| École Polytechnique | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Motto | Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire |
| Motto in English | For the Homeland, Science and Glory |
| Established | 1794 |
| Type | grande école, formally Military college |
| Director-General | Général Xavier Michel |
| Students | 2,700 |
| Undergraduates | 2,000[1] |
| Postgraduates | 700[2] |
| Location | Paris, France 48°42′47″N 2°12′32″E / 48.713°N 2.209°ECoordinates: 48°42′47″N 2°12′32″E / 48.713°N 2.209°E |
| Colours | Red, Yellow |
| Website | Official English website |
The École Polytechnique (commonly known as Polytechnique or, in France, by the nickname X) is a state-run engineering school in Palaiseau, near Paris, France. It is a relatively small school, with just 2000 undergraduate engineering, 200 masters, and 500 doctoral students.[3] Polytechnique is renowned for its engineering program, called the Ingénieur Polytechnicien, or polytechnic engineer, program, which attracts the strongest students from the two-year post-secondary-school science and math preparatory programs for the grandes écoles, provides them with a broad scientific education,[4] and opens the way for many of them to careers in positions of influence in government, industry, and research.
Polytechnique was established during the French Revolution in 1794, becoming a military school under Napoleon in 1804. It relinquished this status to become a public educational establishment in 1970, though it is still overseen by the Ministry of Defense. Initially, the school was located in the Latin Quarter in central Paris, and it moved to Palaiseau on the Saclay plateau about 14 km (8.7 mi) southwest of Paris in 1976.[5] It is a founding member of the ParisTech grouping of leading Paris-area engineering schools, established in 2007.
Polytechnique is one of the grandes écoles that have traditionally prepared technocrats to lead French government and industry. Since 1995, Polytechnique has started to admit applicants from outside France[6], and foreign students now make up 20% of the undergraduate body[7]. This and other changes mean that many of the 500 students who graduate from the polytechnic engineer program each year now choose to pursue further university education rather than enter the French civil service.
Status
Polytechnique is a higher education establishment[8] run under the supervision of the French ministry of Defence, through the General Delegation for Ordnance[9] (administratively speaking, it is a national public establishment of an administrative character).
Though no longer a military academy, it is headed by a general,[10] and employs military personnel in executive, administrative and sport training positions.[11] Both male and female French polytechniciens (or “X”), as the students of the school, are reserve officer trainees[12] and have to go through a period of military training before the start of studies.[13][14]
However, the military aspects of the school have lessened with time, with fewer and fewer students joining officer careers after leaving the school, and the reduced duration of preliminary military training. On great occasions, such as the military parade on the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day, the polytechniciens wear the 19th-century-style “grand uniform”, with the famous bicorne, or cocked hat (students usually don't wear any uniform during courses since the suppression of the “internal uniform” in the mid-1980s).
Activities and teaching staff
Polytechnique has a combined undergraduate-graduate general engineering teaching curriculum as well as a graduate school. It has many research laboratories operating in various scientific fields (physics, mathematics, computer science, economics, chemistry, etc.), most operated in association with national scientific institutions such as CNRS, CEA, or also INRIA. In addition to the faculty coming from these local laboratories, it employs many researchers and professors from other institutions, including other CNRS, INRIA and CEA laboratories as well as the École Normale Supérieure and nearby institutions such as the École Supérieure d'Électricité (Supélec), the Institut d'Optique or the Université Paris-Sud, creating a varied and high-level teaching environment.[15]
Contrary to French public universities, the teaching staff at Polytechnique are not civil servants (fonctionnaires)[16] but contract employees operating under regulations different from those governing university professors. An originality of Polytechnique is that in addition to full-time teaching staff (exercice complet), who do research at the École in addition to a full teaching service, there are partial-time teaching staff (exercice incomplet) who do not do research on behalf of the École and carry only a partial teaching load.[17] Part-time teaching staff are often recruited from research institutions (CNRS, CEA, INRIA...) operating inside the École campus, in the Paris region, or even sometimes elsewhere in France.
The Polytechnicien studies
Introduction
| “ | The mission of the Ecole Polytechnique is to train students capable of devising and achieving complex and innovative projects at the highest level possible, thanks to a strong pluriscientific culture. Our mission is also to train young men and women in leadership skills so that they can become tomorrow's outstanding scientists, researchers, managers and public officials.[18] | ” |
The Polytechnicien program is broader than typical French university studies, often including topics beyond one's specialty. This focus on breadth rather than depth has been hotly debated over the years, but it nevertheless forms a characteristic of the Polytechnicien program. It is particularly useful for cross fertilization purposes between different fields, as graduates from Polytechnique most often have abilities in several disciplines; for example, they must follow at least six different topics during their second year. Humanities and sports are also mandatory parts of the curriculum, adding to the differences with most French university programs.
