Major projects

The PolyCampus LH 2030 project, submitted by the University of Le Havre Normandie in partnership with theÉcole Supérieure d’Art et de Design Le Havre-Rouen (ESADHaR) and theÉcole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Normandie (ENSA), is the winner of the 3rd wave of the ExcellencES call for projects, “Excellence in all its forms” as part of the “Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir”.

Evaluated by an independent international committee of experts, the project was recognized as an ambitious transformation project that will enable the university to reposition itself as a major player in territorial development and meet the challenges of maritime and port territories. Worth a total of €13.3 million over 7 years (84 months), excluding environmental costs, the project is funded by the ANR to the tune of €7.3 million, including €6.4 million for the Université Le Havre Normandie.

PolyCampus LH 2030 focuses on the specific challenges facing the Le Havre region: a port and industrial basin undergoing radical change in the face of energy, climate and economic transitions. The aim is to radically transform the training and research offer by creating a true maritime and port polytechnic campus, capable of accompanying the changes in the area while promoting equal opportunities. The project aims to be a model for coastal and port areas in France and around the world.

The PolyCampus LH 2030 project has 3 main focuses:

Innovative new curricula for renewed attractiveness. The originality of the project lies in a complete overhaul of the training courses around the triptych transdisciplinarity/employability/internationalization. All courses will be reorganized around a major/minor system, with the introduction of three transdisciplinary fields of excellence linked to maritime and port issues, urban planning and the city of tomorrow, and transitions, risks and hazards. At the same time, proactive measures are being taken to facilitate the transition between secondary and higher education, particularly for young people from priority neighbourhoods, via the “Parcours d’ExcellencES”.

The development of apprenticeships and continuing education in close collaboration with the local area. A Centre Universitaire d’Expertises et de Qualifications des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires (CUTMP) will be created to bring together all the region’s training operators. This dynamic center will provide a flexible response to the emerging needs of the local economy, particularly in the fields of industrial decarbonization, logistics and seafaring. The aim is to simplify the training offer and avoid redundancies between players.

Research focused on the major challenges facing maritime and port areas. Three Joint Research Teams (JRTs) will be created around transdisciplinary themes: maritime and port issues; city of tomorrow; transitions, risks and hazards. Each ECR intends to create a Chair of Excellence. The internationalization of research will be intensified, in particular through the GU8 consortium, of which ULHN has taken over the presidency in 2023.

PolyCampus LH 2030 is a regional project, run in conjunction with local academic and socio-economic partners, which aims to create a true polytechnic campus for maritime and port regions, anticipating rather than undergoing regional change.

Contacts PolyCampus LH 2030 :

• Jean-Noël Castorio, Vice-Chairman
• Juliette Le Luyer, Cabinet Director
• by e-mail to: presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: this project has received government funding managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the France 2030 program, reference ANR-23-EXES-0011.

CARE, a project to improve student living conditions through health, sport and well-being, led by the Université Le Havre Normandie with the support of the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – Orientation, réussite et insertion, vague 2025.

The CARE (Centre pour l’Amélioration de la Santé et de la Réussite Étudiante) project aims to transform the support provided to students in Le Havre by creating a modern, multi-purpose health center as part of the development of an ambitious sports and well-being policy. The Normandy Region is funding the entire redevelopment project, to the tune of €657,431.

CARE focuses on the health and well-being needs of the student community on the Le Havre campus: physical and mental health, student insecurity, working and studying conditions. The aim is to create an ecosystem of services accessible to all Le Havre higher education students, in coordination with CHEERS (Conférence Havraise des Établissements d’Enseignement et de Recherche du Supérieur) partner institutions and the CROUS, in a collective approach designed to guarantee equal access to care and well-being.

The CARE project involves the creation of a multi-purpose student health center. The project involves transforming a 33 m² infirmary and adjacent premises into a genuine 200 m² health center, to complement the existing 200 m² space on the Lebon campus.

The center will offer a diversified and versatile range of healthcare services: general medicine, nursing, psychology, dietetics, gynecological care with a midwife, speech therapy for students with disabilities, and a dedicated secretariat. This real estate transformation will be accompanied by agreements with other higher education establishments in Le Havre to create a network of health services. The school will also continue to offer first-aid training in mental health, with three sessions a year to train “mental health relay” students.

Ultimately, the long-term model of this health center will be based on the contribution of ULHN and the participation of partner establishments, within a framework of optimal coordination and collective participation and solidarity.

CARE is a strategic project run by the school, in coordination with Le Havre’s higher education partners, which aims to place health and well-being at the heart of student success.

CARE contacts :

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director
• presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: thisproject is supported by the Normandy Region as part of the Normandie Sup’ – Orientation, success and integration program.

