The Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon or INSA de Lyon is a Grande École d'Ingénieurs. INSA was founded in 1957 to train highly qualified engineers, support continuing education, and conduct research and testing. The five-year curriculum aims at training engineers who possess humane qualities and are well versed in the primary areas of science and engineering. Graduates from INSA are called "Insaliens".

The education is divided into two parts:

• the first cycle, which is a highly selective part of the studies and which aims at giving the basis for future engineering studies,
• the second cycle, for which the students have the choice of 12 specialties. The future engineer chooses here a specialisation, and have then the possibility to pursue a PhD.

The university is located on a campus called La Doua-Lyontech. This is a large campus which encompasses many other science-oriented schools and universities. La Doua is located in Villeurbanne

Villeurbanne

Villeurbanne is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after that of Paris. Villeurbanne is the second-largest city in the department.-History:The current location of...

, a suburb of Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

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First cycle

The five year academic curriculum starts with a foundation course (preparatory cycle) where students focus on fundamental sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics and Computer Science) and then progressively open to specialized areas in science and technology. This generalist preparatory cycle aims at giving to INSA engineers aims diverses skills and competence, thus allowing them to reorient their career independently of their initial specialization.

Most of the selection take place during the first cycle.

Some special sections are available:

• "Sportif de haut niveau" (Student Athlete) for high level athletes
• 5 sections of "Art études" (Art and Science).
• "SCAN": the students follow their engineering courses in English.
• "GRAL": the students follow their engineering courses in German.
• "Langues O" (oriental languages) section: this section has been made for students that want to have extra hours in order to study another language such as Japanese, Russian or Chinese.

Second cycle (Masters of Engineering)

The second cycle is completed in 3 years which offers 12 different options.

• Computer science,
• Biochemistry,
• Bioinformatics,
• Civil engineering and urbanism,
• Electrical/Electronic engineering,
• Energy engineering and environment,
• Mechanical engineering and design,
• Mechanical engineering and development,
• Mechanical engineering and plasturgy processes,
• Industrial engineering,
• Materials science and engineering,
• Telecommunications

Admission

Admission is granted based on diplomas, academic records and interviews. Only students with GPA of 3.9 or above, as well as a strong science background are eligible for INSA.

An international school

The INSA Lyon has a policy of encouraging "international" education with:

• A mobility abroad 6 months to one year for 77% of the graduates
• A voluntarist strategy of reception of foreign students (28%)
• 10 taught languages - at least 2 languages are required to get the diploma
• 220 partner universities in the world

INSA Lyon proposes special international sections for its students. These sections allow the French students to study and work with students from other countries.

• EURINSA: approximately 120 students in 1st year including 1/3 of French students, 1/3 of the European Union and 1/3 of the other European countries.
• ASINSA: a class of approximately 80 students in 1st year, made up approximately for half of French students and half of Asian students coming from China, Viêt Nam, South Korea, India, Singapore, Thailand.
• AMERINSA: 75 students in 1st year, made up for half of French students and half of Latin-American students, coming mainly from Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Colombia.
• SCAN: 25 students in first year (half of them being foreigners) and 75 students in second year. During these two years, most of the teaching is done in English.

INSA is highly interested in international exchange; about 600 foreign students from 35 countries study at the institute annually. Total enrolment: 4,500, including 1,000 at the doctoral level. The INSA Lyon has a partnership with about 200 universities.

Masters of Science

The INSA Lyon proposes 10 masters for students that are interested in research careers. This offer directed towards the formation with and by research, is pressed on the 27 research laboratories.

Research

L'INSA de Lyon is blessed with the largest research funding among Grande École in France
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It features 27 laboratories, 500 Professors, 250 Master students, 500 PhD students and supports 120 Theses each year.

Student life

Since its creation , INSA Lyon has offered its students the possibility to live on-campus and provide various facilities including various clubs, library, restaurants…

Over a hundred clubs have been registered so far.

