Institut Jean Lamour

The Jean Lamour Institute is a Joint Research Unit which brings together a unit from the CNRS, The French National Centre for Scientific Research, and the University of Lorraine in Nancy, France. The Institute is one of the largest laboratories dedicated to research on materials in Europe, from the creation of new materials to the development of new innovative applications that respond to societal challenges.

In parallel to its research activities, the Institute is committed to promote access to scientific culture for the largest audiences and to foster connections between fundamental research and the general public. The objective is to share “Science in the Making”, as per Jean Perrin*’s famous expression, to make the public aware of the scientific approach developed by the researcher. The experimental and interactive exhibition MAGNETIC, which has been entirely designed by the research laboratory, is an expression of this commitment.

The Jean Lamour Institute benefits from a particularly stimulating environment, fostering the development of transversal innovative actions that are aimed to share the scientific experience with the largest audiences. This environment gathers in particular:

• Highly motivated researchers who are committed to science engagement, to respond to the expectations of the largest audiences, and to anchor science in modernity. As stakeholders of the research world, they create actions designed to share their practices, their experiences, their passion and their challenges.
• Cutting edge equipment that is unique in Europe and which is also used as a focus for science outreach actions.
• A Polytechnic Competence Centre (mechanics, electricity, electronics), a research support structure which focuses on the design and development of experimental interactives, created for the popularisation of research matters. The 60 devices presented in the MAGNETIC exhibition are prototypes designed with a strong aesthetic unity in the Centre.
• A one-of-a-kind campus called ARTEM for Art, Technology and Management, where the Institute is located, which brings together students from the Nancy Art and Design School (ENSAD) and from the Nancy Mines, one of the leading French engineering schools. The exhibition design for MAGNETICS was notably defined and developed through workshops carried out with students from these schools.
• Support provided by departments from the University of Lorraine, in particular the digital teams, which has enabled the development of digital tools proposed on the web and numerous videos presented on 4 touch-screens in the MAGNETIC exhibition.

* Jean Perrin: French physicist (1870 – 1942), winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1926 for his experimental work demonstrating the existence of the atom, a major stakeholder of the creation of the Palais de la découverte in Paris in 1937.