An international auditorium to serve the European university EUNICoast, developed by the University of Le Havre Normandie with the support of the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – International, wave 2025.

The Normandie Sup’ “Amphithéâtre Europe” project aims to provide the University of Le Havre Normandie with an emblematic venue for its international commitment, as part of its leadership of the European alliance EUNICoast (European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Territories). Worth a total of €1.4 million over 3 years, the project is supported by the Normandy Region to the tune of €1.3 million.

In November 2024, ULHN was selected as one of the 14 winners of the European Commission’s “European Universities 2024” call for projects to coordinate EUNICoast, an alliance of 12 European partners, funded to the tune of €14.4 million, including €1.7 million for ULHN. This success positions the institution as a driving force in the internationalization of higher education and research in Normandy.

The project aims to support the development of this alliance through 2 complementary actions:

the renovation of a 350-seat “signature” auditorium. Strategically positioned on the 1st floor of the Faculty of International Affairs, close to the future International HUB, this modern auditorium will be dedicated to international events, conferences and innovative educational activities organized by the EUNICoast alliance and the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires. Open to all ULHN components and partner establishments, it will be a unique venue dedicated to interdisciplinarity and internationalization. The renovation will be accompanied by the fitting-out of the International HUB (414.85 m² on the first floor) and the renovation of two lecture theaters, financed by the company’s own funds to the tune of €1.57 million.

support for the mobility of young researchers within EUNICoast. To give concrete expression to the ambitions of the European alliance, ULHN is proposing to develop an ambitious mobility program for doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows and young lecturers, comprising both long and short stays. These mobilities will be carried out in conjunction with the Joint Research Teams on the Polytechnic Campus, and will feed into the EUNICoast alliance’s International Research Laboratory, structured around 5 themes: history and cultural heritage, blue economy and logistics, governance and planning, biodiversity and marine sciences, and engineering and digital sciences. The project also calls for a specialized consultancy to support the structuring of the European university.

This international project is an extension of the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires, of which the Normandy Region is a founding member. With this project, the establishment wishes to confirm the central role of the European policy of the Université Le Havre Normandie and the Normandy Region.

Contact us:

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director
• by e-mail to presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: thisproject is supported by the Normandie Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – International. The EUNICoast alliance is funded by the European Commission as part of the European Universities 2024 program.

A space dedicated to pedagogical innovation using games to transform the training offer, promoted by the Université Le Havre Normandie with the support of the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – Transformation de l’offre de formation, vague 2024.

The Gaming Lab project aims to develop edutainment approaches at university by creating a dedicated experimentation and training space, located within the Capsule, ULHN’s learning lab. The Normandy Region is funding the entire project, to the tune of 226.5 K€.

The Gaming Lab focuses on the development of cross-disciplinary, informational and specialized skills through playful approaches: communication, problem-solving, creativity, informational skills, ecological transition. The aim is to transform teaching practices by supporting teachers, staff and students in the appropriation of edutainment, an immersive teaching method that enables experimentation without the constraints of the professional world.

The Gaming Lab project revolves around 2 main actions:

The playfulness of part of the training offer. The project aims to transform the pedagogical approach by integrating playful methods into the teaching provided to students and staff. This will take the form of: the construction of a games library to work on cross-disciplinary and linguistic skills, informational skills and specialized skills, particularly in relation to the ecological transition; the organization of monthly educational games sessions open to a mixed audience (teachers, staff, students); an internal call for projects to support volunteer training courses in the playfulness of their teaching (target: 8 projects over the duration of the funding); the formalization of best practices through practical sheets and a white paper. The games library will include board games, video games (Xbox and Switch consoles), subscriptions to games catalogs, and creative equipment (3D printer, interactive screen).

training staff in edutainment and creating a regional dynamic. A comprehensive awareness-raising and training program will be developed for staff and teachers, covering the design, adaptation and application of games in an educational context. The project includes: bimonthly discovery workshops (“pauses pédagogiques”) for experimenting with games and sharing experiences; the hosting of teacher-researchers and players in edutainment (game designers, educational engineers); the organization of a “game creation” hackathon; regional meetings with establishments in Normandy to develop a common skills base; a partnership with IKIGAI (access to a game catalog and development support) and with the network of educational engineers. An educational engineer position (1 FTE) will be created to run the Gaming Lab in collaboration with the Mission d’Appui à la Pédagogie and the University Library.

The Gaming Lab is an innovative inter-departmental project that will extend across the region via partnerships with CEMU, the Le Havre network of educational engineers, the Union régionale des métiers de l’artisanat, IKIGAI and other gaming labs in Normandy.

Our approach is unique in that it supports training at all levels, making the acquisition of cross-disciplinary skills essential to student success more fun.

This project puts ULHN at the forefront of educational innovation in Normandy, and is helping to create a regional community of practice around edutainment in higher education.

