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Recherche

The aim of the research carried out in INSIS laboratories is to help knowledge progress in the basic disciplines of engineering sciences and to put them in synergy to tackle the major challenges facing society - energy, the environment, health and life sciences or information and communication technologies. This work is very often interdisciplinary and is supported by first-rate infrastructures for experiments.

Four strategic research fields

Research at the INSIS focuses on strategic areas for the future of society: energy, the environment, health and the living sphere, information and communication technologies.

Les groupements de recherche

Les groupements de recherche (GDR) sont des structures d'animation créées pour cinq ans et renouvelables une fois. Ces outils du CNRS ont pour objectif commun de favoriser les échanges entre les scientifiques du CNRS,…
Recherche

At the interface between science, technology and society

Disciplinary fields which are continually evolving

The disciplinary foundations of engineering sciences and systems are made up of several fields:

  • mechanics of materials and structures, acoustics, bio-engineering;
  • fluids, processes, plasmas, transfers, combustion, thermal science;
  • micro- and nanoelectronics, micro- and nanotechnologies, micro- and nanosystems, photonics, electromagnetism, electrical energy.

In all these fields, multi-scale and multi-physical simulation and modelling are taking on an increasingly interdisciplinary role and are generally linked to experimental developments.

Interdisciplinarity is at the core of INSIS research

Interdisciplinarity is intrinsic to the Institute and is essential to study the many subjects of interest to the INSIS. Within the Institute, disciplines complement and interact with each other.

Multiple interfaces exist between the INSIS and the other CNRS institutes because of the integrative and multidisciplinary nature of engineering and systems sciences. Half of the INSIS units thus have a secondary link to another institute as their authority and 143 CNRS structures have a secondary institutional link with the INSIS as their authority.

Five INSIS laboratories are under dual authority:

TIMC-IMAG

INSIS and INS2I
LAAS-CNRS INSIS and INS2I
iCube INSIS and INS2I
CREATIS INSIS and INS2I
C2N INSIS and INP

The INSIS actively takes part in the projects run by the Mission for Transversal and Interdisciplinary Initiatives (MITI), formerly known as the Mission for Interdisciplinarity (MI): Défisens, Mechanobiology, Instrumentation aux limites (Instrumentation at the limits).

The MITI website

Some examples of major interdisciplinary research

  • Computing and robotics with the INS2I
  • Bio-engineering with the INSB
  • Photonics with the INP
  • Renewable energy with the INC
  • Instrumentation with the IN2P3
  • Astrophysics with the INSU
  • Modelling with the INSMI
  • Sustainable development durable with the INEE
  • Heritage conservation with the INSHS
Recherche

Four strategic research fields

Research at the INSIS focuses on strategic areas for the future of society: energy, the environment, health and the living sphere, information and communication technologies.

Energy

Energy is at the nerve centre of our society and represents a vast field of study for all the Institutes.

The INSIS is the main entry point for this research. It steers the CNRS Cellule Énergie (Energy Cell) and represents the CNRS in the National Alliance for Coordination of Research on Energy (ANCRE).

The CNRS Cellule Énergie site

The ANCRE site

Many research teams work on the theme of energy particularly through INSIS coordination structures such as the Federation of Photovoltaic research (FedPV), the Federation for Research in Magnetic Confinement Fusion-ITER (FCM-ITER) or the Federation for Research into Solar Power (FédEsol).

The environment

The INSIS develops clean processes along with sustainable materials and structures for this sector. It works to reduce noise pollution, pollutant emissions and the environmental impact of certain products.

The INSIS particularly made "green engineering" its priority theme in 2018 and 2019. Green engineering is essentially based on the development of processes and technologies which make it possible to use resources while preserving the environment and natural reserves for future generations. It also involves developing energy-efficient systems and/or optimizing existing processes. This requires an interdisciplinary approach involving all the engineering sciences and an ever-increasing focus on the sustainability and recyclability of objects.

Health and the living sphere

In this sector where the CNRS has become a reference, the INSIS and its partners are making daily progress in medical imaging, micro- and nanosystems for living organisms, tissue engineering, biomechanics and process engineering. The INSIS is also involved in the multi-agency thematic Institute of Health Technologies (ITMO) which is part of the French National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health (AVIESAN).

The Institute of Health Technologies (ITMO) site

Nanotechnologies

This will be a fundamental line of research for the coming years. Researchers at the INSIS are designing and producing ever smaller and more efficient devices which will find applications in communication systems, electronic devices, "intelligent" or "self-repairing" materials.

