General presentation of courses
Engineering training in three years
The Telecom engineering course at INSA Lyon is accredited by the CTI until 2025. It is a high-level, demanding course. In terms of the technical aspects, courses cover all telecom fields: from signal processing, to web application development and implementation of digital networks. Traditional teaching methods are used for acquiring initial knowledge and skills, then students move on to project mode after completing the basics. Our courses cover all the basic soft skills required in the engineering profession: innovation, company creation and project management. The final year is reserved for learning advanced skills, taught in 32-hour options and covering a variety of subjects, such as cybersecurity, robotics, quantum computing and 5G.
For the some years now, our courses have been raising our students’ awareness of the challenges related to sustainable development and social responsibility which oblige our companies to offer more responsible, eco-friendly and sustainable technological solutions.
Two thirds of the course is accessible to students who have completed undergraduate year at INSA (~50 spots), and one third is open for direct admission to students with a DUT (undergraduate diploma in technology), bachelor’s degree, or who have taken higher school preparatory classes (~25 spots). An additional group of 18 students is included for apprenticeship. Classes remain on a human scale (100 students), enabling us to facilitate dialogue and discussion.
To see the breakdown of courses by semester, click this link:
https://www.insa-lyon.fr/fr/formation/diplomes/ING#TC
Training on a human scale that gives meaning and project experience to students
Although the TC engineering curriculum was designed for a three-year period, students can build their own course depending on their professional project.
The department assists each student with their personal and professional project Students are introduced to the professional world through two company internships. A technically oriented internship starting in the middle of the second semester of the 4th year, enabling students to validate the skills acquired over the last year and a half. This is followed by a second engineering internship in the last semester of the course, which allows students either to have a pre-orientation for their profession, or to test a specific profession for a few months.
Telecommunications are at the centre of modern human activity. Our courses enable students to handle any current or future digital challenge. Information technology challenges are all around us: our future engineers contribute to developing the internet of tomorrow with societal challenges related to security, respect for privacy and respect for the environment.
Telecommunications are also about connected objects: sensors for future smart cities that adapt better to humans and improve living conditions: traffic regulation and pollution control.
Telecoms are also linked to developing WEB tools and new social media platforms, and perhaps they will help to set up a new democracy of the future, active democracy! We can also list personal assistance services, and digital transformation support for companies and society.
Between IT and electrical engineering, telecommunications serve to connect the world, promote interaction and manage the masses of data generated by these technologies.
The department of Telecommunications Services & Uses lives up to its name: we want the digital transformation to help citizens and improve living together.
So yes, working in telecommunications isn’t just about studying a virtual internet or communications world; it’s about helping to develop interactions between the virtual and real worlds, for the progress of society.
A tailored, adaptable curriculum
The 1st year validates the fundamentals, but from the 2nd year onwards, students have to manage projects based on research topics.
From the 2nd year, students build different academic careers thanks to stays abroad and their first major internship.
The 3rd year, optional in the first semester, allows students to define their professional project and to alternate between specialised classes on the technologies of tomorrow and professional courses (human resources, economics and legal aspects). Half of the time is devoted to innovative projects that can be continued in the second semester, focused on research or company creation.
Teaching is divided into units of instruction (UEs). One unit of instruction is composed of teaching modules (EC) in various formats: classes, tutorials, practical work, projects (with or without supervision), oral presentations, etc.
The entire year group attends lectures, but groups of 12 or 25 students attend tutorials and do practical work. Depending on the year, projects are done in teams of 2 to 6 students.
Modules are grouped into 4 fields:
- Communications systems
- Networks
- IT
- Humanities & Business
Teaching is grouped into a core curriculum, except in 5th year, when students choose more in-depth study from among the 25 specialised subjects offered, all of which have open access. Students register for 6 specialised subjects, and teaching is adapted to the number of students registered.
In order to give some students access to the fields of university research or the highest level of industrial research, teaching methods are adapted in second and third year so that they can continue research studies, combining research lab and industry.
TC studies