The Department of Bioelectronics (BEL, for BioELectronics) was created in 2009 at the Microelectronics Center of Provence (Centre Microélectronique de Provence - CMP), and is located in Gardanne, which is in the Provence, Alpes, Côte d’Azur (PACA) region of France.

The CMP is one of six education and research Centers of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne. It was established in the PACA region in 2003, in response to a request from the microelectronics industry. Part of its mission is to contribute to the transition of Provence away from a mining-based economy. From the early inception of the CMP, a research direction in "in vivo electronics" was identified as one of four strategic directions, and one that will open new opportunities for the microelectronics industry of the region. BEL was created with significant financial support from local authorities (Regional Council PACA and Conseil Général des Bouches du Rhône) and from Europe (European Regional Development Fund) which helped the establishment of laboratories with capabilities for (1) broad range of biological techniques, ranging from molecular biology to tissue culture, (2) fabrication and characterization of organic electronic devices, and (3) the integration of these devices with biology.

Our Department benefits from strong academic collaborations with leading Universities around the world, from the strong presence of microelectronics industry in the PACA region (which represents almost 10,000 jobs and 35% of the French production of components for semiconductors), and from research partnerships led by the CMP that cover strategic sectors of the field of microelectronics. It also benefits from the technological platform Micro-PackS hosted since 2008 at CMP. Micro-PackS is equipped with microelectronics fabrication and characterization equipment worth more than €8 million, deployed in a 600 m² clean rooms and 200 m² of additional laboratory space. This platform is used for making organic bioelectronic devices using state-of-the-art fabrication techniques. Finally, the Department benefits from being part of the cluster for inter-regional economic development dedicated to health (EUROBIOMED) .

Department lunch in January 2011