• Students' Union(BdE): Association of the students in engineering of the INSA
• 24 hours of the INSA Lyon
• ARGIL: Association of management and entertainment of student centre of INSA Lyon
• OBJECTIF 21: Association coed for the promotion of the durable development on the INSA Lyon
• CLES FACIL: Aeronautical rocket Club of the INSA Lyon
• ClubElek : Robotics Club of the INSA Lyon
• INSAERO: Aeronautical association of the INSA Lyon
• Etic INSA Technologies: Junior Enterprise of the INSA Lyon
• Exit: Campus Gay and Lesbian association
• BCI: Billiards Club INSA?
• Ciné Club of the INSA Lyon : Movies projections on campus
• Club Data base: club comic strips
• L'INSATIABLE : Insa Students newspaper
• BACCHUS: club of enology
• SLIDE: Standards Latinos INSA Dance Entertainement, Club of Latin dances
• INSA Dojang: club of Taekwondo
• Adeibt Association of raised resulting from technological vat
• Group of Pinguins free: Association of promotion of the free software
• BEST Lyon: Board of European Students of Technology
• SCI: Ski Club of the INSA Lyon
• ADIL: Association of the Doctorands of Insa Lyon
• SHIOT: Street Hockey Insa Olympic TEAM, club of Roller-Hockey of Insa Lyon

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Rankings

• 1st place in the ranking performed by weekly magazine Le Point (Le Point - 17/02/2005 - N°1692) of the top French engineering schools (with admittance directly after high school/secondary school). INSA Lyon is also ranked among the top 5 preferred Engineering Schools for recruiters.
• 15th position according to the magazine “l'Expansion”, with respect to salary offered for the first employment and after 3 years experience.
• 2nd place in the ranking of French Computer Engineering Graduate Schools, according to a survey carried out by the magazine “Le Monde Informatique” 2006. (1 Supelec, 2 INSA de Lyon, 3 Mines, 4 Polytechnique, 5 Centrale Paris )
• 1st place according to L'Express (06/01/2010), among 5-year schools. In the French education system, high school graduates go to "Prepa" courses for 2 years, then compete for engineering schools where they spend 3 more years; whereas other schools like INSA include the "Prepa" as part of their 5-year cursus. Ranking differ between these 2 categories.

Sports

The campus of "la DOUA" offers many sports facilities that are also available to INSA students. INSA was awarded the title of the best sports university in France. The “Centre des Sports” (sports centre) is run by 18 specialised sports teachers and has four objectives: to supervise sports practices, to run the “Association Sportive” (Sports Association), to supervise students in the top athletes sports section, and to coordinate technological research applied to sports equipments.
This association brings together students who wish to specialise in the practice of a particular sport. It runs on the basis of one or more training session per week and participates in the French University Championships Approximately one third of INSA students are licensed with the Sports Association. The Association’s achievements are excellent, with many French Championship titles being won every year. INSA Lyon students are frequently selected to represent the French National University team at the various University World Championships and in the “Universiades”, participating in many of the Olympic Sports.

Top athletes

Since 1981, INSA has been entrusted by the Departments of “Education Nationale” and of “Jeunesse et des Sports”, with the administration of a “Sport Etudes” section (Sports and Studies) called Top Athletes section.
11 students from this section have participated in the Olympic Games.
2 World Champions have graduated from INSA.

Annual events

1.The "24 hours": 3-days free student festival with over 60 animations

2.Karnaval: it is the association in charge of organising a great costumed parade on Shrove Tuesday, involving both students and children from primary schools. A student party is given in the evening. The event is part of a week during which many cultural and humanitarian relief activities are organised.

3. the Gala: it is the ceremony where INSA award degrees for the alumni. After the ceremony a dinner and a celebration party are organised.

External links

• INSA Lyon
• ETIC INSA Technologies, INSA's Junior Entreprise