The (; also ENS Paris-Saclay or Paris-Saclay), formerly ENS Cachan, is a

grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

and a constituent member of

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 ...

. It was established in 1892. It is located in Gif-sur-Yvette within the

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.department near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

, France. ENS Paris-Saclay is one of the most prestigious and selective French ''

grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: *Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician * Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

''. Like all other ''grandes écoles'', this elite higher education institution is not included in the mainstream framework of the French public universities. Along with the , ENS Lyon and ENS Rennes, the school belongs to the informal network of French '' écoles normales supérieures'', forming the top level of research and education in the French higher educational system. In 2014, ENS Paris-Saclay became a founding member of the

, an initiative to integrate and combine resources from a number of different ''grandes écoles'', public universities, and research institutions. The school moved in 2019 to the Saclay campus located in the commune of Gif-sur-Yvette on the Saclay plateau, France's "Silicon Valley," where it will be near other members of the

Paris-Saclay Paris-Saclay is a research-intensive and business cluster currently under construction in the south of Paris, France. It encompasses research facilities, two French major universities with higher education institutions (''grandes écoles'') and ...

research-intensive and

business cluster A business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and gl ...

Overview

' is a ''Grande École'', a French institution of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

in the United States,

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

in the UK, and C9 League in China, ''Grandes Écoles'' are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process. ''Grandes Écoles'' typically they have much smaller class sizes and student bodies than public universities in France, and many of their programs are taught in English. While most ''Grandes Écoles'' are more expensive than French universities, ' charges the same tuition fees: €243 annually for the Master's degree in 2021/2022. International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the ''Grandes Écoles''. Degrees from are accredited by the ''Conférence des Grandes Écoles'' and awarded by the

Ministry of National Education (France) The Ministry of National Education and Youth, or simply Ministry of National Education, as the title has changed several times in the course of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, is the cabinet member in the Government of France who ove ...

(). Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France. Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21),
lire en ligne
sur Cairn.infoValérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq
Les inégalités sociales d'accès aux grandes écoles
(2003), INSEE The main mission of ENS Paris-Saclay is to train world-class academics, but it is also a starting point for public administrative or private executive careers. It recruits mostly from the very competitive "classes préparatoires" (see also Grande École). Students of the ENS Paris-Saclay who passed the entrance exam are civil servants and are known as "normaliens". Normaliens are paid a monthly salary (around €1300 ) by the French government, and are required to have an academic career or work for a French public administration for six years after their four-year curriculum at the ENS is completed. ENS Paris-Saclay also recruits other university students; the latter are not required to work for a French public administration but are not paid either. Students follow the standard university curriculum (

Licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

, Master, and most of the time PhD). They are encouraged -though it is not mandatory- to take then the

Agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

competitive examination. There are 17 departments : the scientific departments of Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Fundamental Physics, Chemistry; the engineering departments of Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering; Economics and Management, Social Sciences, Languages, Design. ENS Paris-Saclay cooperates with many foreign universities, for example in student exchange programs. One of them is MONABIPHOT developed in cooperation with Wrocław University of Technology in Poland, Complutense or Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain,

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

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 ...

, Humboldt.

Admission

The admission to the ENS Paris-Saclay as ''normalien'' is made through a highly competitive entrance examination, and requires at least two years of preparation after high school in Classes Préparatoires (Scientific (BCPST, MPSI, PCSI...), Literary ( B/L) and Business sections (Economics and Management)). The ENS Paris-Saclay recruits every year 360 normaliens and 800 degree seeking students.

Curriculum

Though ''normaliens'' follow the standard university curriculum, they have the opportunity to pursue their studies in other ''

'' such as

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, HEC,

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

and the ENSAE without having to take an entrance exam (or only a part of it). Normaliens can join the ''Grands Corps techniques d'Etat'' or prepare the ENA entrance exam.

Notable alumni

* Philippe Aghion (French economist) *

Alain Aspect Alain Aspect (; born 15 June 1947) is a French physicist noted for his experimental work on quantum entanglement. Aspect was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, "for experiments with Quantum e ...

(French physicist) * Julie Battilana (Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School) * (French economist-President of

Paris Dauphine University Paris Dauphine University - PSL () is a Grande École and public institution of higher education and research based in Paris, France, Collegiate university, constituent college of PSL University. As of 2022, Dauphine has 9,400 students in 8 fields ...

) * Elie Bursztein (French computer scientist) * Bernard Charlès (CEO of

Dassault Systèmes Dassault Systèmes SE () (abbreviated 3DS) is a French Multinational corporation, multinational software corporation which develops software for 3D product design, simulation, manufacturing and other 3D related products. Founded in 1981, it is ...

) * Mérouane Debbah (VP Huawei France R&D) * Erwan Dianteill (French cultural anthropologist) * Aawatif Hayar (Moroccan Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and the Family) * (French sociologist) * Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (French politician) * Nancy Peña (French comics author; children's literature illustrator) * Éloïc Peyrache (French economist) * (Business school professor) * Bertrand Serlet (former Software VP at

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

) *

Luis Vassy Luis Vassy (born 10 January 1980) is a French high ranking civil servant, diplomat, and director of Sciences Po. He was the cabinet director to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs between July 2022 and July 2024. Prior to that he serv ...

(French civil servant; Director of

) *

Marc Yor Marc Yor (24 July 1949 – 9 January 2014) was a French mathematician well known for his work on stochastic processes, especially properties of semimartingales, Brownian motion and other Lévy processes, the Bessel processes, and their applicat ...

(French mathematician) *

Gabriel Zucman Gabriel Zucman (born 30 October 1986) is a French economist who is currently an associate professor of public policy and economics at the University of California, Berkeley‘s Goldman School of Public Policy, Chaired Professor at the Paris Sch ...

(French economist)

References

External links

ENS Paris-Saclay website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecole Normale Superieure De Cachan Universities in Île-de-France Cachan, Ecole normale Superieure Cachan Cachan Cachan