Study in the most international polytechnical university in France
By Professor Jean-Claude BUREAU Vice-rector of international Affairs of INSA-Lyon  

INSA de Lyon : the target is "excellence"

INSA de Lyon offers 5 year university level (1st and 2nd cycles) academic and practical courses in 10 fields of specialisation*. Each year more than 800 highly-qualified engineers  graduate and our post-graduate programme awards around 130 doctorates. INSA de Lyon is one of France's very best higher-education establishments. The Engineering Diploma of INSA de Lyon is equivalent to the best "Master of Science" degrees. The "Master's Degree" is awarded to all students.

INSA scientific and technical research projects are conceived and implemented in close collaboration with industrial partners. There are 31 laboratories and 1000 permanent staff to serve our 4000 undergraduate and 690 post-graduate students - all of whom play an active part in advancing the scientific and economic role of France on the international scene.  

Attending INSA Study programme means taking advantage of a stimulating scientific environment with highly-efficient teaching methods and teaching staff particularly oriented towards a multi-cultural audience and a wealth of high-quality socio-cultural activities.

These are all elements of the INSA study programme.

* . Biochemistry . Civil Engineering and Urban Development . Electrical Engineering . Energy and Environmental Engineering . Mechanical Engineering / Design . Mechanical Engineering / Development . Industrial Engineering  . Computer Science and Engineering  . Materials science and Engineering  . Telecommunications

INSA de Lyon has a story international dimension based on a 30 year experience in the integration of foreign students.

10 years ago, INSA de Lyon created the European first cycle, training programme EURINSA. This training programme has enhanced the development of international relations in INSA and is today one of the major points that makes its reputation.

EURINSA,
10 years of experience in the training of european engineers




EURINSA is the European "first-cycle" (i.e. undergraduate) engineering program of INSAs. The training program runs over 2 years (4 semesters) after the completion of secondary education, and prepares the successful students to continue their higher education in any field of engineering at INSA or in other Universities in Europe. EURINSA was first founded at the INSA Lyon in 1991 where some 220 students are currently enrolled, originating from around 15 European countries. EURINSA has now been also in operation at the INSA Rouen since september 1999 with some 50 students.

Train some of the best European students for the world of tomorrow

The internationalisation of exchanges in technology and trade and the opportunities opened by the growth of the European market have profoundly modified the engineering professions. Today's and even more tomorrow's engineers can no longer be only good scientists.

They need to be innovative and open-minded, be prepared to work with foreigners and/or work abroad and constantly adapt themselves to our changing world.

The objective of EURINSA is to make some of the best European students work together in an adapted training program that provides them not only with a solid scientific and technical basis, but also with human qualities (communication, foreign languages, team work) and a good international experience.

About 1/3 of the students are French, 1/3 come from other countries of the EU or the European Free Trade Association, and the last third comes from Central and Eastern European Countries.

Focus on internationalisation at the very first stage of higher education

The tremendous learning capacity of young students at the completion of secondary education is used at EURINSA to prepare them to integrate each-other's cultures, work in international teams and experience and understand cross-cultural issues.

. At least 3 languages are compulsory (English, French, native language, and German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Russian).

. Courses on European geopolitics, legislation, currency, etc. are included.

. A 4 to 8-week industrial training period is compulsory at the end of the first year in a European country different from the country of origin.

. Laboratory sessions and team projects are done in multinational groups.

Studying at EURINSA

Each of the 4 semesters comprises 15 weeks of courses, with about 400 to 500 teaching hours per semester. Courses are adapted to foreign students since they account for 1/2 to 2/3 of the population.

A 6-week "summer school" running before the beginning of the 1st year is open to students whose level in French language is too low. French courses (up to 6 h per week) are also given to foreign students over the first year. Courses are taught in French in Lyon, and partly in English in Rouen.

After EURINSA

After completing the 2-year EURINSA program, successful students can continue their higher education for three more years in one of the 29 departments of the 4 INSAs (all areas of engineering such as computer science, telecommunication, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, etc) in order to get a Master's degree (dilpôme d'ingénieur INSA), or in one of the many European Universities having mobility agreements with INSA Lyon.

The figures below show the distribution of EURINSA students after graduation from INSA Lyon: