Institut Ampère

Institut Ampère
Name	Institut Ampère
Established	1958
Type	Public research institute
City	Lyon
Country	France
Affiliations	École Centrale de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS

Institut Ampère is a joint research institute based in Lyon, France, focused on electrical engineering, physics, and computer science-related research with strong ties to French higher education and national research organizations. Founded through collaboration among regional universities and national laboratories, the institute integrates academic research, doctoral training, and industrial partnerships to advance topics such as power electronics, electromagnetism, energy conversion, and complex systems. Its multidisciplinary teams engage with European research programs, national agencies, and global industrial actors.

History

Institut Ampère traces origins to mid-20th century efforts in Lyon to consolidate research in electrotechnics, formalized in collaboration between École Centrale de Lyon and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 with support from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Early milestones included programs aligned with French national plans for technological modernization and participation in European initiatives such as Framework Programmes coordinated by the European Commission. Over decades the institute expanded through mergers, reorganizations, and strategic hires from institutions including INRIA, CEA, and other French Grandes Écoles, while contributing researchers to international consortia like projects within the Horizon 2020 framework.

Research and Laboratories

Research at Institut Ampère is organized into thematic laboratories addressing power systems, electromagnetic compatibility, signal processing, and control theory. Groups conduct experimental and theoretical work spanning power electronics with links to standards bodies such as IEC, electromagnetic modeling with methods used in Finite Element Method implementations, and machine learning approaches comparable to those developed at École Polytechnique and Télécom Paris. Laboratories collaborate with national facilities like RENATER and international centers including RIKEN and Fraunhofer Society counterparts. Research outputs include publications in journals associated with IEEE, involvement in committees of CIGRE, and technical contributions to projects led by Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Alstom.

Education and Training

Institut Ampère is actively involved in doctoral supervision under joint doctoral schools of Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and École Centrale de Lyon, contributing to engineering curricula similar to those at Arts et Métiers ParisTech, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, and INSA Lyon. It hosts postdoctoral researchers from institutions such as Imperial College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and ETH Zurich, and organizes summer schools in collaboration with CERN-affiliated programs and European training networks. Continuing education modules target professionals from companies including Renault, Airbus, and EDF, aligning course content with certifications recognized by agencies like ADEME.

Collaborations and Industry Partnerships

The institute maintains partnerships with multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, and public agencies. Industrial collaborations have included joint projects with Schneider Electric, Alstom, Siemens, ABB, and startups incubated alongside Lyonbiopôle and regional clusters such as Minalogic and Medef. It participates in European consortia with partners like TU Delft, Politecnico di Milano, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Technical University of Munich. Public-sector collaborations involve entities such as CNES and ADEME, while standards and professional interactions occur through IEEE Standards Association and CENELEC committees.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Institut Ampère houses experimental platforms for high-power testing, magnetic materials characterization, and electromagnetic compatibility chambers comparable to facilities at CEA centers. It maintains cleanroom spaces aligned with microfabrication workflows seen at LETID and measurement laboratories equipped with vector network analyzers, anechoic chambers, and hardware-in-the-loop systems used in projects with Alstom and Renault. Computational infrastructure supports finite-element solvers, large-scale simulations employing methods used by LAMMPS communities, and machine learning clusters similar to those at Grid'5000. The institute’s facilities support joint PhD projects and industry-sponsored research chairs.

Notable Achievements and Awards

Researchers at Institut Ampère have received national and international recognition, with awards and honors from organizations such as IEEE, French Academy of Sciences, and program-level grants from the European Research Council. Notable achievements include advances in wide-bandgap semiconductor applications akin to industry work at Infineon and ROHM Semiconductor, novel control strategies referenced in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, and leadership in European projects that influenced standards promoted by CIGRE and IEC. The institute’s alumni have taken positions at institutions including EPFL, Imperial College London, and companies such as Schneider Electric and Siemens.

Category:Research institutes in France Category:Science and technology in Lyon