École polytechnique
École polytechnique (lit. 'Polytechnic School'; also known as Polytechnique or l'X [liks]) is a grande école located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.[3]
This article is about the university in France. For the 2009 film, see Polytechnique (film). For other uses, see École Polytechnique (disambiguation).
Other name
l'X
École centrale des Travaux publics (Central School of Public Works)
Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire
For the Homeland, Science, and Glory
1794
Laura Chaubard (by interim)
3,370[1]
480[2]
2,000 engineer candidates
500 masters[1]
390[1]
Red & yellow
September 28, 1794
Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire
Senior General Armament Engineer François Bouchet
Thibault Capdeville head of corps and director of human and military training
The school was founded in 1794 by mathematician Gaspard Monge during the French Revolution[4] and was militarized under Napoleon I in 1804. It is still supervised by the French Ministry of Armed Forces. Originally located in the Latin Quarter in central Paris, the institution moved to Palaiseau in 1976, in the Paris-Saclay technology cluster.[5]
French engineering students undergo initial military training and have the status of paid officer cadets.[6] The school has also been awarding doctorates since 1985, masters since 2005 and bachelors since 2017.[7] Most Polytechnique engineering graduates go on to become top executives in companies, senior civil servants, military officers, or researchers.[8]
Its alumni from the engineering graduate program include three Nobel Prize winners,[9] a Fields Medalist,[10] three Presidents of France[11] and many CEOs of French and international companies. Among them are mathematicians such as Cauchy, Coriolis, Henri Poincaré, Laurent Schwartz and Benoît Mandelbrot, physicists such as Becquerel, Carnot, Ampère and Fresnel, and economists Maurice Allais and Jean Tirole. French Marshals Joffre, Foch, Fayolle and Maunoury all graduated from Polytechnique engineering program.[12]
Student life[edit]
Students are represented by a board of 16 students known as "la Kès", elected each November. La Kès manages the relationships with teachers, management, alumni and partners. It publishes a weekly students paper, InfoKès.
Sports[edit]
Sports are an important part of student life, as all students are required to play 6 hours of sports per week. There are competitive and club sports ranging from skydiving and judo to circus and hiking. There are two swimming pools, dojo and fencing rooms, and an equestrian center on campus. The "Jumping de l'X" is an international show jumping competition organized by the school.
Rankings[edit]
General rankings[edit]
In international rankings, the École polytechnique is ranked as part of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris.
Research performance[edit]
In 2020, the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities ranked the university at 475th globally with its "Engineering Subjects" placed at 451–500th in the world.[44] In 2020, it is ranked 509th in the world by the University Ranking by Academic Performance.[45]
Other rankings[edit]
In the 2015 Times Higher Education Small Universities Rankings, École polytechnique ranks third, after Caltech and École normale supérieure (Paris).[46]
The Mines ParisTech : Professional Ranking World Universities, which looks at the education of the Fortune 500 CEOs, ranks École polytechnique seventh in the world in its 2011 ranking (1st being Harvard University), second among French institutions behind HEC Paris.[48]
Criticisms[edit]
The French grandes écoles, including the École polytechnique, are criticized for their "elitism" and therefore their lack of diversity. INSEE has found that the children of executives and teachers are more likely to enter the écoles than children from lower-income families.[49] A more recent report found that children of employees are 50 times more likely to enter the Ecole polytechnique than the children of workers.[50]
The Arms of the École polytechnique
The main hall seen from the lake
