Nantes University () is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two

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, ...

es located in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

and

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vendée Departments of France, department in the Pays de la Loire Regions of France, region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is '' ...

. The university ranked between 401-500th in 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 ...

of 2016. On a national scale and regarding the professional insertion after graduation, the University of Nantes oscillates between 3rd and 40th out of 69 universities depending on the field of studies. Currently, the university is attended by approximately 34,500 students. More than 10% of them are international students coming from 110 countries. Notable alumni include former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 ...

, former Minister of Agriculture

Stéphane Le Foll Stéphane Le Foll (; born 3 February 1960) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Le Mans since 2018. A member of the Socialist Party, he was Minister of Agriculture under President François Hollande from 2012 to 2017. Political career Me ...

, and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

official

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule Clément Nyaletsossi Voule is a Togo, Togolese diplomat and jurist. Voule served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association from 2018 to 2024. Prior to this, Voule served as African ...

History

The current University was founded in 1970 under the terms of the 1968 law which reformed French higher education. This newly established institution replaced the former University of Nantes which had been founded in the early 1960s. This itself was a re-establishment of the original University of Nantes which was established by

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

in 1460 but was abolished during the French Revolution.

Medieval University

The university of Brittany was founded by on 4 April 1460, at the initiative of

Francis II, Duke of Brittany Francis II ( Breton: ''Frañsez II'', French: ''François II'') (23 June 1433 – 9 September 1488) was Duke of Brittany from 1458 to his death. He was the grandson of John IV, Duke of Brittany. A recurring theme in Francis' life would be ...

under the form of a

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

given to

Sienna Sienna () is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown, and it is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown, and it is called burnt sienna.''Shorter Oxford English ...

. This embodied the wish of François II to affirm his independence towards the French king, while near the duchy in

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

in 1432,

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

in 1432 and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 1441, universities were created. Founded under the structure of a

studium generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...

, this university taught the traditional disciplines: Arts, Theology, Law and Medicine. The number of students between the end of the 15th century and during the two following centuries reached a thousand or 1500, according to the highest estimates. The first attempt to move the university of Nantes to Rennes took place at the end of the 16th century. Henry IV wanted to punish Nantes, which was loyal to the Catholic League, for its support of

Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercœur and of Penthièvre (9 September 1558, in Nomeny, Meurthe-et-Moselle – 19 February 1602, in Nürnberg) was a French soldier, a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and a prominent member of the Catholi ...

. The university received an order from the king by a letter of 8 August 1589 to move to Rennes, a city which was loyal to the monarchy, but financial issues prevented the move. Another letter of 5 September 1591 from the king reiterated the order of transfer, but again it did not happen. In April 1598, a letter from the king stabilised the situation by confirming the establishment of the university in Nantes.

Academics

The LMD and ECTS systems

Since 2004, the university has followed the LMD European system that divides the post-secondary education in 3 degrees: the Licence (equivalent of a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

), the

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

and the

Doctorat A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

(

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

). Each course provides credits according to the European Credit Transfer System ( ECTS) developed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

and a certain number of credits will allow a student to obtain their degree. For instance, the first post-secondary education degree, the Licence, can be obtained with 180 ECTS accumulated within 3 years. A full year gives 60 ECTS while a semester gives 30 ECTS.

List of faculties and schools

* Faculty of Medicine * Faculty of Pharmacy * Faculty of Dentistry * Faculty of Psychology * Faculty of Science and Technology * Faculty of Law and Political Science * Department of History, Art History and Archaeology * Department of Humanities and Languages * Department of Languages - International Language Centre (CIL) * Department of Sociology * Department of Science and Technology of Physical Activities and Sports (STAPS) * Institute of Geography and Regional Planning of Université de Nantes (IGARUN) * Institute of Economics and Management - Institute of Business Administration (IEMN-IBE) * Institute for Research and Education in French as a Foreign Language (IRFFLE) * Institute of Teacher Training (ÉSPÉ) * Institute of Preparation for General Administration (IPAG) * Observatory of Earth and Planetary Sciences (OSUNA) * Institute of Technology of Nantes * Institute of Technology of La Roche-sur-Yon * Institute of Technology of Saint-Nazaire * School of Engineering - École Polytechnique de Nantes

Life on campus

Athletics

The university offers the students to practice more than 50 sports, whether it is for competitive or recreational purposes. The university also provides adapted training to athlete students and participates in national and international competitions in the following disciplines:

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

, French boxing,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

. In 2011, the university was one of the first French universities to create a

quidditch Quidditch () is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). In the series, Quidditch is portrayed as a dang ...

team.

