With its 120 researchers and teacher-researchers, whose skills feed into the school’s teaching, the Institut Elijah Cartan is now one of the most important mathematical laboratories in France.
Beginning over a hundred years ago, when Élie Cartan arrived as professor at the Faculty of Science in Nancy, mathematics research in Lorraine has a long tradition, marked by a succession of world-renowned figures such as Jean Leray, Laurent Schwartz (Fields Medal 1950), Jean-Pierre Serre (Fields Medal 1954), Roger Godement, Jean Delsarte (secretary of the Bourbaki Group until 1962) and Jacques-Louis Lions. Founded in 1953 on the initiative of Jean Delsarte, the Institut Elie Cartan in Nancy was recognised by CNRS in 1978 (under the name Global Analysis Team) and merged with the Mathematics and Applications Laboratory in Metz on 1 January 2013. The new laboratory is was given the name Institut Elie Cartan de Lorraine (IECL). IECL is a joint research unit (UMR 7502) of CNRS and the University of Lorraine. INRIA is an important and long-standing partner of IECL, particularly through the INRIA project teams we host. The Institut Élie Cartan de Lorraine is one of the great French mathematical laboratories and the largest in eastern France. IECL has a very wide scientific spectrum. In several areas of fundamental mathematics (geometry, number theory), partial differential equations and probability, IECL brings together internationally recognised specialists. This scientific diversity promotes internal and external interaction, contributing to the laboratory’s attractiveness to foreign visitors.
