It included a European Doctoral College and federated universities, engineering schools and research centers.

Founded as University of Douai in 1562, the university was renamed Université impériale de Douai-Lille in 1808, then as Université de Lille with faculty expansion in the Lille region from mid-19th century onwards.

[1] The university expanded into several campuses and formed several universities/institutions in Lille region and North at the end of the 20th century.

Altogether, the university research labs owned an active portfolio of more than 170 invention patent families.

[2] (Approximately 411 results found for Univ Lille in the EPO worldwide patent database in mid-2008) University institutes and research labs promote student and researchers mobility and cooperate in several university networks :