École Polytechnique

Infobox_University


name = École Polytechnique
motto = Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire
mottoeng = For Homeland, Sciences and Glory
established = 1794
type = Military college
head_label = General
head = Xavier Michel
city = Paris
country = France
coor = coord|48.713|N|2.209|E|type:edu_region:FR
nickname = X
undergrad = none (undergraduate degree in a military or civilian preparatory collegeis a prerequisite)
postgrad = French traditional equivalent of a Master's Degree, Masters, Ph.D
staff =
students = 2,000
campus =
free_label =
sports = mandatory, 6 hours per week
free =
colours = Red, Yellow
affiliations =
website= [http://www.polytechnique.edu Official English website]
footnotes =

:"For other Écoles Polytechniques, see École Polytechnique de Montréal and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.":"For the French Polytech' network (Ecoles Polytechniques des Universités), see for example École polytechnique de l'université de Nantes

The École Polytechnique (the “Polytechnic School”), often referred to by the nickname X, is the foremost French "grande école" of engineering (according to French and international rankings). Founded in 1794 and initially located in the Latin Quarter in central Paris, it was moved to Palaiseau in 1976. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering schools in the world, with a very selective entrance exam.

Its motto is "Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire" (“For Homeland, Sciences and Glory”). [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=187 A school turned towards the future] , official web site] Traditionally, a favoured goal of the "polytechniciens" is to join the elite government bodies known as the "grands corps techniques de l'État" (X-Mines, X-Ponts, X-Telecom,...) ; nowadays the majority of the 500 students who graduate each year join Ph.D. or masters programmes in French or foreign universities. The school is one of the founding members of ParisTech.

As one of the world's foremost establishment in science, The "École polytechnique" trains graduates who become outstanding scientists, researchers, managers.

Ecole Polytechnique ranks among the best universities of the world. Professional Ranking of World Universities 2007 placed it among Top 3 Universities of the world.

Status

The "École polytechnique" is a higher education establishment run under the supervision of the French ministry of Defence (administratively speaking, it is a national public establishment of an administrative character). Though no longer a military academy, it is headed by a general, and employs military personnel in executive, administrative and sport training positions. Both male and female French "polytechniciens" (or “X”), as the engineering students of the school are known, are reserve officer trainees and have to go through a period of military training before engineering studies proper. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=173 First Period : General Education] , web site]

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

The "École polytechnique" has an 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 universities such as the École Supérieure d'Électricité ("Supélec") or the Université Paris-Sud, creating a varied and high-level teaching environment. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=30 Partners] , official web site]

The "Polytechnicien" studies

Introduction

The Polytechnicien program is quite different from typical university or college studies. Studies at Polytechnique cover a scope that goes from advanced undergraduate studies (students are awarded a Master after the third year of their studies at Polytechnique) to Gradate studies; [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=32 Ecole Polytechnique's 'Ingénieur' Program] ] students usually go on to pursue a second Master's degree following the Polytechnicien program and most often achieve it in less time than students coming from regular undergraduate programs.

Additionally, the breadth of the program is larger than what most university students go through, 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 university programs.

Admission

The admission to "École 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 Spring, followed by oral examinations which are handled in batches ("séries") spanning over Summer. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=29 The French 'Grandes Ecoles'] , École Poytechnique web site]

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 North 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 Morocco, Tunisia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, China, Vietnam, Iran, Romania and Russia but some also from Québec and United States. Finally, some foreign students come for a single year from institutions such as MIT and IST.

Curriculum

The total length of the undergraduate curriculum was historically 3 years: one year of military service, one year of “common trunk”, then one year of specialized studies (“majors”). This was somewhat changed in the X2000 reform, whereby a fourth year of studies was introduced.

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).PDF| [http://www.polymedia.polytechnique.fr/EnLignes/Files/ens_07_08_US.pdf “Ingenieur Polytechnicien”] p. 74]

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 “common trunk” of instruction begins. Traditionally this was a very rigid year, in which all students had to take all courses in a fixed set, spanning all disciplines. Following the X2000 reform, the common trunk now begins at the end of the shortened military or civilian service, and some latitude of choice is provided for the following year. 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 also must choose a sport that they will practice 6 hours every week.

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. 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").

In the third year, students have to choose two “majors”, and must do a research internship. The fourth year is the beginning of more professional studies: students not entering a Grand Corps must join either a Master program, a doctorate program, another ParisTech college or institute such as the École des Mines de Paris or ENSAE, or a specialization school 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.

Ranking

The École Polytechnique is ranked among the most prestigious engineering schools of the world. “World Universities Ranking” of "The Times Higher Education Supplement" placed the École Polytechnique among the thirty best universities of the world. In all rankings published by French newspapers, the École Polytechnique almost always secures first place, and according to salary surveys its graduates receive the highest pay among all French graduates. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=31 ranking] , official web site] [for example, [http://www.lexpansion.com/PID/11106.html?Action=P&hidParam=1 ranking] from L'Expansion]

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.

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

The École 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, , École Supérieure d'Électricité ("Supélec"), École supérieure d'optique, other colleges in ParisTech, 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 Applications, including Financial Mathematics)
* Chemistry (Molecular Chemistry)
* Computer Science (Fundamental Computer Science)
* Economy and Business Management (Quantitative Economics & Finance [M1] – Project, Innovation, Conception – Economic Analysis and Policy – Economy of Energy, Environment, Sustainable Development)
* Environmental Engineering (Transportation and Sustainable Development: Master ParisTech – Fondation Renault)
* Mathematics (Analysis, Arithmetic and Geometry)
* Mechanics (Materials for Structures and Energy, including Sustainable building Materials – Fluid
* Mechanics and Energetics – Oceans, Atmosphere, Climate and Teledetection)
* 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: ICF, MCF)
* Systems Engineering (Complex Industrial Systems Engineering with final semester emphasis on either of Transportation Systems, Information Systems or Autonomous Systems)

The school also has a Ph.D. program open to students with a master's degree or equivalent. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=21 Admission] École Polytechnique web site] PhD 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 PhD students at the École polytechnique are non-nationals.

History

The École has more than 200 years tradition: [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=28 A brief History of the Ecole Polytechnique] , official web site]

* 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 (coord|48.847747|2.349043), 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 : the École 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 Ecole Polytechnique for the first time.
* 1976 : The École moves from Paris to Palaiseau (approx 25 km / 15 miles from Paris)
* 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 curriculum

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include many Ministers, one former Président de la République, and many company chief executives. Of the fifty most important and best-performing corporate enterprises in France, nearly half are headed by a Polytechnicien. [ [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=25 Polytechniciens in today's society] , official web site]

References

See also

External links

* [http://www.polytechnique.edu Official website in English]
* [http://www.polytechnique.fr Official website in French]
* [http://www.polytechnique.org Online alumni community]
* [http://www.polytechnique.edu/page.php?MID=48 Masters Programmes]
* [http://www.ecoledoctorale.polytechnique.fr/index.php Doctoral Programmes]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/worldbusiness/17france.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=polytechnique&st=nyt&oref=slogin "In France, the Heads No Longer Roll"] , "New York Times", Sunday, February 17, 2008