P1300734 Paris V place de la Sorbonne rwk

Sorbonne University () is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by

Robert de Sorbon Robert de Sorbon (; 9 October 1201 – 15 August 1274) was a French theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typic ...

as a

constituent college A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Col ...

of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, one of the first universities in Europe. Its current iteration was formed in 2018 by the merger of

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

(Paris IV) and the

Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

(Paris VI). Sorbonne University is one of the most sought after universities by students and researchers from France, Europe, and the

French speaking countries The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important as ...

. Most notably,

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first wo ...

, who came from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in 1891 and joined the Faculty of Sciences of the

, was also the first woman to become a professor at the Sorbonne. Marie Curie and her husband

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( ; ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, Radiochemistry, radiochemist, and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, ...

are considered the founders of the modern-day Faculty of Science and Engineering of Sorbonne University. As of 2021, its alumni and professors have won 33 Nobel Prizes, six

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of Mathematicians, International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place e ...

s, and one

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...

History

College of Sorbonne

(1201–1274), chaplain to

King Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...

(Saint Louis), observed the difficulties experienced by poor "schoolchildren" in achieving the rank of doctor. In February 1257, he had a house (''domus'') officially established which he intended for a certain number of secular clergy who, living in common and without concern for their material existence, would be entirely occupied with study and teaching. This house was named the

college of Sorbonne The College of Sorbonne () was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1253 (confirmed in 1257) by Robert de Sorbon (1201–1274), after whom it was named. The Sorbonne was disestablished by decree of 5 April 1792, after th ...

. The old slogan of the establishment, "''Sorbonne University, creators of futures since 1257''", refers to this date. The college of Sorbonne was closed along with all the other colleges of the former

in 1793. The college of Sorbonne was located on the site of the current Sorbonne building, shared between Sorbonne University and Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Faculty of Humanities of Paris, "the Sorbonne"

Based at the Sorbonne, the University of Paris Faculty of Humanities (commonly known as the ''Sorbonne'' because of its location) was created by the decree of 17 March 1808 on the organisation of the Imperial University of France. Under the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

, the faculty welcomed an average of 1,000 to 1,500 students a year, rising to 2,000 under the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

. But the number of teaching staff remained limited: between 1809 and 1878, only 51 professors taught at the Faculty of Humanities. Following the promulgation of laws on 28 April 1893, giving civil personality to the bodies formed by the union of several faculties of an academy, and 10 July 1896, giving the name of university to the bodies of faculties, the new

was created in 1896 through the merger of the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Humanities, the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Protestant Theology (created in 1877 and transformed into a free faculty in 1905), and the ''École supérieure de pharmacie''. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1896 by its president,

Félix Faure Félix François Faure (; 30 January 1841 – 16 February 1899) was President of France from 1895 until his death in 1899. A native of Paris, he worked as a tanner in his younger years. Faure became a member of the Chamber of Deputies for Seine- ...

Faculty of Sciences of Paris

The Faculty of Sciences in Paris was opened in 1811 following the creation of the Imperial University of France, and was housed in the ''Collège du Plessis'', in the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

of Paris. In 1826, the faculty moved to the Sorbonne. It remained there until 1962, when it moved to the

Jussieu Campus The Jussieu Campus (''Campus de Jussieu'') or the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie Campus is a higher education campus located in the 5th arrondissement, Paris, 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the main campus of the Sorbonne Faculty of Science an ...

. The Jussieu campus is now the main site of the Sorbonne University Faculty of Science and Engineering. At the same time, in 1927 it opened a

satellite campus A satellite campus, branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or country, ...

Orsay Orsay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. A fortifie ...

, in the south of Paris, which would later become the current

Paris-Saclay University Paris-Saclay University (, ) is a combined technological research institute and public research university in Orsay, France. Paris-Saclay was established in 2019 after the merger of four technical ''grandes écoles,'' as well as several technol ...

