Welcome to IJCLab

The “Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie” (Laboratory of the Physics of the two Infinities Irène Joliot-Curie) or IJCLab, is a joint research unit of CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay and Université Paris-Cité, located on the Orsay campus. This laboratory results from the merger of five laboratories (CSNSM, IMNC, IPNO, LAL and LPT)  that were close to each other geographically and scientifically. These laboratories share a common history, linked with the creation and the development of the Orsay campus.

Gathering around 730 people, IJCLab covers the activities present previously in these five laboratoires. The identify of IJCLab is centred on the “physique of the two infinites” and their applications, with a wealth of subjects related to these domains of physics. This is reflected by the presence of strong poles in well-established disciplines, of poles related to emerging fields and of interface activities. This laboratory has the ability, the vocation and the ambition to make a global impact on a lage range of scientific and technical topics by leading larges-scale projects at the national and international levels. It also spurs and supports projects on a smaller scales and shorter cycles which can arise depending on recent scientific events and/or technical breakthroughs.

Our missions

Our ambition is to elucidate the mysteries of matter, energy, space, time, and to understand the constituents of matter, their interactions and the origin and the evolution of the universe.

We aim at driving discoveries on these questions by

  • Leading and contributing to projects at all stages in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, astroparticles and cosmology (proposal, design, construction, operation, data analysis) with significant theory support
  • Playing a major role in the conception, design and construction of current and future accelerators.
  • Developing and operating research infrastructures and technological platforms supporting these research areas as well as original research in health physics and energy
  • Promoting the development of new technologies for science for the benefit of society and thus supporting national and European industrial competitiveness
  • Welcoming students trained at IJCLab through and for research at the heart of a world-class academic environment.
IJCLab Keys numbers

Our activities

The scientific activities of IJCLab are organised around 7 scientific poles : Astroparticles, Astrophysics and Cosmology; Accelerator Physics, High-Energy Physics; Nuclear Physics, Theoretical Physics, Energy and Environment, Health Physics. They rely on an Engineering pole which gathers technical services with a high degree of expertise and many connections in the IN2P3 national technical network, organised following four departments in electronics, IT and computing, instrumentation and mechanical engineering. This corresponds to a unique potential for the design, the development and the exploitation of the instruments required to take the scientific challenges of the coming decades (in accelerator and detector physics), enabling IJCLab to be recognised as a “builder laboratory”.

The presence of a vast set of research infrastructures and technological platforms (ALTO, MOSAIC, LASERIX, SUPRAtech,…) is also an essential feature of IJCLab. It is completed with services (administration, support, transverse activities) which provides a vital support to these scientific and technical activities.

Finally, this laboratory is situated at the heart of a scientific cluster recognised at the global level with connections with two major universities (Université Paris-Saclay et Université de Paris). This puts IJCLab in an exceptionnaly favourable environment for teaching, training, transfer of knowledge and popular science.