France member of CERN
France also hosts major international research facilities, including the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Institut Laue–Langevin, and Minatec, Europe's leading nanotechnology research centre. It is also a major member of CERN, which operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and is its third largest contributor. France pioneered and hosts ITER, an international effort to develop nuclear fusion energy, which is the world's biggest megaproject.
The TGV, developed by France's national railway company, the SNCF, is a high-speed train that holds a series of world speed records; in 2007, it became the fastest commercial wheeled train, achieving a speed of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). As of 2021, it is the third-fastest train in the world, surpassed only by maglev models that utilise magnetic levitation. Western Europe is now serviced by a network of TGV lines.
The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the state research agency, is the largest research institute in Europe and among the most prominent internationally; according to the 2020 Nature Index, it ranks fourth in the share of articles published in scientific journals worldwide, with France as a whole having the sixth-highest share.As of 2022, France ranks fourth in the number of Nobel laureates, with 70 French people having been awarded a Nobel Prize. Twelve French mathematicians have received a Fields Medal, considered the most prestigious award in the field, making up one-fifth of total recipients, and second only to the United States.
France ranked 12th in the 2022 Global Innovation Index, compared to 12th in 2020 and 16th in 2019.
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