home ›› polytechnic school france

Polytechnic School (France)

36= -   Arts & Humanities28  Natural Sciences
38  Engineering & IT212  Social Sciences
World Rankings-  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
34= -   Arts & Humanities26  Natural Sciences
31  Engineering & IT204  Social Sciences
World Rankings278  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
28 351  Arts & Humanities31  Natural Sciences
34  Engineering & IT261  Social Sciences
World Rankings202  Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit
37     
    
World Rankings  
Source: Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings Copyright © 2009 QS Intelligence Unit

For more than two hundred years, Ecole Polytechnique, the most prestigious educational establishment in France, has been dedicated to educating students in Science and Technology at the highest level.

The mission of Ecole Polytechnique is to train students capable of devising and achieving complex and innovative projects at the highest-level possible, thanks to a strong multidisciplinary scientific education. Among Polytechnique-related high-technology projects are the TGV, France’s high-speed train; Ariane rocket launchers; the only commercial supersonic aircraft, the Concorde; Airbus planes; the world-wide implementation of the most successful mobile telephone system, the GSM; and France’s nuclear reactor system.

The Ecole's mission is also to train young men and women in leadership skills so that they can become tomorrow's outstanding scientists, researchers, managers and public officials.

Ecole Polytechnique, a state-supported Grande Ecole, with 2,500 students, more than 900 faculty members and 1,600 people in its Research Centre, is a member of the ParisTech group which is composed of ten of the foremost French Graduate Institutes of Science & Technology located in the Paris area.

There are many reasons why outstanding students in Science and Technology might choose to study at Ecole Polytechnique:

- A wide and comprehensive curriculum which offers each and every student a unique chance to choose from selected courses and map out his or her own professional goals

- The Research Centre is on the cutting edge of most scientific fields; the development of partnerships -one of the most ambitious projects in Europe- has helped forge links with institutions of higher learning from all over the world

- Ecole Polytechnique's alumni hold key positions in the world of Science, Business, Industry and in the Public Sector

- Beyond its academic requirements, the Institute is committed to training young men and women of excellence for leadership, including through student clubs and service to the community, but also in sports and recreational activities which can be practiced on a large campus with all the necessary modern facilities just 20 minutes away from Paris.

These are some of the many reasons why Ecole Polytechnique has been regularly ranked first for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Science and Technology among the French Grandes Ecoles and why it is considered as one of the finest institutions of higher learning in Science in the world. Directed by a board of trustees consisting of twenty-six leaders in Business and Industry, Science, Engineering, Higher Education and other managerial professions, Ecole Polytechnique is also supported by a very strong alumni association.

People

Alumni include:
- Scientists
* Mathematicians: Cauchy, Coriolis, Monge, Poincaré, Poisson; Paul Lévy (probability theory), Benoît Mandelbrot (fractal geometry)
* Physicists: Ampère (co-discovered electromagnetism), Becquerel (Nobel Prize in Physics – co-discovered radioactivity), Carnot (founder of the field of thermodynamics), Fresnel (major contributor to wave optics), Navier (Navier-Stokes equations)
* Chemists: Gay Lussac
* Economists: Maurice Allais (Nobel Prize in Economics)
* Astronauts: Jean-François Clervoy and Philippe Perrin.
- Presidents of the French Republic: Sadi Carnot, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
- Founders of Corporations: André Citroën, Conrad Schlumberger, Serge Dassault
- Chairmans or CEOs of multinational companies: Patrick Kron (Alstom), Claude Bébéar (Axa), Michel Pébereau (BNP Paribas), Pierre Gadonneix (EDF), Didier Lombard (France Telecom), Bertrand Collomb (Lafarge), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Carlos Ghosn (Nissan / Renault), Jean-Paul Herteman (Safran), Jean-Louis Beffa (Saint-Gobain), Gérard Mestrallet (Suez), Denis Ranque (Thales)
- Military Officers: Generals Foch and Joffre
- and the Philosopher Auguste Comte, the Tennis Champion Jean Borotra (Davis Cup Winner), the Architect Paul Andreu.

Former faculty members include Joseph Fourier, Joseph-Louis Lagrange or Laurent Schwartz (Fields Medal). 14 professors at Ecole Polytechnique are currently members of the French Academy of Sciences, among them Jacques-Louis Lions (Fields Medal).

What students say?

Sunanda Prabhu-Gaunkar - Indian
I came to know of the very special profile of X (Ecole Polytechnique’s nickname) among the top Graduate Institute of Science & Technology of the world. I decided to take up the challenge of the “concours” (international admission). Not knowing French made me hesitate but that was no problem at all at that time. Learning the language thereafter was an experience I shall cherish. The campus is superb and the routine here is just the right blend of studies, sports and other extracurricular activities. Me, like others coming from different countries find it exciting and enriching. It was worth accepting this challenge and temptation to come to one of the best campuses of the world to be in.

Maxime Boucher - Canadian
What I like the most about Ecole Polytechnique is the multidisciplinarity of the curriculum. Hence, on top of the usual scientific courses, I'll be able to follow general humanities and social sciences courses not necessarily applied to engineering, foreign language courses and sport. Also, with the numerous travels organized by students, I'll go this year to Ireland with my rugby team and I'll live two months in Japan in a family to learn Japanese.

Lionel Corre - French
Today, Ecole Polytechnique is increasingly wide open to the World. We do have the opportunity to spend part of our curriculum in a prestigious institution abroad, such as Stanford or Tokyo University. On the reverse, on the campus, you can meet more and more international students from all over the world, from Russia, to the United States, from China to Sweden... Moreover, according to our passions, we have founded associations like mine, X-Japon, whose aim is to foster the opening towards Japan.

Good at?

Science & Technology: Physics & Applied Physics, Engineering Mechanics, Computer Science, Mathematics & Applied Mathematics, Economics & Finance, Life Sciences

Faculty

Number of Faculty Staff Headcount: 1,065 FTE: 569

Total number of academic faculty staff who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking teaching only, research only or both teaching and research. Please include: vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, principals, professors, heads of school, associate professors, principal lecturers, tutors or postdoctoral researchers. Please exclude research assistants*, PhD students who contribute to teaching, and exchange scholars or visiting faculty staff who are members of another university. * The important distinction for us is that staff counted as 'research only' should be academically involved in that research and should be likely to publish research outputs. A research assistant, in our understanding, is any individual who is not doing own research and is therefore not likely to publish own research outputs. Said individual is (only) involved in research in terms of operation execution , such as lab technician or equipment operator.

Number of International Faculty Staff Headcount: 167 FTE: 109

Number of academic faculty staff who are of foreign nationality. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even if from another EU state. In Hong Kong, this includes professors from Mainland China. Inclusion and exclusion mirrors those for academic faculty staff. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.

Undergraduate Information

Number of Undergraduate Students Headcount: 1,008 FTE: 1,008

Number of students pursuing a Bachelor’s level or equivalent degree. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associate’s degrees.

Number of International Undergraduate Students Headcount: 208 FTE: 208

Number of undergraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if the language students take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'undergraduate degree program' they should be included under 'international undergraduate students' . Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.

Average International Undergraduate Fees $ EUR 7,000

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for an undergraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Undergraduate Class Size Headcount: 500

The average size of class across all undergraduate programs. The term ‘class’ refers to an unit of instruction or taught session in which a teacher has pre-defined material to cover. It does exclude tutorial seminars.
Number of first year Undergraduate students Headcount: 500 FTE: 500

Number of students pursuing a Bachelor's level or equivalent degree in their first year of study. This excludes certificates/diplomas and associate's degrees.

Graduate / Postgraduate Information

Number of Graduate / Postgraduate Students Headcount: 1,229 FTE: 1,229

Students pursuing a higher-level degree (Master and Doctorate), including both taught and research postgraduates (e.g. PhD students)
Number of International Graduate/Postgraduate Students Headcount: 390 FTE: 390

Number of graduate / postgraduate students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained. Please exclude all exchange students. As for language students, if they take up a particular language course that is outlined as 'postgraduate degree program', they should be included under 'international postgraduate students'. Language students who take part in a course not contributing to a degree qualification should be counted under 'Total International Students'.

Average International Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ EUR 5,500

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that an international student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Average Domestic Graduate / Postgraduate Fees $ EUR 5,500

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for a graduate / postgraduate program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Students

Total Students Headcount: 2,237 FTE: 2,237

Total number of students.
Total International Students Headcount: 598 FTE: 598

Number of students who are foreign nationals. The term 'international' is hereby determined by citizenship. For EU countries, this includes all foreign nationals, even nationals of other EU states. In Hong Kong, this includes students from Mainland China. In case of dual citizenship, the 'deciding' criteria should be 'citizenship obtained through birth', basically first passport obtained.
Average International Student Fees $ EUR 6,400

Average tuition fees per year that an international student would be expected to pay for any course
Average Domestic Student Fees $ EUR 2,200

Average tuition fees per academic year (two semesters) that a domestic student would be expected to pay for any program, with ‘program’ referring to the complete range of courses contributing to a degree. FAQ: How do I calculate average fees?

Graduate Output

Proportion of Graduates Employed Headcount: 99 %

Proportion of graduates (excluding those opting to pursue further study) in permanent employment within 6 months of graduation

Internationalisation

Number of University Collaborations or Partnership Agreements Headcount: 179

Number of universities your institution has collaborations or partnership agreements with. These partnership agreements may include student and teaching exchanges, as well as collaborative research projects, exchange of academic materials and other information, and jointly offered executive development programmes. This includes collaborations at either a university or faculty level. Please also state the names of these institutions in the Submission Notes box.