History :

The LSIS was created in January 2002 by gathering the research teams from the DIAM (UPRES-EA n°2210), the LIM (FRE n°2246) and the ENSAM of Aix-en-Provence.

It is a research unit (UMR 6168) common to the three Universities of Marseille (U1, U2, U3), the Sud Toulon Var University, the Aix-en-Provence ENSAM and to the CNRS (The National Institute of Computer sciences and it Interactions - INSII ).

It actually gathers near to 200 researchers professors and PhD students. By its composition (The section 07 researchers of CNRS, the sections 27 and 61 research professors of CNU), the research activities of the laboratory cover topics in computer science control systems and image processing.

At the beginning, the structure of LSIS was composed of six scientifically homogeneous teams, while some of them were regrouping researchers in both control systems and computer sciences. During it first eight years, the LSIS has grown up significantly : the number of its full time, researchers, research professor and PhD students has doubled. This fast increase in the staff shows that the LSIS has become recognized and attractive.

In order to ensure better skills and know-how visibility of LSIS in fundamental research as well as in applied research, in January 2008, we have restructured our research activities into three poles: Computer science, Systems and Image. Our objective is to have these projects as scientific leading tools and creating dynamics in the laboratory’s activities. A research project should specifically target either of the following:

• The exploration of a new individual or interdisciplinary topic,
• Deeper development of existing topic at LSIS to ensure excellence at the national as well as the international level,
• The development of an application relevant to one of the three poles and promising in the socio-economic and technology levels.

The scientific goals :

The LSIS vocation is to develop fundamental and applied research activities in computer science, control systems and image. However activities in these topics are linked to the conducted research work driven by the social and economical world demands. LSIS research activities deal with:

• Estimation, control and diagnosis/prognosis, automated systems with variable structure, discrete event system specification and manufacturing.
• Image processing and analysis, geometrical modeling, biomedical imaging, graphical simulation from multiple sources,
• Inference, logic and constraints, information and distributed knowledge, information dynamics, information systems conception based on ontologies, agents and services, contents and web services management
• Numerical engineering of mechanical systems.

Promotion and research policy

The research activities developed at LSIS are promoted by encouraging and increasing the industry-based projects and by the involvement in several "poles" as well as by its affiliation to two Carnot institutes:

• The Carnot Institute ARTS (Research Actions for Technology and Society) for research activities in the field of digital engineering for mechanical systems
• START Institute (Science and Technology for Research Applications) for activities in the field of Information processing and systems.

The international visibility is essential to the development of high quality research activities. That is why we encourage the use of specific procedures allowing our researchers to travel and allowing us the invite well known professors from Universities worldwide to spend at LSIS period of time going from one to six months.

In the training for research and by research, the recruitment of new PhD students has constituted and will constitute one of our priorities. In particular professors at LSIS have doubled their efforts to increase the number, the quality and the diversity of applications in Master of Science. The development of our international relations has lead to the creation of an international center French-Argentine of information and systems (CIFASIS) of sciences. This center is recognized by CONICET, the National university of Rosario and the University of Paul Cézanne. Our policy of international relations becomes a reality by the recruitment of more foreign PhD students (theses in guardianship, agreements with countries from north and south America, east Europe, north Africa and Asia).

The LSIS plays a driving role in the training by research, a role linked to its strong involvement in several university curricula including three schools of engineering (ENSAM, ESIL, Polytech’Marseille). This involvement, in engineering and vocational training, gives the laboratory a culture about the transfer into industry, which helps, the professional integration of our PhD students.