education

AMERINSA

AMERINSA is one of the sections of the Core Foundation Engineering Program (undergraduate level) offered at INSA Lyon. With a specific focus on Latin America, this two-year program aims to prepare students to join the three-year graduate course in one of the nine departments of study to obtain the INSA ‘Diplôme d’ingénieur’, internationally recognized as an MSc in Engineering.

Since 2000, more than 1,600 students have enrolled at AMERINSA for its scientific excellence and multicultural environment. On average, AMERINSA welcomes 75 students in the first year, made up of French students and Latin American students.

The AMERINSA program offers a solid grounding in general scientific and technical education by introducing students to teaching methods and ways of working that take into account the specific nature of the students’ backgrounds. AMERINSA students benefit from continuous support and their progress is carefully monitored to ensure their academic success and integration into university life (help with administrative procedures, priority accommodation, help with finding internships, tutoring sessions, psychological support, etc.).

AMERINSA ​in a few words:

+ Scientific excellence, high academic standards, strong sense of social responsibility

+ Interculturality, open-mindedness, cross-disciplinary approach

+ Innovation skills, adaptability, creativity

+ Immerse yourself in the INSA culture and values

 

Why choose INSA Lyon?

  • Obtain the INSA ’Diplôme d’ingénieur’, equivalent to an MSc in Engineering, in five years from an internationally recognized French Institute of Science & Technology: after the two-year AMERINSA program, students join the three-year postgraduate program in one of the nine departments of study at INSA Lyon
  • Get an excellent scientific education
  • Gain field experience by undertaking several internships
  • Study abroad for a semester or even a year at one of INSA Lyon’s partner universities
  • Become a player for the future: an engineer with strong humanist values committed to combining scientific skills with societal and environmental issues

Why choose AMERINSA?

The added value of AMERINSA is to provide an international dimension with a specific focus on Latin America to the excellent initial education offered by the undergraduate program (FIMI department) at INSA Lyon:

  • Opening up to different cultures, ways of working and relationships: preparing yourself to work in multicultural teams in your future engineering career
  • Gain professional experience by undertaking a one-month internship in France or abroad. For students who graduated from a non-French high school, the internship must be located in France. For French students, an internship in Latin America is strongly recommended.

AMERINSA Studies and specific features

The two-year foundation course is structured over four semesters of 15 weeks each (each semester represents approximately 400 hours of teaching). More information is available here

  • The scientific teaching at AMERINSA is based on the same core curriculum as the standard Core Foundation Engineering Program (approximately 75%).
  • Cross-disciplinary teaching to broaden students’ perspectives on interculturality (making up 25% of the course with a specific focus on language and civilization courses on Latin America with lectures by scientists, economists, writers and artists)
  • Tailored teaching approach and materials for international students to ensure students’ progress is monitored by the teaching staff on a daily basis (one-to-one interviews, individual tutoring sessions, etc.). This kind of student-centered pedagogy ensures a smooth transition from a foreign education system to the French higher education system
  • All courses are taught in French
  • Students are required to study two foreign languages (other than their mother tongue) including English. Additional French language support is offered to non-French-speaking students (up to 6 hours/week until level B2 is obtained). French speakers are offered an Latin language course (Spanish or Portuguese) whatever their initial level, even beginners.
  • Most of the courses, lab work, tutorials and practical assignments are organized in international teams (French and Latin American students) in small groups (from 16 to 25 people).
  • All students undertake an internship lasting a minimum of four weeks at the end of their first year.  INSA helps students to find an internship. French students are encouraged to find an internship in an Latin American country.
  • project-based learning module (P2I) is taught in the second year. Students are faced with an engineering problem requiring a cross-disciplinary and multi-dimensional approach to project management, design and innovation
  • For French students, it is possible to spend the second year on exchange in a Mexican or Brazilian university. 

Latin American students benefit from a five-week summer school in August prior to their first year to facilitate their integration and help them settle smoothly into their new environment (price included in the specific tuition fees):

Assessment

Continuous assessment throughout the year: passing each unit allows the student to move on to the next year.

On successful completion of the two-year AMERINSA program, and based on the number of places available, the student's ranking and his/her wishes, students join one of the nine departments of study for three years, leading to the award of the INSA ‘Diplôme d’ingénieur’, internationally recognized as a MSc Engineering degree.

FIRST YEAR APPLICATION PROCESS

  • Candidates holding or preparing for a French scientific baccalaureate (France or abroad): 

Apply on the website https://www.parcoursup.fr/

  • Candidates holding or preparing for a scientific diploma not issued by France or Morocco:

The AMERINSA recruitment process is common to the entire INSA Group, which is made up of seven institutions in France. To join an international program such as AMERINSA, you must first be admitted to the INSA Group. To be considered for the AMERINSA Lyon program, make sure you specify INSA Lyon in your application. Separate prerequisites may be required for access to each AMERINSA programme.

