École normale supérieure de Lyon

New 2026-2027 edition of the Omega brochure.

In the first semester of the 2026-2027 academic year, ENS de Lyon is welcoming more than 80 international students from some 20 countries. The International Relations Office organized a welcome program for them, which included a welcome reception attended by the School’s president, Emmanuel Trizac, and the vice president for International Relations, Vanessa Guignery.

Deadline: November 20, 2026

Since its inception in 2024, the Nanomer project—which brings together European and Latin American institutions focused on nanoscience—has given rise to several initiatives in both education and research. Here’s a look back at the activities in which ENS de Lyon participated in 2025-2026 and at upcoming projects.

Welcome to our new students and staff! Find here the welcome booklets, the guides that will take you through ENS de Lyon.

Welcome and congratulations on joining ENS de Lyon!

A look back at the ENS de Lyon graduation ceremony—Class of 2025.

On the occasion of European Doctoral Day 2026, celebrated on May 13, the ENS de Lyon is highlighting its PhD studies and the support systems available to doctoral candidates throughout their academic journey at the School.
A webinar on the mentoring program for female doctoral candidates, in partnership with the Femmes & Sciences association, will be held on May 11 at 11:00 a.m (in French). Register now!

Lyon 1 Claude Bernard University and the École normale supérieure de Lyon, in partnership with the Hospices Civils de Lyon, are launching a dual degree program in Medicine and the Humanities in the fall of 2026. This program trains physicians to apply research in the humanities and social sciences to better understand the social, cultural, environmental, and organizational determinants of care, and to enhance the quality, relevance, and equity of patient care.

Seventeen exchange students from around the world are joining ENS de Lyon for the second semester of the 2025-2026 academic year. From workshops to social meetups, the ENS de Lyon community is actively supporting international students as they settle in, fostering connections, engagement, and a vibrant campus experience.

On January 12, 13, and 14, 2026, as they have done since 2018, first-year Master's students in the Biology Department had the pleasure of welcoming middle and high school students from the Lyon metropolitan area to the Biosciences Forum.

The FluoroBreaker project, developed by students from the iGEM Lyon 2025 team, won a gold medal at the Grand Jamboree, the final event of this prestigious international synthetic biology competition.

The institutions of the ComUE Lyon Saint-Étienne have outlined their joint scientific strategy, with the announcement of two new interdisciplinary thematic institutes and two disciplinary coordination networks. This strategy is based on a dual disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, with the aim of creating solid disciplinary foundations in both training and research and establishing networks designed to foster innovative scientific approaches to major societal challenges.

At the start of the 2025 academic year, the ENS de Lyon welcomed 85 international students with an orientation week combining French language courses, thematic workshops, and guided visits designed to facilitate their integration. The welcome speeches encouraged curiosity, experimentation, and civic engagement, foundational values of the School.

Sonia Goldblum joined ENS de Lyon two years ago as a full professor, affiliated with IHRIM (Institute for the History of Representations and Ideas in Modernities). She specializes in the history of German ideas from the 18th to the 20th century, with a particular focus on the intellectual history of German Jewry. An alumna of the school, she held a junior fellowship at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies and is actively involved in fostering collaborations between French and German higher education institutions. She will serve as a member of the board of directors.

In her role as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Sonia Goldblum will be supported by Sarah Mombert, Head of the Humanities and Social Sciences competitive exam, in addition to the Head of the Science competitive exam who is already in office.

Sonia Goldblum will succeed Emmanuelle Boulineau as Vice-President for Academic Affairs at ENS de Lyon on September 1, 2025.

The 5th French Chemists' Tournament took place on March 28 and 29, 2025 at Sorbonne Université. Congratulations to the Quebec team (Université de Sherbrooke/Université de Montréal/Université Laval) who won the tournament, and to our team who won several prizes.

