signed a declaration
of intent inwhich each party expressed its
desire to cooperate in the establishment of
the ICT Campus.
ICT campus,
majorofa
significantproject
This pioneering vision has become even
more meaningful today with the crea-
tion of “Areas of Expertise”and the trend
towards multi-school sites. The notion of
campus is that of a shared site bringing
together training, research and transfer
activities as well as events.
The architectural project
Designed by the architect Jean-Michel
Willmotte, the project meets all these cri-
teria. The various sections (EURECOM,
INRIA, CNRS, UNS) will be connected by
a large deck, and will share a common
research area and a large conference area
equipped with a 350 seat amphitheater
suitable for international seminars and
conferences.
While each institution will keep its
identity and uniqueness, the size of the
ICT campus will be conducive to creating
pedagogical and scientific synergy, and
give it better international exposure to
attract visitors, students and businesses
to Sophia Antipolis.
EURECOMat the heart of Sophia Antipolis
Chronologyof
theproject
32
EURECOM
•
Graduate school and research center in communication systems