Grenoble is a city of around 158,000 inhabitants (550,000 taking into account the metropolitan area) located in the French Alps.

The climate is quite cold in winter, with days of snow almost every year. Summers are known to be hot, as mountains surrounding the town stop any wind.

Grenoble is crossed by two rivers, the Drac and the Isère ("the lion and the serpent"), and is surrounded by three mountain chains, the Vercors, Chartreuse and Belledonne.

The city is renowned for its universities on the campus, for its scientific research centers in the northeast of the city, including Minatec for nanotechnologies and the Synchrotron for high-brilliance source of X-rays as well as for its industrial center in the western suburbs : Meylan, Montbonnot and Crolles including high-tech companies such as STmicroelectronics and Motorola. Therefore it hosts a relatively large population of foreign scientists and students.