The University of Lorraine , often abbreviated in UL, is a grand établissement created on 1 January 2012 by the merger of Henri Poincaré, Nancy 2 and Paul Verlaine Universities, and the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (INPL). The merger process started in 2009 with the creation of a "pôles de recherche et d'enseignement supérieur" or PRES.