Admission
The admission to Polytechnique in polytechnicien cycle is made through a very selective entrance examination, and requires at least two years of preparation after high school in Classes Préparatoires. Admission includes a week of written examinations during the spring followed by oral examinations that are handled in batches (séries) over the summer.[19]
About 400 French students are admitted each year. Foreign students, having followed a classe préparatoire curriculum (generally, French residents or students from former French colonies in Africa) can also enter through the same competitive exam (they are known as “EV1”). Foreign students can also apply through a “second track” (“EV2”) following undergraduate studies. In total, there are about 100 foreign students each year, most of them coming from Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, China, Vietnam, Iran, Romania and Russia but some also from Canada, Singapore and United States. Finally, some foreign students come for a single year from other top institutions in Europe and the United States.[20]
 Cadets of École polytechnique, France in uniform |  Polytechnicien small sword (the "tangente") |  Polytechnicien bicorne |  Female students in grand uniform |
Curriculum
Four years of study are required for the engineering degree:[21] one year of military service and scientific "common trunk" (respectively 8 months and 4 months), one year of pluridisciplinary studies, and one year of specialized studies (“majors”). With the X2000 reform, a fourth year of studies, in another institution than Polytechnique, was introduced.
First year
The curriculum begins with 8 months during which French students undergo civilian or military service. In the past, military service lasted 12 months and was compulsory for all French students; the suppression of the draft in France made this requirement of Polytechnique somewhat anachronistic, and the service was recast as a period of “human and military formation”. All the French students spend one month together in Barcelonette in a center for mountaineering warfare. By the end of this month, they are assigned either to a civilian service or to the Army, Navy, Air Force or Gendarmerie. Students who are assigned to a military service complete a two-month military training in French officer schools such as Saint-Cyr or École Navale. Finally, they are spread out over a wide range of units for a five month long assignment to a French military unit (which can include, but is not limited to, infantry and artillery regiments, naval ships and air bases).[22] While French students stay under military status during their studies at Polytechnique, and participate in a variety of ceremonies and other military events, for example national ceremonies, such as those of Bastille Day or anniversaries of the armistices of the World Wars, they do not undergo military training per se after having completed their service in the first year.[22] They receive at the end of the first year the full dress uniform, which comprises black trousers with a red strip (a skirt for females), a coat with brass buttons and a belt, a small sword and a cocked hat (officially called a bicorne).
Francophone foreign students do a civilian service. Civilian service can for instance consist of being an assistant in a high school in a disadvantaged French suburb.
Then the 4 months “common trunk” of instruction begins. It consists in 5 courses : Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science and Economics.
Second year
The second year is a year of pluridisciplinary studies. The set of disciplines spans most areas of science (mathematics, applied mathematics, mechanics, computing science, biology, physics, chemistry, economics) and some areas in the humanities (foreign languages, general humanities...). Students have to choose 8 courses in at least 6 different disciplines.
Third year
In the third year, students have to choose an in-depth program (programme d'approfondissement), which often focuses on a discipline or sometimes an interdisciplinary subject. This year is ended by a research internship (3 months to 5 months).
Fourth year
The fourth year is the beginning of more specialized studies: students not entering a Corps de l'État must join either a Master's program, a doctorate program, another ParisTech college or institute such as the École des Mines de Paris or ENSAE, or a specialization institute such as Supaéro in Toulouse. The reason for this is that the generic education given at Polytechnique is more focused on developing thinking skills than preparing for the transition to an actual engineering occupation, which requires further technical education. Increasingly, students chose to spend their fourth year studying in a foreign university. About a quarter of 3rd year students chose this path in 2008. American universities are a favourite, but the Ecole Polytechnique has agreements with universities in a large set of countries.
Class rank and career path
Grades of the “common trunk” of the curriculum are used to rank the students. Traditionally, this exit ranking of the school had a very high importance, and some peculiarities of the organizations of studies and grading can be traced to the need for a fair playing ground between students.
For French nationals, the ranking is actually part of a government recruitment program: a certain number of seats in civil or military Corps, including elite civil servant Corps such as the Corps des Mines, are open to the student body each year. At some point during their course of study, students specify a list of Corps that they would like to enter in order of preference, and they are enrolled into the highest one according to their ranking. The next stepping stone for Polytechnique graduates, or polytechniciens, on this path is to enter one of four technical civil service training schools: the École des Mines, the École des Ponts et Chaussées, the ENST, or the ENSAE, thus joining one of the civil service bodies known as the grands corps techniques de l'État. Those who pursue this path are known as X-Mines, X-Ponts, X-Télécoms and X-INSEE, respectively, with the X prefix, for Polytechnique, identifying them as particularly elite members of their corps.
Since the X2000 reform, the importance of the ranking has lessened. Except for the Corps curricula, universities and schools where the Polytechniciens complete their educations now base their acceptance decisions on transcripts of all grades.
Tuition and financial obligations
For French nationals, tuition is free as long as the full curriculum is completed, and a salary is received throughout the school years at the level of a reserve officer in training. French students, through the student board (Caisse des élèves or Kès), redistribute some of their salary to foreign students, most of whom also benefit from grants.