Contact gaming Lab :

• Cécile MAOUT, Mission d’Appui à la Pédagogie, cecile.maout@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: this project is supported by the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – Transformation of the training offer.

The CSTI – Culture Scientifique, Technique et Industrielle (Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture) project, led by the University of Le Havre Normandy with the support of the Normandy Region as part of the Normandie Sup’ CSTI vague 2023 program, aims to structure and strengthen actions to disseminate scientific culture in the Le Havre area.

This project, supported by the Region to the tune of €292,000 over a 3-year period, is in line with the establishment’s strategy of promoting dialogue between science and society, enhancing the value of research and opening up the university to the general public, in conjunction with local educational, cultural and socio-economic players.

The project revolves around 2 main actions:

The first action is devoted to structuring participatory science at ULHN. It is based on an inventory of existing practices, the identification of researchers’ support needs and an analysis of models deployed in other establishments, with a view to defining an establishment strategy and appropriate promotion tools.

The second action aims to develop and coordinate scientific outreach activities. It is based on an inventory of existing initiatives, in particular those undertaken by doctoral students, the establishment of internal and regional partnerships, and the production of a catalog of actions that can be mobilized.

In the medium term, the CSTI project aims to structure a long-term policy for the dissemination of scientific culture at the University of Le Havre Normandie, by strengthening the territorial network and encouraging the emergence of new partnership projects.

Contact us:

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director, presidence@univ-lehavre.fr
• Alice MICHONNET, Culture, Art, Science Department, Alice.michonnet@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: this project is supported by the Normandie Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – CSTI.

The development of the University of Le Havre Normandie’s international signature policy is supported by the Normandy Region as part of the Normandie Sup’ International wave 2023 program, which aims to strengthen the institution’s internationalization on a long-term basis, particularly in Europe, in line with its strategy and priority partnerships.

The project, supported by the Normandy Region to the tune of €614,350 over a 3-year period, is based in particular on two actions:

Visit development of inward mobility for foreign lecturers and researchersto enhance the international attractiveness of our courses and support existing scientific collaborations. These exchanges contribute to the enrichment of our teaching, the scientific activities of our laboratories and the international openness of our students.

A second structuring dimension concerns the monitoring and professionalization of international outreach. The plan is to strengthen the human resources dedicated to managing international partnerships and implementing the International Hub.

These actions are intended to help structure the internationalization of the establishment, prepare for the deployment of European-scale projects such as the “EUNICoast” European alliance project, the European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Territories, and boost the international visibility of the Université Le Havre Normandie.

The project is fully in line with the company’s transformation drive, and represents a strategic lever for the development of European and international cooperation.

Contact us:

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director, presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: thisproject is supported by the Normandie Sup’ – International program of the Normandy Region.

A program to make ULHN the driving force behind the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires, led by the University of Le Havre Normandie with the support of the Normandy Region.

The Normandie Sup’ – Transformation de l’Offre de Formation program aims to position ULHN, in terms of professional training, as the central player in a polytechnic campus bringing together the higher education and research establishments of Le Havre and Normandy. The 720 K€ project is financed by the Normandie Region as part of the Normandie Sup’ program.

This project is part of the dynamic of the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires and the PIA4 ExcellencES PolyCampus LH 2030 project. The aim is to radically transform our training offer to meet the needs of maritime and port regions, by enhancing student employability and creating synergies between the region and our research and training activities.

The project is structured around 3 complementary actions:

Create a Career Center. The Career Center is an innovative program designed to supportstudents throughout their university career, helping them to make the right choices and successfully enter the workforce. The Career Center will offer personalized support, skills development tools, connections with the professional world, and follow-up on the integration of graduates. It will be an essential support point for students as they build their career plans.

Accompany the transformation of the training offer at the service of the region, in line with the needs of employers in the Normandy region, notably through the development of new continuing education and apprenticeship programs (Bac +1, university diplomas, OAS qualifications) within the framework of exchanges enabled by the Hub Expertises et Qualifications of the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires.

Promoting the expertise of the university’s research professors and engineers to help companies adopt innovations. The aim of this action is to create new ways of promoting the work and expertise of ULHN researchers, over and above the dissemination of research results. The creation of a catalog of expertise, based on consultations with companies in the Le Havre area, will enable the organization of training days for local companies that meet their needs and enable them to integrate the innovations required for their growth and development.

This transformation program is fully in line with the orientations of the Partnership Agreement with the Normandy Region and the dynamics of the PIA4 ExcellencES project. “The aim is to move from a general university to a polytechnic maritime and port campus capable of developing synergies on major transdisciplinary issues”, says the ULHN management team.