, as well as a satellite campus at

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

, retained the name " Sorbonne" and premises in the historic centre of the University of Paris, which had until then been mainly devoted to the faculties of Humanities and Sciences. The University of Paris-VI, later renamed as "UPMC", is created from the majority of the teaching and research units of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris (the others joining the universities of Paris-VII Denis Diderot (now Université Paris Cité),

in Orsay, Paris-XII and Paris-XIII in Villetaneuse) and part of the units of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris (the others joining the universities of Paris-V René Descartes (now Université Paris Cité), Paris-VII Denis Diderot and Paris-XIII).

Reunification of the University of Paris-Sorbonne and UPMC

In 2010, some of the direct successors of the faculties of the University of Paris created the Sorbonne Universities Association. The following universities, members of the

university system A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, decided to merge into Sorbonne University in 2018: *

(Paris IV) (1971–2017), formerly a constituent part of the faculty of humanities of the University of Paris. *

(UPMC or Paris VI) (1971–2017), formerly a constituent part of the faculty of sciences and of the school of medicine of the University of Paris. At the same time, the Sorbonne Universities Association was renamed the Sorbonne University alliance; it includes the following institutions for academic cooperation: *

University of Technology of Compiègne The University of Technology of Compiègne (, UTC) is a public research university located in Compiègne, France. The university has both the status of public university and grande école. It was founded in 1972 as the first experimental Institu ...

(1972– ) *

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

* ''Centre international d’études pédagogiques'' (International Centre for Pedagogical Studies) * ''Pôle supérieur d’enseignement artistique Paris Boulogne-Billancourt'' * Four research institutes As part of the reforms of French Higher Education, on 19 March 2018, the international jury called by the French Government for the "''Initiative d'excellence''" (IDEX) confirmed the definite win of Sorbonne University. Consequently, Sorbonne University won an endowment of 900 Million euros with no limit of time. This is the first higher education institution in Paris region to win such an endowment. The university was established by a decree issued 21 April 2017, taking effect 1 January 2018.

Faculties

Sorbonne University has three faculties: Arts and Humanities, Science and Engineering, and Health Sciences.

Arts and humanities

The Sorbonne University Faculty of Arts and Humanities provides studies in arts, languages, letters, and human and social sciences, and is the largest in France. Fields such as history, geography, languages, linguistics, musicology, philosophy, classical and modern literature, foreign literature and civilisations, and the history of art and archaeology are part of this faculty.

Science and engineering

The

Sorbonne Faculty of Science and Engineering The Sorbonne Faculty of Science and Engineering (in French: ''Faculté des Sciences et Ingénierie de Sorbonne Université'') is the second largest of Sorbonne University's three major faculties, in terms of the number of students enrolled. Forme ...

is a major research institution in France. It can be considered the successor in direct line to the Faculty of Science of the

with the

Paris-Saclay Faculty of Sciences The Paris-Saclay Faculty of Sciences or Orsay Faculty of Sciences, in French : ''Faculté des sciences d'Orsay'', is the mathematics and physics school within Paris-Saclay University, founded in 1956. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. It has 79 laboratories in the Paris region, most in association with the

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

(CNRS). Some of the most notable institutes and laboratories include the

Institut Henri Poincaré The Henri Poincaré Institute (or IHP for ''Institut Henri Poincaré'') is a mathematics research institute part of Sorbonne University, in association with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). It is located in the 5th arrondi ...

(Mathematics),

Institut d'astrophysique de Paris The Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (translated: Paris Institute of Astrophysics) is a research institute in Paris, France. The Institute is part of the Sorbonne University and is associated with the CNRS Centre national de la recherche scientif ...

(Astrophysics), LIP6 (Informatics / Computer Science),

Institut des systèmes intelligents et de robotique An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(Robotics),

Institut de mathématiques de Jussieu – Paris Rive Gauche The Mathematics Institute of Jussieu–Paris Rive Gauche (, , IMJ-PRG) is a French research institute in fundamental mathematics. It is a "mixed research unit", with three parent organizations: the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, S ...

(foundations of Mathematics, shared with University Paris Cité) and the Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel (Quantum Physics, shared with

PSL University PSL University (PSL or in French Université PSL, for Paris Sciences et Lettres) is a '' Grand établissement'' based in Paris, France. It was established in 2010 and formally created as a university in 2019. It is a collegiate university with 1 ...

