University of Paris-Saclay

The Paris-Saclay University was established in 2015, with the aim to become a top-ranking, research-focused French university. In order to be recognized as an entity of sufficient size and quality, the university regroups some of the top grandes écoles in France with public universities under a single campus on the Saclay Plateau. Each member institution will remain independent but share a significant portion of existing and newly invested resources. This follows a model similar to the one adopted by University of Oxford and Cambridge, where each constituent college keeps its independence while being grouped under a 'university'.[5]

According to Dominique Vernay, chairman of the foundation developing Paris-Saclay, the university aims at a top-ten position in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), but "the first goal is to be the top university in continental Europe".[6]

Furthermore, the university aims to contribute to maximizing the economic and business potential of the Paris-Saclay project through research, via university and research spin-offs, as well as industrial research collaboration with established companies.[10]

The Paris-Saclay University comprises 13 institutions (2 universities, 7 research centers, 4 grandes écoles). It combines resources from the following French universities and grandes écoles, as well as partial resources from various research organizations and the Systematic Paris-Region cluster:[10]

Initially, the community of universities also included five other grandes écoles: École Polytechnique, Télécom Paris, Telecom SudParis, ENSTA Paris and ENSAE Paris. However, due to differences in University set-up, these five schools created their own separate cluster Institut Polytechnique de Paris. This was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron during a speech in Paris-Saclay.[11] Both of these clusters plan to co-operate and they engage in organization of several master's degrees with the University of Paris-Saclay.[12]

Each member school of the Paris-Saclay University organizes training in a given scientific field. Depending on the needs of their registered program, a student enrolled in a particular school will have access to academic resources from other schools.

The various fields of study available at Paris-Saclay University are broadly categorized into the following:

• Biodiversity, Agriculture and Food, Society, Environment (Biodiversité, Agriculture et Alimentation, Société, Environnement) ;
• Biology, Medicine, Pharmaceutical studies (Biologie, Médecine, Pharmacie) ;
• Law, Political Science (Droit et Science Politique) ;
• Humanities (Humanités) ;
• Engineering, Sciences and Information Technologies (Ingénierie, Sciences et Technologies de l’information) ;
• Sport and Human Motion Sciences (Sciences du Sport et du Mouvement Humain) ;
• Basic Sciences (Sciences Fondamentales) ;
• Social Sciences (Sciences Sociales).

The academic programs in each of the 8 schools is expected to follow the Anglo-American model:[14]

• Bachelor - The Bachelor's program is provided by the 3 public universities within Paris-Saclay, which are Université Paris-Sud, Université Versailles-Saint-Quentin and Université d'Évry Val-d'Essonne.
• Master - Master's degrees are taught in both French and English. Altogether, 49 Master's degree are offered.[15]
• Doctorate - PhD programs are offered through 20 doctoral schools.[8] Doctoral degrees received after September 30, 2015 are awarded under the name "University of Paris-Saclay", with a mention of the student's associated university or grande école.

The Paris-Saclay University will gather more than 300 research units, organized into 10 departments:[16]

• Chemistry (Chimie)
• Electrical engineering, optics and electronics (EOE: Ingénierie électrique, optique et électronique)
• Mathematics (Mathématiques)
• Mechanics, energy and physical processes (MEP: Mécanique, énergétique et procédés)
• Subatomic physics and astrophysics (P2I: Physique des deux infinis)
• Wave and matter physics (PHOM: Physique des ondes et de la matière)
• Planetary science and cosmology (SPU: Sciences de la planète et de l'Univers)
• Life sciences (SDV: Sciences de la Vie)
• Human and social sciences (SHS: Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société)
• Information and communication sciences and technologies (STIC: Sciences et technologies de l'information et de la communication).

In an independent simulation performed by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2014, the Paris-Saclay University scored 39.8 (or 43.2 if all Research Organizations are counted), ranking the university in the 27th position (resp. 21st).[17] On October 19, 2016, the executive director responsible for the annual update and new development of the ARWU visited the Paris-Saclay cluster.[18]

The Paris-Saclay University appears in the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) rankings. It replaces University of Paris-Sud (Paris XI) in January 2020 which currently ranks 37 globally.[19]

University Paris-Saclay was included in the 2019 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking. University Paris-Saclay was ranked 30 globally, 7th in Europe and 1st in France. It was ranked 1st in Europe for physics (5th internationally) and 1st internationally for mathematics.[22] In the 2020 Edition of the ranking, University Paris-Saclay was downgraded to the 274th position worldwide.[23]

In the future, the Paris-Saclay cluster is expected to help France to secure a space among the world's top ten universities and to bring the French education and research into limelight.[5]

• Nobel Prize Ranking
• List of medieval universities
• List of public universities in France by academy

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• Official website