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Published on October 19, 2023– Updated on October 19, 2023

MATRiS: Research to Support Mobility Transformation

Addressing Societal Challenges

Established in 2022, MATRiS is a joint research unit led by teams from CY Cergy Paris University and Cerema, located in Cergy, Argenteuil, Lille, and Nantes. With around forty members, including professors, researchers, doctoral candidates, and other scientific personnel, the MATRiS team comprises geographers, economists, sociologists, and urban planners. The multidisciplinary nature of its members provides the laboratory with a comprehensive perspective on how to think and rethink our transportation, mobility, and development systems in the context of ecological transition and sustainable development.

Numerous factors influence the evolution of mobility and development, such as the information revolution, changes in energy systems, the omnipresence of digital technology, and various consequences of climate change. In this era of transitions, societies must contemplate change and develop strategies for adaptation and resilience, and through its reflections, projects, and publications, the MATRiS team is here to support them.

A Scientific Project with Four Key Areas

MATRiS' scientific project is firmly in favor of applied research in addition to its fundamental research activities. The presence of Cerema as a knowledge producer and mediator between the academic and operational engineering world directs research that can lead to innovations and the production of new knowledge applicable by private and public professionals. The transfer of knowledge is facilitated even further as CY Paris Cergy University participates in the transfer of technologies and knowledge to society through initial, continuing, and alternate training, notably through CY Transport, its new Transport & Logistics school, offering one of the most comprehensive programs in the Île-de-France region, from undergraduate to doctoral levels.

Specifically, MATRiS' scientific project aims to provide observation methods and new knowledge that are both theoretical and capable of enlightening decision-makers, including public actors and businesses. Therefore, the project aims to:
  • Promote integrated approaches to territorial planning and transport and mobility policies.
  • Evaluate mobility and transport policies or development in their conception and implementation.
  • Integrate the risk factor into transportation, mobility, and development practices.
  • Discuss planning theories and the concept of routine.
  • Design and develop qualitative and quantitative methods in response to the new knowledge needs resulting from the support of mobility and development system transformations.

To better address current and future expectations and challenges, MATRiS' scientific project is designed around four thematic areas:

  1. The analysis of interdependencies between transport networks, mobility, and territorial development.
  2. The processes of creating public transport policies, involving actors, territorial impact, and evaluations.
  3. Development practices and networks in the face of risks.
  4. Mobility routines and their adaptations (for both passengers and freight).

Many Scientific, Industrial, and Territorial Partners, in France and Internationally

MATRiS' partnerships are developed both nationally and internationally, primarily in Europe, leveraging the structuring cooperation mechanisms involving Cerema and CY Paris Cergy University.

Our main scientific partners in France and abroad include:

  • Gustave Eiffel University (departments AME: SPLOTT, DEST, MODIS; LVMT)
  • Universities that are members of the European alliance EUTOPIA (of which CY Paris Cergy University is a member).
  • The competitiveness cluster I-Trans.
Our main territorial partners in transport and development include:
  • HAROPA (Port of Gennevilliers)
  • The Norlink federation.
  • The departmental councils of Val d'Oise, Yvelines, and Essonne.
  • The Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Hauts-de-France regions.
  • The European Metropolis of Lille.
  • The agglomerations of Rennes and Rouen.
  • The Northern Axis delegation (around the future Seine-Nord Europe canal).
  • Île-de-France Mobilités.
  • ISVL - Institute for Intelligent Seine Valley Logistics.
Our main industrial partners include:
  • RATP
  • Transdev
  • Keolis
  • SNCF Mobility and Network
  • Airbus Industries
  • Geodis
  • Stellantis


To learn more about CY Cergy Paris University, www.cyu.fr/en

To learn more about Cerema : www.cerema.fr