Health sciences

The Sorbonne University Faculty of Health Sciences, in association with the

Greater Paris University Hospitals Greater Paris University Hospitals ( , AP-HP) is the university hospital trust operating in Paris and its surroundings. It is the largest hospital system in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It employs more than 90,000 people in 38 tea ...

(AP-HP), manages the

AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospital Group The AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospital Group is a university hospital group resulting from the merger in 2019 of Pitié-Salpêtrière – Charles-Foix Hospital Group and the Est Parisien Hospital Group, affiliated to Sorbonne University. It bri ...

( Hôpital Charles-Foix,

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (, ) is a charitable hospital in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospital Group and a teaching hospital of Sorbonne University. History The Salpêtrière ...

, Hôpital Fondation Rothschild,

Hôpital Saint-Antoine Hôpital Saint-Antoine () is a university hospital of the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at ''184, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine''. It is part of the AP-HP Sorbonne University Hospi ...

Hôpital Tenon Hôpital Tenon is a hospital located at ''4, rue de la Chine'' in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) and the university hospital group AP-HP-Sorbonne University. It is particularl ...

Hôpital Armand-Trousseau The Hôpital Armand-Trousseau is a public Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) located at 26, avenue du Docteur-Arnold-Netter and rue Lasson (entrance to the emergency room) in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It is one of the sites ...

, Hôpital de La Roche-Guyon) and the

Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital The Quinze-Vingts National Ophthalmology Hospital (''Centre hospitalier national d’ophtalmologie des Quinze-Vingts'') is France's national ophthalmology hospital located in Paris, in the 12th arrondissement. The hospital gave its name to the ' ...

, promoting multidisciplinary research, and training doctors and other health professionals.

Law (external tuition)

There is no law school as such in Sorbonne University. In 1971, most of the law professors from the Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Paris decided to restructure it as a university, called Panthéon-Assas University Paris (after the two main campuses of the Paris Law Faculty: ''place du Panthéon'' and ''rue d’Assas'' campuses). Panthéon-Assas now provides legal studies for Sorbonne University as an independent university. Another law school, the

Panthéon-Sorbonne University School of Law Sorbonne Law School, officially the Panthéon-Sorbonne University School of Law, is the law school of the Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris-I). It is one of the two successors to the Faculty of Law of Paris, University of Paris Faculty of Law, a ...

(also a spin-off of the Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Paris) also exists in Paris, but has no connection with Sorbonne University.

Campuses

File:P1300734 Paris V place de la Sorbonne rwk.jpg, The Sorbonne, the university's historic main campus. It is home to the university's

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

departments File:Paris 75005 Grande Galerie de l'Evolution 20070804.jpg, A view of the

Jardin des plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

, the campus of Sorbonne University's

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

File:Sorbona Amphi Richelieu.jpeg, The "''Amphithéâtre Richelieu''", a lecture hall of Sorbonne University File:Tour Zamanski Lune.jpg, The Zamansky Tower, located at the heart of the

campus File:Hôpital de la Salpêtrière.jpg, Entrance to the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital campus File:Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie, Paris 14 January 2018.jpg, Entrance to the Sorbonne Institute of Art and Archaeology

Main campuses

Sorbonne

Sorbonne University's historical campus is in the historic central Sorbonne building, located at 47 rue des Écoles, in the historic

university campus. The building is the undivided property of the 13 successor universities of the University of Paris, managed by the '' Chancellerie des Universités de Paris''. Besides the monuments of the Cour d'Honneur, the

Sorbonne Chapel The Chapel of Sainte-Ursule de la Sorbonne, also known as the Sorbonne Chapel, was the chapel for the Roman Catholic students and faculty of the College of Sorbonne in Paris in the 18th century, then for the university faculties of Paris in the 2 ...

and the ''Grand Amphithéâtre'', the building houses the Sorbonne University Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Academy of Paris Rectorat, the ''Chancellerie des Universités de Paris'', and part of the universities Panthéon-Sorbonne,

Sorbonne Nouvelle The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (, also known as Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle and the Sorbonne) is a public liberal arts and humanities university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the hi ...