The application process must be completed online on two different websites:

  • Apply to the INSA Group. When submitting an application to join one of the 7 INSAs, you will be able to specify the school in the INSA group that you wish to join. The application fee is €105.
  • Register on the Study in France platform (depending on your country of residence): this is an administrative registration common to all foreign students that aims to facilitate administrative procedures (visa application, communication with consular authorities, etc.). As soon as you have registered on Study in France, you must go back to your online application on the INSA Group's admission website to enter your ’Campus France ID’.

If no registration is required for your country of residence on the "Study in France" platform, you are invited to contact the French Embassy or Campus France in your country, whose role is to help you with your administrative procedures (information, orientation, visa, etc.) alongside your application to the INSA Group.

For more information, please visit this website.

APPLICATION DATES AND DEADLINES

All applications are reviewed by the admissions committee in June of each year. 
Depending on your academic profile and your country of origin, the deadline for applications can be from November to February.

More information about applications and deadlines is available on the INSA Group website

GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS:

  • In order to be considered, candidates must have a solid grounding in science (mathematics, physics and chemistry). A mathematics test as well as a personal interview in English or French can be organized to assess the applicant’s level and motivation.
  • Ensure you meet the deadline for submitting your application.
  • Only complete applications will be assessed. If you do not follow the instructions and your application is rejected, you will not be able to appeal.
  • If you have any questions about the application process, please contact admiss@groupe-insa.fr
  • There are three international offices in collaboration with INSA Lyon in Bolivia, Brazil and Mexico. These offices provide support for candidates from these countries.

SECOND YEAR APPLICATION PROCESS

  • Common recruitment to the INSA Group
  • Open to candidates who have completed a first year of preparatory classes for the grandes écoles, provided that they have been admitted to the second year and have completed 60 ECTS credits, a first year of bachelor or equivalent, or a first year in a post-baccalaureate engineering school (classical engineering curriculum).
  • Open to students who have completed or are preparing a year of higher scientific studies abroad.
  • Examination of the application (baccalaureate grades, grades and assessments obtained in post-baccalaureate studies)
  • Please find all the details here.

Study in a safe and exceptional environment

  • Lyon was voted second best French city for the quality of student life
  • A historically and culturally renowned city, Lyon is also known as France’s capital of gastronomy
  • Second largest city in France and leading region in the industrial and digital sectors
  • An international campus: 30% foreign students from 92 nationalities
  • On-campus accommodation guaranteed for AMERINSA students, catering available seven days a week24-hour security on campus
  • Sports facilities (swimming pool, training centers, sports fields, etc.), performance venues, libraries
  • Vibrant campus life with more than 130 student clubs and associations: 
    • the Student Union is very active and INSA Lyon also hosts the largest student festival in France - ’24h de l’INSA’. Find out more about our student associations HERE
    • "Bureau AMERINSA", an association of AMERINSA students that organizes different events during the year, including a ski weekend with first and second year students

A virtual tour of the campus is available HERE

Tuition fees

INSA Lyon is a publicly-funded Institute of Science and Technology under the authority of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. Thus, INSA Lyon receives a subsidy from the French state to fund part of the cost of tuition, which amounts to approximately €14,000 per year per student. 

The remaining costs indicated below (visa fees not included) are to be paid as part of the tuition fees:

More information HERE

Please be aware that tuition fees do not include living costs in Lyon

Estimated living costs for France and Lyon are available in the Student Welcome Guide

Funding opportunities

INSA Funding opportunities

  • Scholarship for International Sections (Bourse des Filières internationales (BFI)): the BFI scholarship is specifically targeted at students from underprivileged backgrounds
    • This scholarship (up to 2000 a year) is not awarded directly to the student but the amount is deducted from the student's accommodation and catering bills (the student must live in an on-campus INSA residence).
    • The duration of the grant can be extended up to three years, provided that the student successfully progresses to the next year. Furthermore, for students in receipt of the BFI scholarship, the annual registration fees are reduced to €601 a year.

Student Benefits in France

  • CAF: As a student in France, you can receive rent assistance (even if you live on campus in a student hall). 

Other funding opportunities

Monsieur Jean-Pierre De Vaujany

AMERINSA Director
amerinsa@insa-lyon.fr

Madame Eveline MANNA

Director of AMERINSA Studies
amerinsa@insa-lyon.fr

Filières Internationales INSA Lyon


filieresinternationales@insa-lyon.fr

INSA Lyon representative office in Brazil

Consuelo RAUEN
CURITIBA PARANA BRESIL
insa@crauen.com.br

INSA Lyon representative office in Mexico

Florence FRANCO et Mylène AUDIRAC
audirac.amerinsa.mx@gmail.com
franco.amerinsa.mx@gmail.com

INSA Lyon representative office in Venezuela

Lic. Maria Angelica Villota et Ing. Angel Roberto
CARACAS - VENEZUELA
infocceducation@gmail.com

INSA Lyon representative office in Bolivia

Maurice-André Manço-Quiroga
LA PAZ - BOLIVIA
maurice.manco@euro-andina.com