Second year - General Engineering

From general education to personalised career paths

Year 2 - General Engineering

Core curriculum: a common generalist culture

In the second year, general engineering students complete their core curriculum during the first semester (S7).

An in-depth UE allows them to study a theme in depth in two different scientific UEs chosen from a total of 32, with a small number of students (24).

3 common scientific teaching units

1 advanced teaching unit

1 language and culture teaching unit

1 professional teaching unit

Discover the core curriculum catalogue

Application project

In Year 2, the project activity continues in a choice of 3 different forms:

  • The Study Application Project (PAe) is extended from the point of view of practical implementation of the project.
  • The Industrial Application Project (PAi) enables 2nd year students to tackle an industrial project. This involves a subject (technical, market analysis or market watch) defined by a sponsor company and dealt with under its supervision. Students are accompanied by a project advisor who guides them throughout the 7-month activity.
  • The Research Application Project (RAP) is a first individual research experience with personalised supervision in one of the École's laboratories.

Elective course

In the second year, students can choose 5 courses from nearly 60 on offer. This enables engineering students to deepen their understanding of the concepts covered in the core curriculum or to discover other disciplines. The courses are organised in such a way as to enable students to specialise strongly or follow a balanced path, depending on their individual plans.

Discover the catalogue of the elective course

International semester

Engineering students may also choose to complete their second semester (S8) in a foreign university for 30 ECTS or equivalent. These exchanges may take place at one of École Centrale Lyon's partner universities, under the Erasmus programme or outside this programme.

Students may also take part in a semester-long laboratory research project, subject to validation of the project by a scientific correspondent professor at École Centrale Lyon.

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The application internship

Carried out at the end of the second year, the application internship lasts a minimum of 3 months and must be completed by the start of the following academic year. 

The aim of the work placement is to introduce the student to the engineering profession through active integration into an engineering team. The function performed and the work carried out correspond, over a relatively short period, to what is required of an engineer at the start of his or her career. It is also an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired at Centrale Lyon.