Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was 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 ...
in
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 ...
, France, from 1971 to 2017.
The university was located on the
Jussieu Campus in the
Latin Quarter of the
5th arrondissement of Paris
The 5th arrondissement of Paris (''Ve arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le cinquième''.
The arrondisseme ...
, France. UPMC merged with
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 ...
into a new combined
Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
.
History
Paris VI was one of the inheritors of the faculty of Sciences 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 ...
, which was divided into several universities in 1970 after the student protests of
May 1968. In 1971, the five faculties of the former University of Paris (Paris VI as the Faculty of Sciences) were split and then re-formed into thirteen universities by the
Faure Law.
The campus of Paris VI was built in the 1950s and 1960s, on a site previously occupied by wine storehouses. The Dean, Marc Zamanski, saw the Jussieu campus standing as a tangible symbol of scientific thought in the heart of Paris, with the Faculty of Science, set in the Latin Quarter, as part of an intellectual and spiritual continuum linked to the university history of Paris. Paris 6 shared the Jussieu campus with the University of Paris 7 (
Paris Diderot University
Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Pari ...
) and the Paris Geophysical Institute (''Institut de Physique du Globe'').
In 1974, the University of Paris VI adopted the name Université Pierre et Marie Curie, after physicists
Pierre and
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 ...
. In 2006, Pierre and Marie Curie University entered into a partnership with the government 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 ...
to create
Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, a spinoff in
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 ...
. In 2007, the university shortened its name to UPMC.
In 2008 the university joined the association ''Paris Universitas'' changing its logo accordingly and adding the name of the association after its own.
UPMC was a large scientific and medical complex in France, active in many fields of research with scope and achievements at a high level. Several
university rankings
College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...
regularly put UPMC at the 1st place in France, and it had been ranked as one of the top universities in the world. The ''
ARWU'' in 2014 ranked UPMC as the 1st in France, 6th in Europe and 35th in the world and also 4th in field of mathematics, 25th in field of physics, 14th in field of natural sciences and 32nd in field of engineering, technology and computer science.
UPMC had more than 125 laboratories, most of them 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 its 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 ...
,
Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, Laboratoire d'informatique de Paris 6 (
LIP6), Institut de mathématiques de Jussieu (shared with
University Paris-Diderot) and the
Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel (shared with
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
).
The university's Faculty of Medicine Pierre and Marie Curie is located in two
teaching hospital
A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...
s,
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and Hôpital Saint-Antoine (the latter itself being the successor to
Saint-Antoine-des-Champs Abbey).
Dissolution
In 2010, the
Sorbonne University group
Sorbonne University Alliance (French language, 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 C ...
was created, including the
Pantheon-Assas University, the
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 ...
, the
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...
, the
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 ...
, and the
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 ...
; for this occasion the UPMC logo were changed again.
UPMC merged with
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 ...
into a combined
Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
on 1 January 2018.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:UPMC - Sorbonne University
Defunct universities in Paris
Universities and colleges established in 1971
1971 establishments in France
2018 disestablishments in France
Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris
Sorbonne University
*
Educational institutions disestablished in 2018