Science outreach
Democratising science for all audiences
With the support from La Rotonde (Science Outreach Centre of Mines Saint-Étienne), Lyon Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance leads major initiatives at the intersection of academia, education, and citizen engagement.
1/ The MedResearch Project
The goal of this project is to craft interactive and accessible outreach tools for promoting science at key public engagement events. This initiative goes hand-in-hand with a comprehensive training program for PhD candidates and researchers seeking to improve their communication and public outreach skills.
2/ European Researchers’ Night and Science Fair
These events are designed to foster authentic exchanges between the research community and wider audiences. They focus on interactive and immersive outreach activities that strengthen the link between science and society.
3/ SchooLab engineering
SchooLab Engineering is a welcome programme implemented in our four schools. It is designed to let school children discover the world of research and to open scientific and technological careers for pupils of all horizons.
4/ Day of Engineering, 23 March 2026
In collaboration with Lyon Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance, La Rotonde is preparing an immersive science event for pupils from local schools. On the programme: outreach activities, live demonstrations, meetings, and experiences that allow children to discover science in action. Participants will navigate a structured science communication journey, explore three discovery spaces led by professional science communicators, and finally attend a keynote scientific conference.
These initiatives are designed to position scientific culture as a crucial lever for dialogue, trust, and citizen engagement. This dialogue is essential for open public debates and strong social cohesion in a world grappling with information overload and growing mistrust in expert knowledge.
Past initiatives
The Day of Engineering, 15 April 2025, was spearheaded by Lyon Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance and supported by the Auvergne–Rhône–Alpes Region. The second edition of the event will take place on 23 March 2026 at Lyon Auditorium.
This unique event is open to all regional stakeholders: engineers, students, businesses, and general public. Intended as a space for debate and inspiration, it was structured around three guiding principles: Reuse, Reinvent, Regenerate.
This day was punctuated by five expert panel discussions and interactive science outreach workshops, all focused on a singular objective: place engineering at the heart of ecological and social transformation experienced by the region:
- Panel discussions featuring experts from both academia and industry
- Interactive workshops
- An inspiring keynote address by François Gemenne, co-author of the 6th IPCC report.
The second edition will take place on 23 March 2026 at Lyon Auditorium.
Following suit with the first event, the Day of Engineering 2026 will feature four key panel discussions exploring the following critical issues:
- Promoting engineers’ investment in transition issues
- Managing a scarce resource: water
- Ethics & AI
- Achieving carbon neutrality across all sectors
This event offers an opportunity to:
- facilitate exchanges between experts, businesses, and stakeholders to share knowledge and perspectives
- hear an inspiring keynote address from Cyril Dion
- enjoy a performance by CNSMD at the closing of the day
Watch the complete video playlist on YouTube.
Find the complete playlist of video recordings on YouTube.
Lyon Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance presented a science outreach initiative at the Fair “Tomorrow but Better”, held in Lyon on 3–4 February 2024.
The immersive exhibition “Tomorrow but Better” invited visitors to take a look behind the scenes of science where the groundwork for the future is being laid. This event drew together major players in fundamental and applied research, as well as private companies. The exhibition provided the general public, particularly younger generations, with an opportunity to meet engineers and scientists and gain a clearer understanding of their professions.
Lyon Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance’s booth was placed side-by-side with the Auvergne–Rhône–Alpes Region, Thales, Airbus, INRAE, ANR, EDF, ITER, INSERM, CEA, CNES, CNRS, Dassault Aviation, and ArianeGroup.
PhD candidates who supervised the “speed searching” area received science outreach training at La Rotonde in Saint-Étienne before the event. They welcomed nearly 650 attendees, predominantly families and young adults.
Our demonstration space featured multisensory virtual reality set-up and a presentation of research conducted for the French Cycling Federation before for the 2024 Olympics.