Microsoft also discussing the creation of centers in Germany and the U.K. PARIS — Representatives of Microsoft and a French government research organization will sign an agreement Tuesday afternoon, establishing a framework for the creation of a joint research center in France.Andrew Herbert, managing director of Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England, will sign the agreement with Gilles Kahn, chief executive officer of INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, at the offices of the French Ministry of Research, the ministry announced Tuesday.The agreement follows on from Microsoft’s announcement in February that it plans to partner with public institutions around Europe to build a network of joint research centers. A laboratory at the University of Trento in Italy, the first such joint research center, will focus on computational tools for biological research. In addition to the center in Italy, and the one to be created in France, the company is also discussing the creation of centers in Germany and the U.K., it said in February.In contrast to Microsoft’s focus on proprietary, commercial software, INRIA researchers have made a name for themselves in the open source software community. They have contributed to the development of projects including the Jonas application server, a Java message server called Joram, and a compiler for the Eiffel programming language.Who will own the fruits of joint research between Microsoft and INRIA was still undecided on Friday, when a source familiar with the matter said negotiations over contracts and matters of intellectual property were still continuing. INRIA has around 2,700 researchers in six centers across France. About 80 percent of INRIA’s annual budget of €135 million ($176 million) is paid by the French government; the other 20 percent comes from industry.Microsoft’s research division employs 700, and operates three research labs in the U.S., one in Beijing and one in Cambridge, England. The company also opened a lab in Bangalore, India, in January. Software DevelopmentTechnology Industry