The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) 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

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 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is a member of the

Coimbra Group The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 40 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and rese ...

. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France by welcoming nearly 28,000 students in 2017. The University of Poitiers represents a global operating budget of around 150 million euros per year, one-third of which is for operating and investment costs and two-thirds for personnel costs. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University.

History

Founded in 1431 by

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV (; ; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 March 1431 to his death, in February 1447. Condulmer was a Republic of Venice, Venetian, and a nephew ...

and

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

ed by King Charles VII, the University of Poitiers was originally composed of five faculties: theology, canon law, civil law, medicine, and arts. In the 16th century, the university exerted its influence over the town cultural life, and was ranked second only to Paris. Of the 4,000 students who attended it at the time, some were to become famous:

Joachim Du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of '' La Pléiade''. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as a ...

, Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac,

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , ; ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A Renaissance humanism, humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Gr ...

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

, and Scévole de Sainte-Marthe, to name but a few. After temporary closure during the French Revolution when provincial universities were abolished, the University of Poitiers reopened in 1796. The reinstated university was merged from several schools and contained new faculties such as the faculty of science and the faculty of

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

. They established the

École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Poitiers The École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Poitiers (ENSI Poitiers) is a French engineering grande école in Poitiers, the regional capital of former Poitou-Charentes now part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its focus is on the protection of the Env ...

, a department which trains engineers, in 1984 after having created the ''Institut de sciences et techniques de Poitiers'', its predecessor. The first

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs of the state of China. The stated aim of the program is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, and facilita ...

in France was created on the campus in 2005 with the cooperation of

Nanchang University Nanchang University (NCU; ) is a provincial public university in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Jiangxi, and co-sponsored by the Jiangxi Provincial People's Government and the Ministry of Education of China. The ...

and

Jiujiang University Jiujiang University () is a local university in Jiujiang, northwestern of landlocked Jiangxi Province in China. History Jiujiang University is a comprehensive public university authorized by the Chinese Ministry of Education, enrolling stude ...

. After having managed its payroll and budget since January 1, 2010, the University of Poitiers is the third university in France to have its premises. In late 2011 the university changed its logo. They submitted four so that students and the staff were able to decide. The up-to-date logo is based on the original coat of arms while the former was something modern. Over 9,000 people participated in the selection of the new logo. In 2012, the university launched a blogging platform where the teaching staff and researchers deal with topical subjects, each in their area of expertise. The slogan is ''the word of experts''.

Organization

The university covers all major academic fields through its 14 teaching and research departments, institutes and schools: *Teaching and Research Departments **Department of Law and Social Sciences **Department of Economics **Department of Basic and Applied Science **Department of Literature and Languages **Department of Human Sciences and Arts **Department of Sports Sciences **Department of Medicine and Pharmacy *School **Graduate Engineering School -

(ENSIP) *Institutes **Polytechnic of Poitiers (IUT) **Polytechnic of Angoulême (IUT) **IAE University Business School (

IAE Poitiers The Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Poitiers ( IAE), in Poitiers, is the Business School of the University of Poitiers. It has been part of the "Réseau des IAE" French network in management education, which includes 32 IAE all over ...

) **Institute of Communication and New Technologies (ICOMTEC) **General Administration Preparatory Institute (IPAG) **Institute of Industrial, Insurance and Financial Risks (IRIAF)

Research

In the scientific domain, it has these laboratories, where ENSIP is part of: * LIAS: automatics *

IC2MP The IC2MP (Institute of Chemistry of Poitiers : Materials and Natural Resources) is a multidisciplinary French joint research unit of the University of Poitiers (France) and the CNRS. Laboratory The IC2MP is a research laboratory mainly in che ...

: chemistry and materials *

Institut Pprime Institut Pprime (sometimes written ''Institut P) is a CNRS laboratory created in 2010 and based in Poitiers, France. Presentation The institute depends from the University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public universit ...

: physics In the legal domain, th
Center for Studies on International Legal Cooperation
(CECOJI) is a joint research unit (UMR) involving the University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research (

CNRS 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 ...

Life on campus

Students can play in athletic teams, or just enjoy all the sports proposed. It is also possible to play golf at the north of the campus of Poitiers and sail in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

.Centre golfique des Chalons
University of Poitiers The

Bitard The Bitard is a fabulous animal. It is the symbol of the ' or Order of the Venerated Bitard (May He be Blessed!), a student association of University of Poitiers (France) created in the 1920s. The members themselves are also called Bitards and in ...

s are also known as the university's most famous

student association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organization ...

Notable people

Medieval

Johann Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522), sometimes called Johannes, was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Most of Reuchlin's c ...

(1455-1522) - Greek and Hebrew scholar *

(c.1490-1553) - writer * Hubert Languet (1518-1581) - diplomat *

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of '' La Pléiade''. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as a ...

(c.1522-1560) - poet, critic *

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet known in his generation as a "Prince des poètes, prince of poets". His works include ''Les Amours de Cassandre'' (1552)'','' ''Les Hymnes'' (1555-1556)'', Les Disco ...

(1524-1585) - poet *

François Viète François Viète (; 1540 – 23 February 1603), known in Latin as Franciscus Vieta, was a French people, French mathematician whose work on new algebra was an important step towards modern algebra, due to his innovative use of letters as par ...

(1540-1603) - mathematician *

Robert Hayman Robert Hayman (14 August 1575 – November 1629) was a poet, colonist and Proprietary Governor of Bristol's Hope colony in Newfoundland. Early life and education Hayman was born in Wolborough near Newton Abbot, Devon, the eldest of nine c ...