, Paris Cité and the ''

École Nationale des Chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (; ) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the auxiliary sciences of history, historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the A ...

'' as well as the ''École Pratique des Hautes Études'' that are constituent schools of

. Before the 19th century, the Sorbonne occupied several buildings. The chapel was built in 1622 by the then-Provisor of the University of Paris,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

, during the reign of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

. In 1881, politician

Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...

decided to convert the Sorbonne into one single building. Under the supervision of Pierre Greard, Chief Officer of the Education Authority of Paris, Henri-Paul Nénot constructed the current building from 1883 to 1901 that reflects a basic architectural uniformity. The integration of the chapel into the whole was also Nénot's work with the construction of a

cour d'honneur A court of honor ( ; ) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block ('' corps de logis''), sometimes with a fourth side, co ...

. The Sorbonne building is generally reserved for undergraduate students in their third year and graduate students in certain academic disciplines. Only students in Semitic studies, regardless of level, take all their classes at the Sorbonne campus. The

Sorbonne Library The Sorbonne Library (French: ''Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne'') is an inter-university library part of the network of 36 libraries of the Panthéon-Sorbonne University, in Paris, France. It is located at 47, rue des Écoles in ...

is an inter-university library of the Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Sorbonne University,

Paris Cité University Paris Cité University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. It was created by decree on 20 March 2019, resulting from the merger of Paris Descartes (Paris V) and Paris Diderot (Paris VII) universities, established fol ...

, under the administration of Panthéon-Sorbonne. It is open exclusively to undergraduate students in their third year and graduate students. With the former archives of the now-defunct University of Paris, 2,500,000 books, 400,000 of them ancient, 2,500 historical manuscripts, 18,000 doctoral dissertation papers, 17,750 past and current French and international periodicals and 7,100 historical printing plates, the Sorbonne Library is the largest university library in Paris and was entirely refurbished in 2013. The

Sorbonne University Library Sorbonne University Library (French: ''Bibliothèque de Sorbonne Université'') is the network of Sorbonne University's libraries and services. It is one of the largest academic library networks in Paris, along with the Université Paris Cité. It ...

's Arts and Humanities Department (French: ''Pôle Lettres de la Bibliothèque de Sorbonne Université''), part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, offers its students and teaching staff access to 18 libraries and thematic collections. The catalog includes 600,000 books, 350,000 e-books, 60,000 issues of online periodicals and 165 databases.

Pierre and Marie Curie (formerly Jussieu)

The largest of Sorbonne University's campuses is

, officially named "Pierre and Marie Curie Campus". It houses the Sorbonne University Faculty of Science and Engineering and its Sorbonne Polytechnic School, Sorbonne Center for Artificial Intelligence, Sorbonne Institute for Environmental Transition, the Institute of Health Engineering (IUIS) and the Institute of Computing and Data Sciences (ISCD). The first buildings are from 1957. The main part of the campus, the "''Grill d'Albert''", was built in 1964, and was completely refurbished from 1996 to 2016. Within the

, it houses 6 university libraries, including an important research library in mathematics and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Pitié-Salpêtrière

The Pitié-Salpêtrière Campus is home to Sorbonne University Faculty of Health Sciences and its Department of Medical Studies. It is located at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and University Center (CHU), founded in 1657 in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. All undergraduate and graduate medical students study on this campus. Postgraduate courses are held at the

Cordeliers Convent There were several Cordeliers Convents (French: ''Couvent des Cordeliers'') in France. ''Cordeliers'' was the name given in France to the Conventual Franciscans. Cordeliers Convent in Paris The Cordeliers Convent in Paris is located 15 rue de l ...

on the

campus. The hospital campus also houses the Sorbonne Health Simulation Department, the Paris Brain Institute and the Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (IHU-ICAN). The campus is also home to the

Secondary campuses

Clignancourt and Malesherbes

Two other campuses are the Clignancourt and Malesherbes centers of the Sorbonne University Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Undergraduate students in their first and second years of study in Philosophy, History, Geography,

Musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

, English and Spanish take their classes at the Clignancourt center. The Clignancourt Library contains 78,000 works, 210 French and international periodicals and 800 educational DVDs. Undergraduate students in their first and second years of study in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

, French language,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

take their classes at the Malesherbes center. All undergraduate students in these academic disciplines study in the central Sorbonne building in their third year. Undergraduate and graduate students in

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

, Italic studies and Romanian studies, regardless of level, take all of their classes at the Malesherbes center. The Malesherbes center also hosts three research centers in

Italian culture The culture of Italy encompasses the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, and customs of the Italian peninsula throughout history. Italy has been a pivotal center of civilisation, playing a crucial role in the development of Western culture. I ...

, the cultures and literature of central Europe and the Balkans and the Germanic, Nordic and Dutch centers. The Malesherbes Library contains 200,000 works specializing in the study of foreign languages and cultures and 1,200 past and current French and international periodicals. More than 50,000 doctoral dissertations are available for public viewing.

Michelet

Undergraduate

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and

Archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...

students of the Sorbonne University Faculty of Arts and Humanities take their classes at the ''Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie'', located at the main entrance of the

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Mar ...

. Constructed by architect Paul Bigot between 1925 and 1930, the Mesopotamian-style building was classified as a national historic building in 1996. It hosts the Michelet Library that contains 100,000 volumes of work on art history and archeology with 100 French and international periodicals. Only 10,000 of the art history and archeology works are open to students, the others requiring special authorization of usage. Graduate Art History and Archeology students take their courses at the Institut National de l'Histoire de l'Art in the Galerie Colbert, a partnered national institution of the university.

''Maison de la Recherche''

The ''Maison de la Recherche'' campus is the central building for doctoral studies that hosts the history and geography departments. It houses the Serpente Library that has 55,000 works and 292 past and current French and international periodicals. All doctoral dissertations since 1 January 1986 have been stored at the Serpente Library.

Other campuses in Paris

Both the ''Institut d'Urbanisme et d'Aménagement'' and the ''Institut d'Études Hispaniques'' in the

campus host third year and graduate students of Geography and Iberian and Latin American studies. The Marcel Bataillon Library houses the ''Institut d'Études Hispaniques''' collection of 25,000 works on Iberian and Latin-American culture. Catalan studies take place at the ''Centre d'Études Catalanes'' in the

Marais Marais (, meaning "marsh") may refer to: People * Marais (given name) * Marais (surname) Other uses * Le Marais, historic district of Paris * Théâtre du Marais, the name of several theatres and theatrical troupes in Paris, France * Marais (com ...

. The Sorbonne University also includes the Saint-Antoine Campus for the study of medicine ; the

, Curie and Raspail campuses for sciences studies.

Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi

An exclusive international agreement between Sorbonne and the government of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

was signed on 19 February 2006, starting plans to bring Sorbonne University to Abu Dhabi. Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) was established on 30 May 2008 on Reem Island by a decree of the ruler of Abu Dhabi of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. All programs are taught in the French language except for the Bachelor of Physics and most of the masters programmes, that are taught in English . An intensive French language programme is offered for one or two-year(s) to students who do not meet the French language requirement for registration. The establishment of the university demonstrates the keenness of Abu Dhabi to create an international hub in culture and education, having also signed a contract with the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

in 2007 to create the

Louvre Abu Dhabi The Louvre Abu Dhabi (; ) is an art museum located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It runs under an agreement between the UAE and France, signed in March 2007, that allows it to use the Louvre's name until 2047, and has ...

, and with

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 2007 to create

New York University Abu Dhabi New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD, ) is a degree-granting portal campus of New York University, established as a private liberal arts college in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Together with the main sites in New York and Shanghai, the por ...

. SUAD is jointly governed by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and by SUAD's board of trustees, with six members, three of whom are appointed by the home Sorbonne University and the other three appointed by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The president of SUAD is the president of Sorbonne University in Paris, currently Prof Nathalie Drach-Temam. Academic programmes are offered at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the social sciences, humanities, law and sciences.

