Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC)

Name

Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC)

Legal name

Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC)

Website

https://lpsc.in2p3.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fundamental Physics Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Test Reactor Operations (Non-Commercial Power) (EUACADAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fast Neutron Reactor (SFR/LFR) Power Generation (EUACADAE)

Keywords

• Particle physics research
• Astroparticle cosmology
• Nuclear reactor research
• Detector instrumentation
• Fundamental physics research

Headquarters

HQ city

Grenoble

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Recurring Funding: Core recurring funding from institutional supervisory bodies: Institut de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) of CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), and Grenoble INP. This constitutes the primary financial base for laboratory operations.
2. LABEx and EQUIPEx Funding (Investments for the Future Program): A growing share of resources comes from three LABEx programs (ENIGMASS, FOCUS, PRIMES) and one EQUIPEx (BEDOFIH) in the framework of the French Investments for the Future program (Investissements d'Avenir).
3. Competitive Grant Funding (ANR & Europe): Significant funding from responses to national and international competitive calls for projects, including ANR (French National Research Agency) and European programs (H2020, Horizon Europe, ERC).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

LPSC is a public research laboratory (UMR 5821) conducting fundamental research in particle physics, nuclear physics, astroparticle physics, and cosmology. It develops and operates advanced scientific instrumentation including particle detectors, ultra-cold neutron technologies, Time Projection Chambers, Kinetic Inductance Detectors, and superconducting RF systems, delivered as hardware and expertise to major international physics collaborations (CERN, PSI, DUNE, ESA Euclid, LSST/Rubin). It also researches molten salt fast reactor nuclear technology and medical physics applications.

