IRCAM, the Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music, is one of the world’s largest public research centers dedicated to both musical expression and scientific research. Founded by Pierre Boulez, IRCAM is an institute under the aegis of the Centre Pompidou and the French Ministry of Culture. It is a unique location where artistic sensibilities collide with scientific and technological innovation. Frank Madlener has directed the institute since 2006. IRCAM's three principal activities – creation, research, transmission – are manifest in IRCAM's Parisian concert season, in the institute's annual festival, and in productions throughout France and abroad. Research, carried out in partnership with several universities and international companies, covers a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines including acoustics, signal processing, computer science (languages, real-time, databases, man machine interfaces) musicology, and musical cognition. IRCAM's scientific findings are often applied to other artistic domains as well as to diverse fields in the industrial world such as cultural industries, telecommunications, computer science, transportation and automotive.