Last updated on 06 janv. 2026
Research at Université Lumière Lyon 2 covers and brings together a wide range of subjects in the arts, literature, languages, humanities, and social sciences, as well as computer science and applied mathematics. It is a major research hub in the Lyon-Saint-Etienne area, with an average of 130 theses defended each year.
 

Our research priorities

  • To raise cross-disciplinary questions in the humanities and social sciences, but also at the interface of life sciences, experimental sciences, and engineering.
  • To develop open access to research results and data as part of an open science approach.
  • Internationalizing research through collaborative projects, jointly supervised theses, international recruitment, and co-publications, whether within the framework of the European Bauhaus4EU Alliance or other networks.
  • Emphasizing scientific mediation and promotion, as well as participatory research, by forging partnerships with socio-economic actors.

Key figures

  • 33 research laboratories
  • 1 centre for humanities - Maison des sciences sociales et des humanités (MSH-LSE) - 
  • 1 Research Federation on Ancient Societies - Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux (MOM)
  • More than 600 teacher-researchers
  • 820 doctoral students from 7 doctoral schools (for the year 2024-2025)
  • a varied range of themes from approximately 20 disciplines covering the fields of literature, languages and human and social sciences*, diversified resources (documentation, digitisation, audiovisual, information systems, experimental platforms, etc.)
  • 1 publishing house (Presses universitaires de Lyon or PUL), specialising in literature and in human and social sciences.
*Literature, Languages, History, Art History, Archaeology, Economic  Science, Political Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Data and Computer  Science, Clinical, Social and Cognitive Psychology, Geography and Urban  Planning, Religious and Secular Sciences, Information and Communication  Sciences, Linguistics, Law, Educational Sciences, Performing Arts &  Media, Musicology, Gender Studies, etc.