ELyT School 2019 at Lyon: 11st edition!

The eleventh edition of the Franco-Japanese ELyT School was held from 26 August to 3 September 2019 in Lyon, on the campuses of INSA and Ecole Centrale, in collaboration with the associated international laboratory (LIA) of the CNRS ELyT Global (elyt-lab.com), which includes engineering research laboratories from the University of Tohoku in Sendai, INSA Lyon and ECL.

Every year (alternately in France and Japan), the summer school aims to introduce the partner institutions to students from the other country (mainly engineering and master's students, in order to raise their awareness of double degree programs and to encourage the future implementation of co-supervision theses). A total of 31 students (18 from Tohoku University) were able to meet and exchange ideas during the summer school. Their academic origin is quite diverse but linked to ELyT Global's activities: mechanics, physics, materials, tribology, biosciences, and environment. This greatly strengthened the interaction between students from both countries during these 10 days. They will be future ambassadors for ELyT School, and are highly motivated to participate in academic exchange programs as well as double master and doctoral degrees.

Official ceremony in the Skyroom of the Oxygen Tower

The program was devoted to both scientific and cultural aspects, with the participation of campus laboratories. The general theme was "Energy, Environment, Safety and Engineering". A significant part of the ELyT School was based on presentations by French or Japanese teacher-researchers (9 in total). They had chosen themes that covered the broad spectrum of students' backgrounds and the ELyT School's theme, while being in line with the subjects developed by ELyT Global. Each student also made a presentation on his or her personal and academic background.

During a student presentation at ECL

Students visited laboratories at INSA and ECL: MATEIS, INL, LGEF, LTDS, LMFA. It was an opportunity, in addition to seeing some manipulations and discussing particular themes with French doctoral students, to discover the organization and life in a French laboratory, very different from what it is in Japan. 
The students also carried out, in small groups, a bibliographic research work ("group project") around the school's theme to reflect together, exchange and synthesize their research. This project represented a total of 20 hours of work for the students and has been, for the past 5 years, one of the essential points of the school: to make students from diverse backgrounds work together from both a cultural and academic point of view. An oral presentation by each group, validated by a jury of teachers, combined with active participation in ELyT School activities, leads to the awarding of 2 ECTS credits by the 3 partner institutions.

The ELyT School is a very good way to attract thesis students in co-supervision for the future and thus strengthen this special link that has been built between Sendai and Lyon. In fact, all co-supervised doctoral students have attended at least one ELyT School in the past. This thematic school, beyond the synergy between training and research, can also contribute to the openness of Japanese students, who are still not very mobile today. This is the case this year where 4 Japanese students stay several months for an internship in the laboratories of INSA or ECL, thanks to the support of the University of Lyon and ELyT Global.

The originality of the project lies in the synergy of four key factors:

• a global and sustainable approach with a partner, essential in the relationship with Japan
• a response adapted to the problem of Japanese mobility, integrated into a very active research collaboration
• a program that integrates the triptych of training/research/economic environment
• the reciprocity of the concept (one year in France, one year in Japan).

This edition of ELyT School was made possible thanks to the support of several organizations: the MANUTECH-SISE labex, the IngéLyse federation, the LIA CNRS ELyT Global, the UMI CNRS ELyTMaX, the CNRS, the University of Lyon, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, JASSO, the INSA of Lyon, the ECL and Tohoku University, for which we warmly thank you.

Trip to Annecy