The Lille Center for European Research on Administration, Politics and Society (CERAPS) was founded in 1976 as part ofthe Law School of the University of Lille 2.

Since 1979, the Center is a unit of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and belongs to its law, sociology and political science sections.

The Center staff includes about fifty university professors and CNRS full-time research fellows in political science, public law and sociology, all of whom contribute to our research agenda thanks to their enthusiasm and innovation. The research center also hosts and trains an average eighty PhD students half in law and half in political science Its main research areas are: 1) public policy, including at the local level, 2) international law, changes in administrative law and the role of the state, 3) information technology (IT) law, 4) the transformation of democracy with a focus on political participation i.e. social movements, elections and political organizations.