Computer Science Department

Presentation of the Computer Science Department



The Computer Science curriculum of ENS de Lyon starts at third year of Bachelor’s degree (L3), the first two years of Bachelor’s degree being most often spent in classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles or in university.

The L3 provides a broad background in Computer Science. The L3 teaching language is French.

The bachelor’s degree is followed by a Master’s degree that takes two years to complete (M1, M2): the first year aims at strengthening the Computer Science background, whereas the second year consists of research courses and a research internship. The teaching language in M1 and M2 is English.

A classical follow-up is a doctoral degree lasting three years, and then a career in academia, with a teaching-and-research or research-only position (universities, CNRS, INRIA), or in the industry, with an R&D position.

In this framework, the CS department of ENS de Lyon provides:

  • courses within the Foundations of CS track of the 3rd year of the Bachelor’s degree (L3) of Université Claude Bernard – Lyon 1 (UCBL);
  • courses within the Foundations of CS track of the CS Master’s degree (M1 and M2) of UCBL, Université Lyon 2, Université de St Etienne, École Centrale de Lyon and ENS de Lyon;
  • a preparation to the CS track of the mathematics agrégation.

A full curriculum at ENS de Lyon lasts 4 years, and leads to the ENS de Lyon diploma. It typically consists in L3,  M1, M2 and a Long Research Project, or a preparation to mathematics agrégation, or a year planned within a double curriculum. Students can join the Master degree for 1 or 2 years outside of the ENS de Lyon diploma framework.

The “Foundations of CS” curriculum provided by ENS de Lyon benefits from more than 30 years of local academic expertise in computer science. One of the emblematic characteristics of this curriculum is that it is driven by research. More info on our academic programs.

The CS curriculum of ENS de Lyon provides outstanding work conditions: small classes (around 35 students per academic year), tutoring, high-quality computer facilities, laptop loans, on-site library. Teaching is provided by 15 tenured academics, 20 teaching assistants and about 50 academics from other institutions. The students can also benefit from the equipments of ENS de Lyon such as a languages center, a gymnasium, and, more generally, a large spectrum of associations.

We encourage International students to apply to our curricula. Scholarships are proposed to International students, based on academic records (Bourses Ampère, Bourses Milyon). All the M1 and M2 courses are given in English. More info on applying ENS de Lyon.

Year of study