Thanks to the Normandy Region, this program is an essential lever for implementing the ambitions of the Campus Polytechnique des Territoires Maritimes et Portuaires in terms of vocational training, particularly as it represents an opportunity to further strengthen the links between the socio-economic world and higher education and research.

Contact:

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director, presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: This project is supported by the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – Transformation de l’Offre de Formation.

Individualized support to help every student succeed, provided by the Université Le Havre Normandie with the support of the Normandy Region.

The Normandie Sup’ – Orientation, Réussite et Insertion program aims to offer students personalized support throughout their university career, from their arrival at university right through to their professional integration. Worth €506,814.52, this project is financed by the Normandie Region as part of the Normandie Sup’ program.

This program runs in parallel with the “Transformation of the Training Offer” program, and is the student support component of the school’s overall strategy to promote success and professional integration. The aim is to create a comprehensive support ecosystem that responds to the diverse needs of students at every stage of their career, whether through actions designed to combat the various forms of precariousness, create the conditions for success on campus, or provide support for active career guidance.

The program is structured around 2 actions:

Support for campus life. This action aims to improve student living conditions by developing appropriate spaces and services. The program calls for the renovation and development of spaces dedicated to student life, creating convivial spaces that encourage exchanges, collaborative work and well-being on campus. These spaces will help strengthen the sense of belonging to the university community and facilitate the integration of new students. It also includes the provision of facilities for the distribution of basic necessities.

Active career guidance (Career Center). Complementing the “Transformation of the Training Offer” program, this action aims to structure support for professional integration through the creation and management of the Career Center. The center will offer professional skills development workshops, meetings with employers, support in finding internships and jobs, and follow-up on the integration of graduates. The renovation of the Career Center’s dedicated spaces will provide a professional and welcoming environment for students.

This program is a direct response to the student success issues identified in the PIA4 ExcellencES project, in particular the need to strengthen the continuum between secondary and higher education, and to improve the professional integration of graduates.

Our ambition is to provide each student with personalized support to help them succeed both academically and professionally.

Contact us:

• Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director, presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

Funding: this project is supported by the Normandy Region as part of Normandie Sup’ – Orientation, Réussite, Insertion.

An ambitious program to support young researchers and structure European research, led by the Université Le Havre Normandie as part of the EUNICoast European alliance, with funding from France 2030.

ANR’s support for the development of the EUNICoast European alliance via the GURE program aims to strengthen European scientific cooperation and support a new generation of young researchers committed to tackling the challenges facing coastal, port and island territories. France 2030 funding amounts to 860 K€ over 4 years, out of a total of 2.3 M€.

EUNICoast, the European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Territories, brings together 12 European partners and 88 associated partners around a common mission: to train a new generation of students and researchers to take responsibility for climate change, by tackling the unique societal and environmental challenges of islands and coastal communities. The aim is to create a structured European research ecosystem promoting scientific excellence and international careers.

The GURE EUNICoast project has 2 key objectives:

Strengthening scientific cooperation for European research excellence. The project calls for the creation of an international laboratory to help structure joint research activities, focusing on the Alliance’s 5 themes: history and cultural heritage, blue economy and logistics, governance and planning, biodiversity and marine sciences, and engineering and digital sciences. It will accelerate the creation of projects of excellence and the submission of ERC grants. To ensure this structuring, the project includes the recruitment of a Data Analyst Research Engineer to map the alliance’s R&D environment. A reinforced implementation of the HRS4R strategy (labeling obtained in July 2024) will also be ensured to monitor the implementation of the alliance’s action plan.

Encouraging the mobility of young researchers and scientific dissemination. An ambitious program of support for young researchers will be deployed: several of them, spread over the 5 thematic hubs, will give rise to cotutelle theses with Alliance members; post-doctoral positions will be open to young European PhDs and spread over the thematic hubs; dozens of short-term stays will be offered to young researchers and teacher-researchers, combining teaching and research activities for the development of innovative projects, joint diplomas and micro-credits. The project also provides for the organization of several events to disseminate research results: 2 scientific events in Le Havre in connection with the thematic hubs; an international conference during the final year (250-350 participants); a summer school; and a European event to disseminate scientific culture, in order to boost the Alliance’s visibility and encourage science-society dialogue.

This ambitious research project is in line with the European Union’s Strategy for Youth and Research, and will contribute to the creation of the joint European Doctoral School, the promotion of open science via the digital observatory, and the development of joint training courses.

The international research laboratory will provide a forum for exchange and sharing for a new generation of doctoral and post-doctoral students, and will feed into the Alliance’s joint doctoral program.

Contact:

Juliette LE LUYER, Cabinet Director, presidence@univ-lehavre.fr

www.eunicoast.eu/

Funding: this project has received government funding managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the France 2030 program, reference 24-GURE-0008.

The EUNICoast alliance is funded by the European Commission as part of the European Universities 2024 program.