Université de Lyon is the most important French University site outside the Paris region. Université de Lyon brings together in a unifying structure 11 higher education institutions and CNRS.
Created in 21 March 2007, the Université de Lyon in the form of a “public scientific cooperation organization” (EPCS). This “Research and Higher Education Cluster” (PRES) then underwent a further evolution with the Act of 22 July 2014 relative to Higher Education and Research, by becoming a “Community of Universities and Higher-Education Establishments” (COMUE), a public professional confederation dedicated to science and culture.