Product overview

Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC) is a research laboratory (UMR 5821) affiliated with CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, and Grenoble INP. The laboratory conducts fundamental research in particle physics, nuclear physics, astroparticle physics, and cosmology, along with applications in nuclear energy and health. Rather than a commercial product company, LPSC operates research infrastructures including the ATLAS and ALICE experiment contributions at CERN LHC, ultra-cold neutron programs (UCN/n2EDM), MIMAC directional dark matter detection, neutrino physics (DUNE, RICOCHET), Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) nuclear technology research, and observational cosmology instruments (NIKA2, CONCERTO, Euclid, LSST). Technical services support these research programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ATLAS Experiment Research Program Particle physics research program at the CERN LHC contributing to Higgs boson characterization, dark matter searches, and ITk detector upgrades for the high-luminosity LHC phase. Delivered to the ATLAS international collaboration.
• ALICE Experiment Research Program Heavy-ion collision research studying quark-gluon plasma properties at the LHC, including electromagnetic calorimeter construction, Level-1 trigger design, and photon/jet reconstruction algorithms. Delivered to the ALICE international collaboration.
• Ultra-Cold Neutron (UCN) Research Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Discovery of the Higgs boson (ATLAS, 2012) and ongoing characterization of its properties
• +4 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Institut de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) / CNRScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIN2P3 is the primary institutional supervisor of LPSC. As a CNRS institute, IN2P3 provides core recurring funding, strategic direction, and coordinates LPSC's participation in national and international physics programs. LPSC is a UMR (Unité Mixte de Recherche, UMR 5821) under IN2P3.
• Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUGA is one of the three institutional supervisors (tutelles) of LPSC. It provides recurring funding, academic positions (teacher-researchers), and hosts doctoral programs. LPSC personnel include 19 UGA teacher-researchers and ~35 UGA-affiliated PhD students.
• Grenoble INPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrenoble INP is one of the three institutional supervisors of LPSC. It provides recurring funding and academic positions. LPSC includes 9 Grenoble INP teacher-researchers.
• CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC has been a member of the ATLAS collaboration at CERN since 1991 and of the ALICE collaboration since 2005. It contributes detector hardware, software, and analysis to the LHC experiments. CERN operates the world's largest particle physics laboratory near Geneva.
• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), SwitzerlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC hosts the nEDM/n2EDM collaboration at PSI (Switzerland) where the ultra-cold neutron EDM experiment is conducted. LPSC built the neutron switch and contributes to magnetometry (L4M laboratory) and experiment operations. PSI operates the UCN source for the experiment.
• Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerILL operates a high-flux neutron reactor in Grenoble, neighbors LPSC. LPSC teams conduct experiments at ILL (GRANIT, UCN studies, PF2 instrument) and ILL provides neutron sources. LPSC is involved in the GUINEVERE project for accelerator-driven neutron sources. The STEREO experiment is also located at the ILL reactor.
• DUNE Collaboration (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDUNE is an international neutrino physics experiment with a far detector at SURF (South Dakota, USA) and neutrino source at Fermilab (Chicago). LPSC is responsible for manufacturing and characterizing upper CRPs (Charge Readout Planes) for the Vertical Drift module at the CERN prototype, and will produce 80 upper CRPs for the final detector between 2025-2026 at its CRPFactory in Grenoble.
• European Space Agency (ESA) / Euclid MissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC is involved in the ESA Euclid space mission (launched July 2023 to L2 Lagrange point). Contributions include NISP instrument electromagnetic compatibility testing, calibration sources, internal data analysis, and construction of observation property masks. Euclid studies dark energy through weak lensing and galaxy clustering.
• Rubin Observatory / LSST CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC contributed to LSST camera construction: filter changer system and CCOB (Camera Calibration Optical Bench). The team is heavily involved in the Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC) for cosmological data analysis, including galaxy cluster science, weak lensing, stellar streams, transient alerts (via FINK broker), and computing optimization.
• IRAM (Institute for Millimeter-wave Radio Astronomy)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC collaborates with IRAM on NIKA2 (dual-band KID camera for the 30m telescope in Spain) and CONCERTO (spectro-imager at APEX, Chile). LPSC leads readout electronics, acquisition software, and contributes to optical design and detector characterization for these instruments.
• MIMAC CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA French collaboration of ~20 researchers working on the MIMAC directional dark matter detection experiment using a TPC matrix at a underground site. LPSC is the initiator of the project and contributes to detector simulation, phenomenological studies, and the low-energy ion source for calibration.
• GIS KIDs (Groupement d'Intérêt Scientifique KIDs)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGIS KIDs is a French scientific interest group (LPSC, Institut Néel, IPAG, IRAM) focused on Kinetic Inductance Detector technology for millimeter-wave astronomy. LPSC leads or co-leads several KID-based instruments (NIKA, NIKA2, CONCERTO, KISS) and contributes electronics, acquisition software, optical design, and detector testing.
• GANIL (Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC collaborated with GANIL on SPIRAL2 project, notably constructing the low-energy heavy ion beam line in partnership with IRFU (CEA) and IPHC. LPSC holds responsibility for design and realization of RF power couplers for superconducting cavities.
• SAMOFAR / SAMOSAFER / ENDURANCE / MIMOSA (EU Projects)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC leads MSFR research within multiple EU-funded projects: SAMOFAR and SAMOSAFER (H2020), ENDURANCE (Horizon Europe), and MIMOSA. Partners include IRSN, Framatome, Politecnico di Torino, and numerous European institutions for safety analysis and design optimization of molten salt fast reactors.
• CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPSC collaborates with CEA on multiple projects: SPIRAL2 (with IRFU/CEA), DUNE (CRP production), MSFR (with CEA Cadarache), and doctoral co-supervision. CEA provides co-funding for several PhD positions at LPSC.
• Institut Néel (CNRS)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on KID technology development within the GIS KIDs consortium. Institut Néel and LPSC both host millimeter-wave test laboratories and share expertise in superconducting detector fabrication and characterization.
• IPAG (Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration within the GIS KIDs consortium for KID technology development. IPAG contributes astronomical expertise and observational use cases for millimeter-wave instruments developed with LPSC.
• LNCMI (Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on high magnetic field technologies within the Grenoble scientific ecosystem, linked to accelerator and plasma research activities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fermilab: Fermilab is the US host laboratory for DUNE and a global leader in neutrino physics. LPSC's CRP delivery, RICOCHET/TESSERACT commitments and shared nEXO/DUNE science make Fermilab a direct peer for LPSC's neutrino and accelerator programs.
• Institut Néel (CNRS): Institut Néel is LPSC's Grenoble neighbour and co-member of the GIS KIDs consortium for Kinetic Inductance Detectors. Its cryogenic detector fabrication and characterization capabilities directly overlap LPSC's mm-wave astronomy instrumentation work.
• IRSN: IRSN is the French radiation and nuclear safety institute and a partner in LPSC's MSFR EU projects (SAMOFAR, SAMOSAFER, ENDURANCE, MIMOSA). It is a direct peer on Generation IV reactor safety analysis and molten salt chemistry.
• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI): PSI hosts the n2EDM ultra-cold neutron experiment that LPSC co-leads and provides the UCN source. PSI's neutron, muon and proton physics programs, plus its strong instrumentation groups, make it a direct peer in nuclear/particle physics.
• IPAG (Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble): IPAG is a Grenoble-based CNRS laboratory co-developing KID-based mm-wave instruments within the GIS KIDs consortium. It provides the astronomical science cases and observational expertise that complement LPSC's instrumentation contributions.
• CEA Saclay (IRFU): IRFU is the French national institute for fundamental physics research and a long-standing partner of LPSC on ATLAS, DUNE (CRP co-production), SPIRAL2 and MSFR. As a sister IN2P3/CEA institution, IRFU is the closest French peer.
• Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL): ILL operates the high-flux neutron reactor adjacent to LPSC in Grenoble. LPSC conducts UCN and STEREO experiments at ILL and the two institutions share the GUINEVERE accelerator-driven neutron source project, making ILL a tightly coupled peer.

Broad incumbents

• CERN: CERN operates the LHC and hosts the ATLAS, ALICE and CMS collaborations in which LPSC participates. As the host laboratory and the dominant particle-physics institution in Europe, CERN is the most relevant broad peer for LPSC's experimental particle-physics work.
• INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare): Italy's national nuclear and particle physics institute is a peer to LPSC through co-membership in ATLAS, ALICE, DUNE, EU-funded MSFR projects and broader European nuclear-physics programs.
• DESY: Germany's national particle- and photon-science laboratory is a peer through co-membership in ATLAS, ILC-related detector R&D and accelerator technology programs that overlap LPSC's instrumentation and superconducting-RF work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC)