ENS Paris-Saclay

The Ecole normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (ENS Paris-Saclay since 2019, 5th February, formerly ENS Cachan), a prestigious public institution of higher education and research founded in 1912, is one of the major French Grandes Écoles, which are considered the pinnacle of French higher education. With its multidisciplinary departments and their associated research laboratories, the ENS Paris-Saclay provides its students with a high-level cultural and scientific training. Education at the ENS Paris-Saclay has an established tradition of excellence and is mainly based on strong interactions between the 12 academic departments and 13 research laboratories covering a wide spectrum within science, engineering and the humanities. The four years of study at the ENS Paris-Saclay are organised in agreement with classic European university curricula (BA/BSc and Master's degrees) along with complementary training and some specific courses. During the period of study, one year (generally the third) is devoted to preparation for the agrégation, a professional teaching qualification, which is a highly competitive national exam to enter the teaching profession at secondary and higher education level as a civil servant. On graduating from the ENS Paris-Saclay with a Master's degree, 2/3 of the students prepare a Ph.D. thesis.