Residence

Approximately 3,500 places on residence are available each year. These places are distributed by the CROUS on a social status basis taking into account the yearly income of the student's parents or legal representative, the number of siblings remaining under the parents' responsibility and the distance between the university and the student's place of residence. There are two types of residences: * The traditional ones gather 9 m² single bedrooms in a building with common bathrooms and kitchens at each floor. * The renovated ones with individual furnished apartments going from 13 to 18m².

Food locations

The CROUS from Nantes manages the student restaurants on campus as well as the meals they offer. Most of the restaurants are open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday and offer a complete meal at a price regulated on a yearly basis. For the academic year of 2013–2014, the price of a meal was set at €3.30 (''2019-2020'').

In Nantes

* La Chantrerie * La Lombarderie * Le Grill CHANZY * Le Restaurant Oniris Chantrerie * Le Restaurant Universitaire de la Fleuriaye * Le Ricordeau * Le Rubis * Le Tertre

In Saint-Nazaire

* Heinlex * Gavy

In La Roche-sur-Yon

* La Courtaisière

International exchanges

The university currently has partnerships with 397 institutions in 60 countries worldwide. The majority of these partnerships are located in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Each year, more than 1,000 students go abroad to study in one of those partner institutions for one or two semesters. The university receives each year students from its partner universities in exchange for welcoming the students from Nantes. The existing partnerships are ruled according to international conventions such

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

(Europe), ISEP and CREPUQ (

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or higher education study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, bu ...

s are still registered in the University of Nantes and transfer the credits they gained in their host university. Conversely, the international students who came on exchange in Nantes will receive their credits in their home university. There were 4,210 international students registered in the University of Nantes for the year 2018.

Notable faculty

François Bonamy François Bonamy (10 May 1710 in Nantes – 5 January 1786 in Nantes) was a French botanist and physician. He was the grandfather of adventurer Paul de la Gironière (1797–1862). In 1735 he obtained his medical doctorate, and for nearly ...

(1710–1786 in Nantes) - botanist and physician; regent to the medical faculty, procureur général, academic rector *

Gaston Bouatchidzé Gaston Bouatchidzé ( ka, გასტონ ბუაჩიძე; 21 October 1935 – 12 July 2022) was a Georgian-French writer and translator. Bouatchidzé was born in Tbilisi of a French mother and Georgian father who had lived in France f ...

(1935, Georgia – 2022) - Georgian-French writer and translator. * Pascal Salin (born 1939) - economist * Denis Moreau (born 1967) - philosopher

Notable alumni

René Laennec René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec (; 17 February 1781 – 13 August 1826) was a French physician and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker. ...

(1781) - physician and musician; inventor of stethoscope *

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

(1841–1929) -

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

1906–1909, 1917–1920 * Gabriel Guist'hau (1863–1931) - politician *

Jacqueline Auriol Jacqueline Marie-Thérèse Suzanne Auriol (; ; 5 November 1917 – 11 February 2000) was a French aviator who set several world speed records. Biography Born in Challans, Vendée, the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder, Edmond Pierre Douet, sh ...

(1917, Challans, Vendée – 2000) - aviator who set several world speed records * Annie Brisset - Professor of Translation Studies, Canada *

(born 1950) -

2012–2014 * Pierre Bordage (born 1955, La Réorthe, Vendée) - science fiction author * François Bréda (1956, Romania – 2018) - Romanian essayist, poet, literary critique, literary historian, translator and theatrologist. *

(born 1960, Le Mans) - politician Socialist Party * Azzedine Bousseksou (born 1964), Franco-Algerian physico-

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

Laurent Berger Laurent Berger (born 27 October 1968) is a French labor leader. He has been the general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) between 2012 and 2023. Life Youth Berger is the son of a worker of the Chantiers de l'A ...

(born 1968 in Guérande, Loire-Atlantique) - trade unionist; general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) * Sylvie Tellier (born 1978) - television personality, businesswoman, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2002 * Yvonne Okoro (born 1984, Nigeria) - Ghanaian-Nigerian actress *

(born in Togo) - diplomat and jurist. * Jean-Marc Coicaud - legal and political theorist * Sarah El Haïry - politician * Nikolas Weinstein (born 1968), American glass artist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nantes, University of

University 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 ...

1460 establishments in Europe 1460s establishments in France Saint-Nazaire Educational institutions established in the 15th century Universities and colleges established in 1970 Buildings and structures in Nantes Education in Pays de la Loire Tourist attractions in Nantes