(1575-1629) - poet and colonist * Georg Anton von Rodenstein (1579-1652) - bishop *

(1596-1650) -

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Joseph-François Lafitau Joseph-François Lafitau (; May 31, 1681 – July 3, 1746) was a French Jesuit missionary, ethnologist, and naturalist who worked in Canada. He is best known for his use of the comparative method in the field of scientific anthropology, the disco ...

(1681-1746) -

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

, and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Modern

Humanities

* Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854-1936) - anthropologist *

Alfred Jeanroy Alfred Jeanroy (5 July 1859 – 13 March 1953) was a French linguist. Jeanroy was a leading scholar studying troubadour poetry, publishing over 600 works. He established an influential view of the second generation of troubadours divided into tw ...

(1859-1953) - linguist *

José Fernández Montesinos José Fernández-Montesinos LustauHis name usually appears in bibliographies as F. Montesinos, José. (Granada, 5 December 1897 – Berkeley, California, Berkeley, 8 June 1972) was a Spanish historian and Literary criticism, literary critic belon ...

(1897-1972) - historian and literary critic *

Emmanuel Levinas Emmanuel Levinas (born Emanuelis Levinas ; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the rel ...

(1906-1995) - philosopher * Edmond-René Labande (1908-1992) - archivist and historian * Mikel Dufrenne (1910-1995) - philosopher *

Roger Garaudy Roger Garaudy (; 17 July 1913 – 13 June 2012) was a French philosopher, French resistance fighter and a communist author. He converted to Islam in 1982. In 1998, he was convicted for several years and fined for Holocaust denial under French law ...

(1913-2012) - philosopher * John Howard Griffin (1920-1980) - American journalist and author * Jean Foyer (1921-2008) - lawyer and politician *

Pierre Bec Pierre Bec (; , ; 11 December 1921 – 30 June 2014) was a French Occitan-language poet and linguist. Born in Paris, he spent his childhood in Comminges, where he learnt Occitan. He was deported to Germany between 1943 and 1945. After returning, h ...

(1921-2014) - poet and linguist * Michel Clouscard (1928-2009) - philosopher and sociologist * Jean-Claude Coquet (1928-2023) - linguist and semiotician *

Samir Amin Samir Amin () (3 September 1931 – 12 August 2018) was an Egyptian-French Marxian economics, Marxian economist, political scientist and World-systems theory, world-systems analyst. He is noted for his introduction of the term Eurocentrism in 19 ...

(1931-2018) - economist * Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi (1933-2007) -

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

Supreme Court Judge *

Claude Hagège Claude Hagège (; born 1 January 1936) is a French linguist. Biography He was elected to the Collège de France in 1988 and received several awards for his work, including the Prix de l'Académie Française and the CNRS Gold medal. Famous for b ...

(b. 1936) - linguist *

Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 22 October 1939) is a Mozambican politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into a successful African democra ...

(b. 1939) - Mozambican politician * Pascal Salin (b. 1939) - economist *

Pascoal Mocumbi Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi (10 April 1941 – 25 March 2023) was a Mozambican politician who served as Prime Minister from 1994 until 2004. His traditional name was Mahykete. Education Mocumbi was born on 10 April 1941, as the son of Manuel Mocumb ...

(1941-2023) - Mozambican politician * Jean-Pierre Arrignon (1943-2021) - historian *

Jean-Luc Marion Jean-Luc Marion (; born 3 July 1946) is a French philosopher and Catholic theologian. A former student of Jacques Derrida, his work is informed by patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy.Horner 2005. Much of h ...

(b. 1946) - philosopher *

François-Bernard Huyghe François-Bernard Huyghe (5 August 1951 – 1 September 2022) was a French essayist and political scientist. He served as director of research at the (IRIS) and was president of the . Life and career The son of writer René Huyghe, François-B ...

(1951-2022) - political scientist * Pascale Ballet (b. 1953) - Egyptologist

Science

Jules Gosselet Jules-Auguste Gosselet (19 April 1832 – 20 March 1916) was a French geologist born in Cambrai, France.Édouard Louis Trouessart Édouard Louis Trouessart (25 August 1842 – 30 June 1927) was a French zoologist born in Angers. He studied military medicine in Strasbourg, but was forced to leave school due to serious health problems. In 1864 he started work as ''préparateu ...

(1842-1927) - zoologist * Noël Bernard (1874-1911) - botanist *

Henri Lebesgue Henri Léon Lebesgue (; ; June 28, 1875 – July 26, 1941) was a French mathematician known for his Lebesgue integration, theory of integration, which was a generalization of the 17th-century concept of integration—summing the area between an ...

(1875-1941) - mathematician * René Maurice Fréchet (1878-1973) - mathematician * Paul Becquerel (1879-1955) - biologist * Albert Maige (1872-1943) - botanist *

Michel Lazard Michel Paul Lazard (5 December 1924 – 15 September 1987) was a French mathematician who worked on the theory of Lie groups in the context of analysis. Career and research Born in Paris, Lazard studied at the University of Paris– Sorbonne, ...

(1924-1987) - mathematician *

Michel Brunet Michel Brunet may refer to: * Michel Brunet (historian) (1917–1985), Canadian historian * Michel Brunet (paleontologist) Michel Brunet (born April 6, 1940) is a French paleontologist and a professor at the Collège de France between 2008 and 20 ...

(b. 1940) -

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Mostafa Mir-Salim Sayyid Mostafa Agha Mirsalim (Persian: سید مصطفی میرسلیم) (born 10 June 1947) is an Iranian engineer and conservative politician. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council. He was formerly a member of Islamic C ...

(b. 1947) - engineer * Abderrazak El Albani -

sedimentologist Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...

Points of interest

* Jardin botanique universitaire de Poitiers

Notes and references

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poitiers, University of Public universities in France Universities and colleges in Poitiers 1431 establishments in Europe 1430s establishments in France Educational institutions established in the 15th century