Centre de préparation des produits chimiques - International Paper - Usine de Saillat-sur-Vienne (87), 7/2/2011
©TERRA_Arnaud Bouissou
Chemistry
The chemicals industry is France’s third largest industrial sector (after the automotive and metallurgy industries) and the country’s largest export industry. These statistics are the result of continuous growth over the past decade. Companies in this sector are achieving higher operating rates than ever before, investing in new facilities and equipment, and seeking to recruit new staff, in particular highly-skilled workers.
More broadly speaking, today’s chemists have an essential role to play in constructing a sustainable society. They will invent the next generations of electric batteries and solar panels, find solutions to recycling CO2 and plastic, and develop plant chemistry. With nine Nobel laureates in chemistry, almost 21,000 researchers, engineers and technicians working in both academic research and the industrial sector, and 4,000 doctoral students, France represents a centre of academic excellence in this field and is thus ideally positioned to make a significant contribution.
Chemistry is a sector of excellence which serves the needs of many other industries: aeronautical, automotive, construction, electronics, agri-food, medicines, cosmetics, etc.