The Pprime Institute’s scientific themes are materials, mechanical and energy engineering for transport, energy and the environment. The objectives of this project are to improve the characterisation of physical phenomena and the optimisation of systems through an experimental approach combining metrology and the extension of testing capabilities. This approach is common to 5 scientific actions: optical metrology for the characterisation of flexible materials/structures, the improvement of experimental benches in the Tribology of the Prométée platform, the control of flow by plasma actuators, the real-time control of wind tunnel flows and the dynamic characterisation of the water/air interfaces.