Who are we ?

The LIRA (Laboratory for Instrumentation and Research in Astrophysics) is one of the three scientific departments of the Observatoire de Paris-PSL, a major establishment bringing together a quarter of the country’s forces in the field of astronomy-astrophysics. With almost 300 members, it is one of France’s largest research laboratories in this field.

In addition to its permanent researchers and engineers, LIRA brings together around 30 post-docs and 50 PhD students.

LIRA’s main scientific themes are the study of “sun-planet” and “star-exoplanet” systems, terrestrial and (exo-)planetary atmospheres, star-resolved galaxies and stellar populations, with the development of space and ground-based instrumentation, laboratory experimentation and data observation and analysis as dominant methodologies.

LIRA is the result of a recent merger of teams from LESIA, LERMA and GEPI, and is dedicated to the design and production of space and ground-based scientific instrumentation, as well as the exploitation of the resulting observations.

Its activities are divided into five scientific divisions: Stars and Galaxies, High Angular Resolution in Astrophysics, Heliosphere and Astrophysical Plasmas, Planetology, and Exoplanetary Systems.

LIRA is a department of Observatoire de Paris-PSL and a joint research unit of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), UMR-8254, associated with Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité and Cergy Paris Université.