Academics and rankings

Rankings and reputation

Sorbonne University is consistently ranked in the top universities in Europe and the world. The first recognition of its existence as an integrated university came in 2018, when it appeared on the CWUR World University Rankings 2018–2019 in 29th place globally and 1st place in France. In the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

2020, Sorbonne University is ranked in range 39 globally and 3rd in France. In the Times Higher Education European Teaching Rankings 2024, Sorbonne University was ranked in fourth place in France. In the

Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

2019, Sorbonne University was ranked in range 51–60 globally and 2nd in France. The 2021

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

ranked Sorbonne University 83rd overall in the world and 3rd in France. Individual faculties at Sorbonne University also featured in the rankings. Before the merger of

and

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

, both had their own rankings in the world. Its founding predecessor Paris-Sorbonne University was ranked 222 in the world by the

2015. By faculty, it was ranked 9 in modern languages, 36 in arts and

(1st in France), and 127 in

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

and management (5th in France). By academic reputation, it was ranked 80 (2nd in France), according to the QS World University Rankings, and 2nd in overall highest international reputation of all academic institutions in France, according to the ''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'' 2015. In 2014 Paris-Sorbonne ranked 227 in the world, according to the

, 115 for Social Sciences and Management, 33 for Arts and Humanities.

was often ranked as the best university in France. In 2014 UPMC was

ranked A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

35th in the world, 6th in Europe and 1st in France by the

. It was ranked 4th in the world in the field of mathematics by the same study. The 2013

ranked the university 112th overall in the world and 3rd in France. In 2013, according to

University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) The University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) is a university ranking developed by the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. Since 2010, it has been publishing annual national and global college and university ranking ...

is ranked first university in France, and 44th in the world. UPMC is a member of

Sorbonne University Association Sorbonne University Alliance ( French: ''Alliance Sorbonne Université'') is a group of ten academic institutions associated with the Sorbonne University. After the fusion between Paris-Sorbonne University and Pierre and Marie Curie University ...

International partnerships

Sorbonne students can study abroad for a semester or a year at partner institutions such as

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

Organization

Members have worked on several projects to strengthen the relations between them and potentially create a new international institution. The most famous projects are : * the "Sorbonne College" (Collège des Licences de la Sorbonne) for bachelor's degrees, * the "Sorbonne Faculty of Arts and Humanities", "Sorbonne Faculty of Health" and the "Sorbonne Faculty of Sciences" for graduate students, * and the "Sorbonne Doctoral College" (Collège doctoral de la Sorbonne) for PhD students.

The Sorbonne College

Since 2014, the Sorbonne College for bachelor's degrees ("Collège des Licences de la Sorbonne") has been coordinating the academic projects of Sorbonne University with Panthéon-Assas University, the law school of the Sorbonne University Group which has not merged into the Sorbonne University and remained independent. It also offers cross-institutional academic courses in many fields, allowing students to graduate from both institutions. For example, some cross-institutional bachelor's degrees ("double licences") are proposed to students in : *Science and History (Sorbonne) *Science and Musicology (Sorbonne) *Science and Philosophy (Sorbonne) *Science and Chinese (Sorbonne) *Science and German (Sorbonne) *Law and History (Panthéon-Assas / Sorbonne) *Law and Art History (Panthéon-Assas / Sorbonne) *Law and Science (Panthéon-Assas / Sorbonne) *History and Media (Sorbonne / Panthéon-Assas) As it is the case in the Anglo-American university system, Sorbonne University proposes a major-minor system, that is currently being deployed at the university. Sorbonne University, in partnership with INSEAD, also offers all of its alumni and PhD students a professionalizing course in business management to complete their curriculum.

The Doctoral College

Since 2010, every PhD student is being delivered an honorary diploma labeled Sorbonne University. This diploma highlights and gathers the skills of the doctors and researchers from the institutions that form Sorbonne University.

The Sorbonne Doctoral College The Sorbonne Doctoral College is the doctoral college of the Sorbonne University. It consists University of Paris VI (Pierre and Marie Curie) and University of Paris IV. The two previous universities are direct inheritors of the Sorbonne (divided ...

