The University of Lille -Nord de France (Université Lille - Nord de France), located in Lille, France, is a center for higher education, academic research and doctoral studies located over multiple campuses in the Academie de Lille. It includes a doctoral college that federates university institutes, engineering schools and research centres. With more than one hundred thousand students, the Université Lille Nord de France is one of the five largest university federations in France. Founded as University of Douai in 1562, the state university in Northern France was renamed Université impériale de Douai-Lille in 1808, then as Université de Lille with faculty expansion in the Lille region from mid-19th century onwards.. The university expanded into several campus in Lille region end 20th century and has built itself as the Université Lille Nord de France. University of Lille -Nord de France is organised over several campus sites: 139 research labs and institutes are associated to the European Doctoral College Lille Nord-Pas de Calais. Altogether, the university research labs own an active portfolio of more than 170 invention patent families.