The scientific activities presented in this article are within the field of the design of new concepts of combustion chambers and the exploration of their benefits to increase the combustion and environmental efficiencies of advanced air-breathing propulsion systems. These scientific activities are performed in the "Complexe de Recherche Interprofessionnel en Aérothermochimie" (CORIA) research laboratory, a joint research institute organized between the CNRS, the University of Rouen and the INSA-Rouen Engineering School. CORIA contributes through its recognized expertise in numerical simulation, optical diagnostic measurements and experiments in large-scale combustors to improving the understanding of multi-scale multi-physics physical mechanisms governing the lean combustion of future combustion chambers. In this context, the " Centre de Combustion Avancée pour l'Aéronautique du Futur " (C-CAAF) recently created at CORIA is aimed at providing:• An instrumentation and optical diagnostic platform gathering various laser/opti-cal diagnostic techniques (PIV, LDV for the characterization of the aerodynamic field, PDPA, GRT for the characterization of the distribution of fuel droplets, CARS for measuring the thermal field and main species concentration, OH-PLIF and Schlieren for analyzing the flame structure, LII, NO-PLIF, CO-PLIF for measuring pollutants in the flame, etc.). These laser/optical diagnostic techniques are used to provide unique laboratory tools to perform time-resolved, simultaneous, multidimensional measurements of scalar parameters governing turbulent and multi-phase combustion. Furthermore, these diagnostic tools can be combined to obtain detailed correlations on these scalar parameters.• Multiple setups , from academic burners to complex combustors operating at high pressures. Through the perfect control of their operating conditions, academic burners are designed to assist in the development and validation of innovative optical diagnostic tools. They also provide a precise determination of the relevant chemical and physical parameters, enabling conclusions to be drawn about the underlying partly-coupled combustion processes. Technical combustion chambers are developed to provide a high-fidelity experimental database, in order to improve the innovative architectures of ultra-low NOx aeronautical injectors operating with real multi-component liquid fuels (kerosene, alternative fuels, biofuels, etc.), to identify the interaction mechanisms between several fuel injection systems and to validate the predictive capability of gas turbine combustion models.