, created in 2013, coordinates the activities of the 26 doctoral schools. Since 2014, it has developed cross-disciplinary PhDs between the different members of the

. Since 2011, Sorbonne University celebrates its graduates in a formal ceremony where every PhD graduate wears a scholar uniform.

Research

To strengthen the influence of its research infrastructures at the international level, Sorbonne University has developed several research programs aiming at reinforcing or exploring new fields of study. This innovative cross-disciplinary approach was embodied with the creation of four new academic positions gathering several establishments of the group: *A Department of Digital Humanities, exploring the use of digital technologies in the social science *A Department of Polychromatic Studies of Societies, associating architecture, anthropology, chemical physics, literature and art history *A Department of Digital Health, exploring biomedical tools *A Department of 3D Craniofacial Reconstruction Sorbonne University has formed several partnerships enabling bilateral research programswith academic institutions such as the China Scholarship Council or the Brazilian foundation FAPERJ. Sorbonne University is a member of the

League of European Research Universities The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is a consortium of European research universities. History and overview The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is an association of research-intensive universities. Founded in 20 ...

, which gathers 23 European universities such as

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Collections

Scientific collections

The Sorbonne University houses eight notable scientific collections that are open to researchers. Some collections are open to the public as noted. * Minerals – over 1500 minerals on display in 24 cases, open to the public * Physics experiments models – models built by professors from the Sorbonne and UPMC to demonstrate different principles of physics * Zoology – teaching collection of stuffed specimens, skeletal mounts, fluid parts, anatomical casts and insect boxes * Paleontology – research collection of fossil invertebrates * G. Lippmann collection – Research collection of 46 photographic plates created by

Gabriel Lippmann Gabriel Lippmann ( ; 16 August 1845 – 12 July 1921) was a French physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1908 "for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference". Early life and educa ...

in his studies of photography and the physics of light * Charcot Library – Research collection of the personal library of neurologist

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on groundbreaking work about hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise A ...

* Paleobotany – Research collection of

Fossil plants Paleobotany or palaeobotany, also known as paleophytology, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant fossils from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments ( pal ...

Musée Dupuytren The Musée Dupuytren was a museum of wax anatomical items and specimens illustrating diseases and malformations. It was located at the Cordeliers Convent campus, 15, rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, Les Cordeliers, Paris, France, and is part of the So ...

– moved from

Cordeliers The Society of the Friends of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( ), mainly known as Cordeliers Club ( ), was a Populism, populist List of political groups in the French Revolution, political club during the French Revolution from 1790 to 179 ...

, will be open to the public occasionally, features wax anatomical items and preserved specimens illustrating diseases and malformations.

Recent Nobel, Fields and Turing laureates

Anne L'Huillier Anne Geneviève L'Huillier (; born 16 August 1958) is a French physicist. She is a professor of atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden. She leads an attosecond physics group which studies the movements of electrons in real time, which is ...

– PhD – Nobel in Physics – 2023 *

Emmanuelle Charpentier Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier (; born 11 December 1968) is a French professor and researcher in microbiology, genetics, and biochemistry. As of 2015, she has been a director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. In 2018, sh ...

– BA, Master and PhD – Nobel in Chemistry – 2020 *

Gérard Mourou Gérard Albert Mourou (; born 22 June 1944) is a French scientist and pioneer in the field of electrical engineering and lasers. He was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, along with Donna Strickland, for the invention of chirped pulse a ...

– PhD – Nobel in Physics – 2018 *

Serge Haroche Serge Haroche (born 11 September 1944) is a French physicist who was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics jointly with David J. Wineland for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum sy ...

– PhD and Professor – Nobel in Physics – 2012 *

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (; born 1 April 1933) is a French physicist. He shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics with Steven Chu and William Daniel Phillips for research in methods of laser cooling and magnetic trap (atoms), trapping atoms. Currentl ...

– Professor – Nobel in Physics – 1997 *

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (; born 30 July 1947) is a French virologist and Director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Division () and Professor at the in Paris. Born in Paris, Barré-Sinoussi performed some of the fundamental work in the identification of the h ...