Recherche

A dynamic which federates actors around annual priority themes

The institute defines and communicates about annual priority themes. These help structure and federate the community and enable various initiatives to be implemented such as calls for projects, scientific conference, communication work, etc. The PEPS - Initial Support for Exploratory Projects  - calls for projects are part of this approach. These are collaborative and interdisciplinary and encourage the implementation of new methodologies and protocols for innovative technologies.

2021 - 2022 : La mécanique du futur

2020 : Ingénierie inspirée par la nature

2017 - 2019 : Ingénierie verte

2016 : Ingénierie pour la santé

Recherche

Cutting-edge experimental facilities and equipment

The work carried out by the INSIS relies on first-rate experimental infrastructures.

Platforms and large research infrastructures

High-level technological resources are essential for certain research projects. The INSIS laboratories house some major research infrastructures such as the Odeillo solar furnace and a whole network of specialized platforms: cleanrooms, super- and hypersonic wind tunnels, a wave basin, anechoic chambers, microscopes, fire tunnels, laser platforms, characterization platforms and so forth. In particular, the INSIS hosts RENATECH, the academic network of nanofabrication technology centres.

These platforms are often open to external researchers either from the academic world or the R&D departments of major industrial concerns.

Zoom on the RENATECH network

For more than ten years, the CNRS has had a network of micro- and nanofabrication platforms, the national network of large RENATECH technology plants which is open to users from the academic world and industry.

The INSIS steers RENATECH which has enabled the French micro-technological research and production system to be upgraded and made it state-of-the-art in terms of both equipment and human expertise.

RENATECH now has 7000 m2 of cleanrooms spread over 5 platforms (Marcoussis, Orsay, Lille, Besançon, Toulouse, Grenoble) run by 150 engineers and technicians. 1000 academic or industrial clients use these resources every year working on a total of 365 projects with an average duration of 27 months.

The RENATECH site

Recherche

Les groupements de recherche

Les groupements de recherche (GDR) sont des structures d'animation créées pour cinq ans et renouvelables une fois. Ces outils du CNRS ont pour objectif commun de favoriser les échanges entre les scientifiques du CNRS, les partenaires académiques, les entreprises et autres parties prenantes.

Au 1er janvier 2024, CNRS Ingénierie pilote 31 groupements de recherche, dont voici la liste.

APPAMAT | Apparence des matériaux

ARCHI-META | Métamatériaux architecturés

BOIS | Sciences du bois

CarMA Nano | Caractérisation et mesures à l'échelle nanométrique

EMILI | Études des milieux ionisés : Plasmas froids créés par décharge et laser

EOL - EMR | Éolien, énergies marines renouvelables, hydraulique

EX-MODELI | Exploitation et modélisation des dynamiques non linéaires

FIBMAT | Matériaux Fibreux - Caractérisation, modélisation et optimisation

GDM | Géométrie différentielle et mécanique

HAPPYBIO | Applications de procédés physiques à la biologie

HEA | Métallurgie des alliages à haute entropie (HEA) ou à composition complexe

I-GAIA | Ingénierie auGmentée par la donnée, l'Apprentissage et l'IA

IMABIO | Imagerie et microscopie en biologie

MBS | Matériaux de construction biosourcés

MECABIO | Mécanique des matériaux et fluides biologiques

MecaWave | À l’interface de l’acoustique physique et de la mécanique théorique

MEPHY | Mécanique et physique des systèmes complexes

MFA | Micropesanteur fondamentale et appliquée

MNF | Micro et nanofluidique

MORPHEA | Morphologie et phénomènes d’agrégation

MultiPODE

NAME | Nano-Materials for Energy Applications

NanoTeraMIR | Nanodispositifs pour le TeraHertz et moyen infrarouge

NS2.00 | Navier-Stokes 2.00

OERA | Organic Electronics for the new eRA

ONDES

PhyP | Biophysique et biomécanique des plantes

Réparer l’Humain | Matériaux et Procédés pour Applications Médicales

SEEDS | Systèmes d’énergie électrique dans leurs dimensions sociétales

SOC² | System On Chip, Systèmes embarqués et objets connectés

SPORT | Sport & activité physique

SURFTOPO | Topographie des surfaces

TACT | Le toucher : analyse, connaissance, simulation

TAMARYS | Transferts radiatifs, matériaux, procédés et systèmes associés

TranPolyn

TRANSINTER PHASE II | Transferts et interfaces