There is no particular financial obligation for students following the curriculum, and then entering an application school or graduate program that Polytechnique approves of. However, French students who choose to enter a civilian or military corps after Polytechnique are expected to complete 10 years of public service following their admission to the school (i.e. their 3 years at school count towards their time of service). If a student enters a Corps but does not fulfill those 10 years of public service (e.g. resigns from his or her Corps), the tuition fees are due to the school. Sometimes, when an alumnus quits a Corps to join a private company, that company will pay for the tuition fees which are then called the pantoufle (slipper).
The Graduate School
Polytechnique organizes various Master's programs, by itself or in association with other schools and universities (in the Paris region, École Normale Supérieure, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris VI, École Supérieure d'Électricité (Supélec), other member institutions of ParisTech, Toulouse area and foreign partner universities) on a wide variety of topics. Access to those programs is not restricted to polytechniciens, although they are invited to join them and they make up one half of the students. The following Master's programmes are proposed:
- Applied Mathematics (Mathematics and Modelling – Probability Theory and Finance – Probability Theory and Aleatory Models)
- Chemistry (Molecular Chemistry)
- Complex Information Systems (Design and Management of Complex Information Systems)
- Computer Science (Fundamental Computer Science)
- Economy (Quantitative Economics & Finance [M1] – Economic Analysis and Policy – Economics of Energy, Environment, Sustainable Development - Economics of Markets and Organizations)
- Mathematics (Analysis, Arithmetic and Geometry)
- Mechanics (Materials and Structural Mechanics - Sustainable building Materials – Fluid Mechanics: fundamentals and applications – Oceans, Atmosphere, Climate, Space Observations)
- Molecular and Cellular Biology (Structural and Functional Engineering of Biomolecules)
- Physics and Applications (Fundamental Concepts in Physics: Theoretical, Quantum, Solid State, Liquid & Soft Matter Physics - Optics, Matter and Plasmas – Materials Science and Nano-Objects – Fusion Sciences - Quantum Devices - Nanosciences - High Energy Physics)
- Sciences, Technologies, Society (Project, Innovation, Conception – Network Industry and Digital Economy - LoPHiSS/Science of Cognition & Complex Systems)
and Polytechnique takes part in two degrees awarded by ParisTech:
- Nuclear Energy
- Transportation and Sustainable Development: Master ParisTech – Fondation Renault
The school also has a Ph.D. program open to students with a master's degree or equivalent.[23] Ph.D. students generally work in the laboratories of the school; they may also be working in external institutes or schools that cannot, or will not, grant doctorates.
About 50% of Master's students and 35% of Ph.D. students at Polytechnique are non-nationals.
Rankings of the École Polytechnique
Polytechnique is the most selective French engineering school[24] and is considered by some to be the most prestigious educational establishment in France[25][26]. Known for its extremely competitive entrance exam, it produces graduates that occupy outstanding positions in industry and research. Among its alumni are two Nobel prizes winners, three Presidents of France and many CEOs of French and international companies. Polytechnique is ranked among the best universities of the world. For example, the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (known from 2010 onwards as the QS World University Rankings) places the university at 36th in the world (2nd in France).[27]
Polytechnique is ranked among the most prestigious scientific schools of the world, for instance by the “World Universities Ranking” of The Times Higher Education Supplement. In all rankings published by French newspapers, Polytechnique almost always secures first place among French institutions, and according to salary surveys its graduates are among the highest paid of all French graduates.[28][29]
On the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings list, Polytechnique was ranked inside the top 50. An overview of the last years:
| Year | Rank (Change) |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2006 | 37 (▼ 27) |
| 2007 | 28 (▲ 9) |
| 2008 | 34 (▼ 6) |
| 2009 | 36 (▼ 2) |
History
The École has more than 200 years of tradition:[30]
- 1794: The École centrale des travaux publics is founded by Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge, during the French Revolution, at the time of the National Convention. It is renamed “École Polytechnique” one year later.
- 1805: Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte settles the École on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, in the Quartier Latin, in central Paris (48°50′52″N 2°20′57″E / 48.847747°N 2.349043°E), as a military academy and gives its motto Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire.
- 1814: Students take part in the fights to defend Paris from the Prussians.
- 1830: Fifty students participate to the July Revolution.
- 1914–1918: Students are mobilised and the school is transformed into a hospital. More than two hundred students are killed.
- 1939–1945: Polytechnique is moved away to Lyon in the free zone. More than four hundred polytechnicians died for France during the Second World War (Free French, French Resistance, Nazi camps).
- 1970: The École becomes a state supported civilian institution, under the auspice of the Minister of Defense.
- 1972: Women are admitted to Polytechnique for the first time.
- 1976: The École moves from Paris to Palaiseau (approx 25 km / 15 miles from Paris)
- 1985: The École starts delivering Ph.D. degrees.
- 1994: Celebration of the bicentennial chaired by President François Mitterrand
- 2000: A new cursus is set in place, passing to 4 years and reforming the polytechnicien curriculum
- 2005: The École starts delivering Master's degrees
- 2007: The École is a founding member of ParisTech
 The Arms of the École polytechnique |  The main hall seen from the lake |  The cadets of Polytechnique in the Bastille Day 2008 parade |
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