The Department is supported by its Laboratory, LIX. Click here to access the LIX website.

The abbreviation LIX stands for Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'École polytechnique (the École Polytechnique Computer Science Laboratory). The letter X is used in France as a longstanding nickname for École Polytechnique. LIX is a joint research unit (UMR 7161) operated by École Polytechnique and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). LIX falls under the jurisdiction of the National Institute of Information Sciences and their Interactions (INS2I).

Located within the Research Center on the École Polytechnique campus in Palaiseau, the Computer Science Laboratory is an X-CNRS joint research unit with approximately 120 members, including 60 PhD researchers and another 60 permanent staff divided between CNRS, INRIA and l'X.

LIX focuses on three main areas: algorithms, combinatorics and models; distributed systems and security; and symbolic calculation and proofs. 

Among the 13 teams present on the Laboratory premises, there are 4 INRIA project teams, which have been based at LIX since the creation of the Common Computer Science Research Cluster of the Plateau de Saclay.

LIX is also home to a number of Education and Research Chairs, including the "Complex Industrial Systems" Chair, funded by Thalès, Dassault Aviation, Naval Group and the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA); the "Internet of Everything" Chair, funded by Cisco; the "Data Science for the Insurance Sector" Chair, funded by AXA; the "Artificial Intelligence and Visual Computing" Chair, funded by Google; and the "Integrated Urban Mobility" Chair, funded by Uber. In each of these different capacities, LIX plays an essential academic role within the System@tic competitive cluster.

The Laboratory is strongly involved in teaching at École Polytechnique, as well as a number of master’s programs across the Paris region. LIX has signed contracts with public bodies (Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, DGA, Agence Française pour l'Innovation, INRIA etc.) and international organizations.

In recent years, LIX has strived to develop a considerable number of collaborations with the world of industry. In addition to Thalès, other major international partners include Microsoft Research, Hitachi Labs, Fujitsu and NASA.