University in France
Villeurbanne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
University profile
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 is a public university in Villeurbanne and Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It was created by decree in December 1970 and takes its name from the physiologist Claude Bernard, born in 1813 in Saint-Julien-en-Beaujolais. Legally it is an Établissement Public à Caractère Scientifique, Culturel et Professionnel (EPSCP) led by an elected President for a four-year term, with a Conseil d'administration and a Conseil académique. It is one of the major French university research centres in science, technology, health and sport, with a small number of fields in the humanities and social sciences.
The university has about 49,000 students, around 4,900 staff including nearly 3,000 teacher-researchers, 16 licences, 50 masters and 10 health diplomas, and a budget of 519 million euros. It works within the Université de Lyon site alongside the national research bodies CNRS, INSERM, INRAE and INRIA, and the Hospices Civils de Lyon and Centre Léon Bérard.
Teaching is organised through faculties, institutes and schools: the Faculté des Sciences et Technologies (with its GEP, Informatique and Mécanique departments), UFR FS (chemistry, mathematics, physics), UFR Biosciences (biology, biochemistry), UFR STAPS (sport sciences), IUT Lyon 1, Polytech Lyon, the Institut de Science Financière et d'Assurances (ISFA), INSPÉ (teacher education), the Faculté de Médecine Lyon Est, the Faculté de Médecine et de Maïeutique Lyon Sud - Charles Mérieux, the Institut des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques (ISPB), the Faculté d'Odontologie, the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de Réadaptation (ISTR) and the Observatoire de Lyon.
Campus life includes the university library network with more than 2,000 seats, over 30 sports through the SUAPS, the Association Sportive Lyon 1 with more than 1,700 members, 77 student associations, about 26 artistic workshops, the Théâtre Astrée, the Galerie Domus and a preventive health service (SSU). The Direction des Relations Internationales handles exchange students and the university takes part in Erasmus+ with 300 Erasmus+ agreements and 145 other agreements, and in the Arqus European University alliance of nine universities.
International students apply through the national procedures that match their nationality, country of residence and diploma, and non-EU students are subject to differentiated registration fees unless an exemption applies. Doctoral training is organised in 13 doctoral schools.
National registration fees: licence 178 euros; master 255 euros; engineering diploma 630 euros; doctorate and HDR 398 euros. In health: general training diploma 178 euros; advanced training diploma 255 euros; thesis for the practice of medicine 398 euros; DES 526 euros; psychomotricity 1,379 euros; audioprosthesis 488 euros; orthoptics 346 euros; speech therapy 565 euros. The CVEC is a separate contribution paid through the national student portal.
Since decree no. 2026-385 of 19 May 2026, non-EU students (outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland) pay differentiated fees unless an exemption applies: 2,902 euros for licence and for the integrated preparatory engineering cycle, and 3,950 euros for master and for the three-year engineering cycle. Doctoral students, refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, long-term residents, students attached to a tax household in France for at least two years, CPGE students and others listed by the university are not subject to them.
Exemptions apply for students covered by a reciprocal agreement or an eligible European or international mobility programme. The university may also grant total or partial exemptions within a 30% quota for 2026-2027, on request through the eCandidat offer 'Demande d'exonération des droits d'inscription différenciés pour les étudiants extra-communautaires'. Replies are sent in July, August and September. An exemption still leaves the national fees payable. Students already exempted in 2025-2026 keep the exemption if they stay at Lyon 1, in the same cycle and the same programme. Students notified under Études en France before 19 May 2026 receive a partial exemption.
The Graduate+ programme offers excellence scholarships, including funding for international mobility, research internships from licence level, and doctoral contracts. Campus France announces Eiffel doctoral scholarships (session 2027). Arqus and Erasmus+ support mobility.
Differentiated fees and exemptions | Registration fees and payment | Graduate+
Eiffel Excellence Scholarship, Doctorate (Lyon 1 cotutelle/co-supervision mobility) →
Browse the scholarships listed for Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 →Applicants preparing or holding a French or European baccalauréat apply for the first year of licence (L1) through Parcoursup. Other programmes are applied for through eCandidat Lyon 1, with an application period set by each programme. For the 2027-2028 intake, no first-year licence programme is open to the DAP procedure.
The route depends on nationality, country of residence, the country where the baccalauréat or secondary diploma was obtained, current study situation and the programme and level applied for. Applicants outside exchange programmes follow the individual-application procedure; exchange, Erasmus+ and cooperation students apply first through their home university and then the Direction des Relations Internationales. Programme contacts are in the online course catalogue.
First-year master (M1) applicants resident in France apply through Mon Master; other applicants apply through eCandidat Lyon 1.
Doctoral studies last three years after a national master's degree or a recognised equivalent level. Applicants identify a host laboratory and a doctoral school (the university has 13) and review funding options; after the doctoral school validates the pedagogical registration in ADUM, administrative registration is handled by the Pôle Doctorat & HDR. International doctoral applicants may also seek Eiffel doctoral scholarships through Campus France.
The CVEC (contribution vie étudiante et de campus) must be paid before registration is finalised. Online registration is paid by bank card, in one payment or in three instalments for national diplomas.
In total there are three main campuses and 11 sites. Facilities include nine university libraries open more than 70 hours a week on average, a sports offer with more than fifteen installations, the Théâtre Astrée and the Galerie Domus on the Doua campus.
Study programmes offered at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
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