Presentation of the Chevreul Institute

The Michel-Eugène Chevreul Institute is a CNRS Research Federation (FR2638) comprising three Mixed Research Units (UCCS UMR8181; UMET UMR8207 and LASIRE UMR8516) and a Services and Research Unit (MSAP USR3290) located in the Hauts-de-France region and working in the field of Chemistry and Materials. The Institute is supported by five supervisory bodies (University of Lille, University of Artois, Centrale Lille, CNRS and INRAE).

Its role consists mainly:

  • to federate the activities of the laboratories that make it up around major multidisciplinary axes in order to give them more visibility
  • to pool financial and human resources for the development of very high-level analytical and or technological platforms,
  • to promote the emergence of new scientific and / or technological projects,
  • to promote interactions with actors from other disciplinary sectors …

The Institute’s workforce amounts to approximately 470 people, including 196 Researchers and Lecturer-Researchers, 77 Engineers and Research Support Technicians, 13 administrative and management staff, 155 PhD students and 29 post-doctoral fellows. It should be noted that the Institute has its own 20 or so staff working on shared platforms, within the management division or on research projects.

The Institute plays an important role in structuring and promoting the Chemistry and Materials sector, thus significantly increasing its visibility both regionally and nationally. It carries the ARCHI-CM research project selected and financed within the framework of the 2014-2020 State-Region Plan Contract. This structuring project aims to respond to societal challenges in the fields of the bio-economy, the response to energy challenges and advanced materials.

The Institute has a set of characterization techniques, grouped in 8 instrumental poles constituting the advanced characterization platform. This platform is recognized nationally and internationally for the high technicality of its instruments as well as for the expertise and know-how of the Researchers, Lecturer-Researchers and Engineers working on them. Some of the instrumental poles of this platform are labeled national “Research Infrastructure”. This platform is also a privileged place for methodological and/or technological developments and promotes the convergence of numerous collaborative research works.

Institut Chevreul also has an engineering technology platform for chemistry and materials. This platform is made up of 5 instrumental poles and aims to develop research collaborations and services related to the “Chemistry and Materials” theme. It is based on one of the most high-performance instruments on the market, combined with internationally recognized expertise and scientific support. The scientific specificity of this technological platform lies in the great diversity and complementarity of the tools it offers for research and services in the fields of Chemistry and Materials.

These two platforms are part of the platforms of the University of Lille labeled in 2020.

  • Bâtiment Chevreul - Vue
  • Bâtiment Chevreul - Entrée
  • Bâtiment Chevreul - Amphithéâtre

Since 2019, the institute has had a 2850 m2 building realized within the framework of the Campus Grand Lille plan. This building houses part of the instrumental poles of the Institute’s two analytical and technological platforms as well as interdisciplinary research platforms that can accommodate, for a fixed period of time, partnership research projects. This building also has a 150-seat amphitheatre allowing, through the organization of seminars and conferences, to increase the visibility and influence of the Institute.

Image crédits : ANAA ARCHITECTES / GROUPE FAYAT