– Grad Attendee – Nobel in Physiology or Medicine – 2008 *

Cédric Villani Cédric Patrice Thierry Villani (; born 5 October 1973) is a French politician and mathematician working primarily on partial differential equations, Riemannian geometry and mathematical physics. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 2010, and he ...

– Grad Attendee (DEA) and former director of the

– Fields Medal – 2010 *

Ngô Bảo Châu Ngô Bảo Châu (, born June 28, 1972) is a Vietnamese-French mathematician at the University of Chicago, best known for proving the fundamental lemma for automorphic forms (proposed by Robert Langlands and Diana Shelstad). He is the first Vie ...

– BA – Fields Medal – 2010 *

Wendelin Werner Wendelin Werner (born 23 September 1968) is a German-born French mathematician working on random processes such as self-avoiding random walks, Brownian motion, Schramm–Loewner evolution, and related theories in probability theory and mathematic ...

– PhD – Fields Medal – 2006 *

Pierre-Louis Lions Pierre-Louis Lions (; born 11 August 1956) is a French mathematician. He is known for a number of contributions to the fields of partial differential equations and the calculus of variations. He was a recipient of the 1994 Fields Medal and the 19 ...

– PhD – Fields Medal – 1994 *

Alain Connes Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947) is a French mathematician, known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He was a professor at the , , Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University. He was awar ...

– PhD and Professor – Fields Medal – 1982 *

Yann LeCun Yann André Le Cun ( , ; usually spelled LeCun; born 8 July 1960) is a French-American computer scientist working primarily in the fields of machine learning, computer vision, mobile robotics and computational neuroscience. He is the Silver Pr ...

– PhD – Turing Award – 2018

Notable alumni

Raphael Armattoe Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe (12 August 1913 – 22 December 1953) was a Ghanaian scientist and political activist. He was nominated for the 1948 Nobel Peace Prize and was a campaigner for unification of British and French Togoland. He was call ...

, Ghanaian medical doctor, author, poet and politician. *

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

, Professor at the Sorbonne, first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. *

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

, French philosopher and notable feminist. *

Maura Delpero Maura Delpero (born 3 October 1975) is an Italian filmmaker best known for the drama films ''Maternal (film), Maternal'' and ''Vermiglio (film), Vermiglio''. Early life and education Delpero was born in Bolzano, Italy. After studying literature ...

, Italian Oscar-nominated Director *

Taha Hussein Taha Hussein (, ; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was among the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a leading figure of the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. His sobriquet ...

, was one of the most influential 20th-century Middle-Eastern writers and intellectuals, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature fourteen times. Minister of education in 1950. *

Ľubica Karvašová Ľubica Karvašová (born 1987) is a Slovak politician of Progressive Slovakia who was elected member of the European Parliament in 2024. She previously served as European affairs advisor to prime ministers Igor Matovič, Eduard Heger and Ľudov� ...

, Slovak politician. * Mona Khazinder, Saudi art curator and historian * Jacqueline Ki-Zerbo, Malian women's rights activist, pro-democracy activist and participant in the endogenous development of Africa *

, Professor at

and Head of AI at Facebook, "founding father of convolutional nets" * Søren Gosvig Olesen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen *

Yvonne Rokseth Yvonne Rokseth (, 17 July 1890 – 23 August 1948) was a French composer, musicologist, organist, violinist, and writer. She was active in the French resistance during World War II and is best known for her research on medieval music. Life and ca ...

, composer and musicologist * Hossein Towfigh, pioneer of Iranian press freedom & Editor-in-Chief of '' Towfigh Magazine'', the most popular satirical weekly magazine in Iran. * Charlotte and Laura Tremble, French synchronized swimmers * Iza Zielińska, Polish anarchist and feminist activist.

Notes

References

THE – France’s most iconic university, the Sorbonne, is reborn

University World News, Merger of elite Paris universities gets the go-ahead

Le Figaro, Le retour de la grande université de Paris

Study International, Consolidation of two elite Paris universities confirmed for 2018

The Pie News, Mega university planned for Paris’s Left Bank