Monday 11 February marks the 10th consecutive International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It's an opportunity to remember the importance of promoting equal access and participation in science for all. And to find out about the initiatives taken by ENS de Lyon to encourage more women to take up science, particularly in fields where they are under-represented.

ENS de Lyon offers international students masters excellence scholarships.
The call is open from November 12, 2024 to January 31, 2025.

Saturday March 16, 2024 saw the 3rd graduation ceremony of ENS de Lyon. The graduating class of 2023 celebrated their success with great pomp and ceremony.

Congratulations to Agathe Faucourt, an alumnus of ENS de Lyon, who has been awarded the master's prize of the RADAC Society (Recherches sur les Arts Dramatiques Anglophones Contemporains - Research on Contemporary English Dramatic Arts) for her M2 dissertation on contemporary English-language theater.

For the second time this year, ENS de Lyon welcomed a delegation from East China Normal University. These meetings enabled to renew strong contacts and establish a work schedule for the development of collaborative programs.

The graduation ceremony for the Normaliens class of 2022 will take place on Saturday, November 18, 2023, for a festive and highly colorful ceremony.

On June 7 and 8, 2023, ENS de Lyon welcomed a delegation from East China Normal University, led by its Vice-President of International Relations.

Congratulations to the physics students of ENS de Lyon and their coaches for this wonderful victory.

Congratulations to our students and our coaches from the Chemistry Department for this great victory.

Our students have talent! The proof is in the 10th edition of the French Physicists' Tournament where our students finished in second place.

Times Higher Education (THE) publishes its Most international universities in the world ranking.

From Monday 23 January to Friday 27 January 2023, the School provides a week of extracurricular activities for ENS students referred to as “normaliens” who are enrolled in the 1st year of the ENS de Lyon diploma. The objective of these activities is to increase awareness of our students about the complex issues we are currently facing and that we will face in the future (ecological and digital transition, new individual and collective risks, future of research, etc.). Please find below a preview program.

2023-2024 call for application is open until January 10, 2023.

The ENS of Lyon expresses its solidarity with the Iranian academic community.

Download here the photographs of the graduating class of 2022/2023 (restricted access)

The first graduation ceremony of ENS de Lyon will take place on May 7, 2022.

Director of the IT department of ENS de Lyon, Alain Tchana has been rewarded as part of the 10th edition of the “Prix de la Francophonie*” for Young Researchers awarded by the AUF.
*Award for French-speaking countries

Applications for courses at the ENS de Lyon must be submitted from 17 May. Please check the calendars for the course you are interested in. 

Go live on Friday, March 26, 2021 at 9:45 a.m. for the 1st session of the French Chemists’ Tournament (TFChim).

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, France is ready to welcome international students and researchers. Depending on your country of origin, the steps to follow are different. Campus France published a flyer with useful information to prepare your arrival in France. 

With regard to international mobility, the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior have indicated that travel can resume in Europe from June 15 (possible restriction for England and Spain) and outside Schengen from July 1, subject to favourable health conditions.

From the room known as the "Café des sports", one of the virtual videoconferencing rooms of the biology department accessible from the Study portal, François Roudier, Director of the department and Nathalie Alazard, Assistant Director, tell us about almost 4 weeks of intense remote work. Four weeks, three phases, a first assessment and a constant optimism despite the complexity of an ever-changing situation.

The international Times Higher Education (THE) ranking remains innovative and offers this year a new global Top 100 of institutions with an international vocation.

The French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation presented ENS de Lyon with the national 2019 Higher Education teaching award “Passion Enseignement et Pédagogie” designed to encourage institutional commitment to the pursuit of excellent, innovative university teaching and learning. ENS de Lyon won in the "Internationalization" category, for its international “Transatlantic Translation Workshop”.

The master class of Loïc Touzé as well as his lecture are postponed to a later date.

In this new academic year, 55 foreign students from about ten countries were admitted to ENS de Lyon. If a third party already speaks French, this is not the case for the remaining two thirds.