IMPACT 2035

Centrale Lille Institute’s strategic plan for 2035

Perspectives on our future

Thomas Maurer and Mathias Povse share their thoughts on the major directions of the strategic plan, the transformation challenges, and the vision guiding the Institute.

Thomas MAURER
Chief Executive Officer
Centrale Lille Institute of Technology

« The reason of being of Centrale Lille lies in its public nature. »

Being a public institution means holding a unique position in the landscape of higher education and research, grounding our actions in the public interest, and addressing major scientific, social, and environmental challenges.

Our mission is based on training skilled and open-minded engineers, capable of adapting to industrial, technological, and societal changes.

Being a public institution also entails a commitment to equity: ensuring access for all, reducing inequalities, and promoting gender equality in scientific and technical fields.

Academic freedom is a fundamental pillar: our faculty members enjoy autonomy that allows them to advance knowledge, contribute to public debate with rigor, and promote ethical and accessible science.

Our strategic roadmap for the next ten years, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflects this ambition: to strengthen educational excellence, develop accessible programs, structure research, and create an environment where everyone can fully realize their potential. Centrale Lille is a public institution that is modern, inclusive, true to its values, and forward-looking.

Mathias POVSE
Chair of the Board of Directors
Centrale Lille Institute of Technology

« Being a major player in industrial and societal transitions, in Europe and beyond. »

Building on its expertise and networkpartnerships, Centrale Lille Institute becomes a connecting hub of for talent and initiatives, capable of creating synergies between engineering, innovation, and societal impact.

As Pa President of the board coming from the industrial sector, I understand the importance of training responsible, versatile agile engineers attuned to who can grasp the needs of businesses. This perspective serves as a guide tos our strategic choicesthinking: strengthening collaborations with the industry, promoting high-impact research, nurturing talents, and creating the conditions for personal growth that allow everyone to perform at their best.

Our ambition is for every engineer trained here at Centrale Lille to become an expert professional capable of turning industrial challenges into sustainable opportunities, while placing people and collective responsibility at the heart of their actions.

IMPACT 2035

Empowering Talents – Engineering Transitions

With its IMPACT 2035 strategic plan, Centrale Lille Institut has set out a collective ambition for 2035 to strengthen its impact and respond to major industrial, technological and societal challenges.

Our ambition is clear: train engineers to educate through and for the industry, addressing its major challenges, through innovative teaching methods and a strong connection to industrial realities and becomin a key player in higher education, research, and innovation in Northern Europe, driving the transformation of industries toward a sustainable future.

Our motto, Empowering Talents – Engineering Transitions, exemplifies this choice: this sentence written in English reflects our openness, our European identity and our desire to make an impact on the international stage.

It also mirrors our strong connection with businesses and local territories, at the heart of industrial, energy, and environmental transformations.

A signature that brings us together

Four major strategic guidelines

At the heart of the IMPACT 2035 plan, four strategic priorities define our roadmap.

They set the course for a more open, innovative and committed institution in terms of industrial, environmental and societal transitions.

  • Develop a unique expertise in understanding industrial companies and their economic and societal ecosystems.

  • Strengthen the Institute’s excellence in its core missions of education, research, and innovation in all their dimensions.

  • Develop Centrale Lille’s Outreach and external recognitionDevelop Centrale Lille’s Outreach and external recognitionDevelop Centrale Lille’s Outreach and external recognition.

  • Ensure the long-term success of the strategic plan by creating the conditions for success and securing appropriate resources.

Expected outcomes

The transformation initiated at Centrale Lille does not limit to an organizational adjustment: it is designed to change radically practices, relationships between stakeholders, and the way education and research are considered. These evolutions affect students, faculty members, administrative staff, as well as economic and institutional partners.

Curricula are progressively becoming more open, leading to increased flexibility and interdisciplinarity. Students from different backgrounds collaborate on joint projects, enriching the educational experience and developing collective intelligence. The diversity of backgrounds transforms competition into opportunity, preparing everyone to thrive in varied and multidisciplinary professional environments.

Connections with industrial companies is intensifying through teaching chairs and affiliated professors from the industrial sector. This brings programs closer to the real needs of businesses and enhances the employability of graduates.

Centrale Lille Institut is strengthening its cooperation with institutional partners in France and abroad. This dynamic approach develops synergies, broadens opportunities for students and teacher-researchers, and positions the Institute as a key player in the European higher education and research landscape. It contributes to a more open, collaborative and forward-looking institution, where everyone participates in collective success.

Join the dynamic IMPACT 2035

The transformation undertaken by Centrale Lille can only bear fruits with everyone’s engagement.
The future of the institution depends on a collective dynamic in which every stakeholder — student, staff member, faculty, alumni, or partner — has a role to play.

Centrale Lille has decided to place people at the heart of its project. Evolutions with regards to governance, research, education, social policy, and environmental responsibility are not an end in themselves but levers to enhance the quality of education, the impact of research, and the institution’s deep connection with the society.

Our success depends directly on the support and engagement of the entire community.

How to contribute?

Contribution can take many forms:

  • participating in a research project,
  • sharing experiences with students,
  • proposing a partnership,
  • taking part in a simplification initiative,
  • promoting the institution’s actions externally.