École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure (French pronunciation: [ekɔl nɔʁmal sypeʁjœʁ]) or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education institution in France. A portion of the student body, admitted via a highly-selective competitive examination process, are French civil servants and are known as normaliens. ENSes also offers master's degrees, and can be compared to "Institutes for Advanced Studies". They constitute the top level of research-training education in the French university system.
For the higher institution located in Paris, see École normale supérieure (Paris).
The history of écoles normales supérieures goes back to 30 October 1794 (9 brumaire an III), when École normale de l'an III was established during the French Revolution.[1] The school was subsequently reestablished as pensionnat normal from 1808 to 1822, before being recreated in 1826 and taking the name of École normale in 1830. When institutes for primary teachers training called écoles normales were created in 1845, the word supérieure (meaning upper) was added to form the current name.
The Savary Law of 1984 restructured higher education in France and classified écoles normales supérieures within the category of établissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel.[2]
As of January 2014, there are four existing ENSes:
A twin institution has existed in Italy since its foundation by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa.
Academic profile[edit]
The École normale supérieure are Grandes Écoles, a French institution of higher education that is separate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of the French public university system. Similar to the Ivy League in the United States, Oxbridge in the UK, and C9 League in China, Grandes Écoles are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process.[6][7][8] Grandes Écoles typically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies than public universities in France, and many of their programs are taught in English. While most Grandes Écoles are more expensive than French universities, the École normale supérieure charges the same tuition fees: €243 annually for the master's degree in 2021–2022.[9] International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of the Grandes Écoles.[10][11] Degrees from École normale supérieure are accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles[12] and awarded by the Ministry of National Education (France) (French: Le Ministère de L'éducation Nationale).[13] Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France.[14][15]
The competitive entrance exams for admission to the ENSs are extremely selective. They recruit mainly from scientific and humanities Prépas (Taupe / BCPST and Khâgne), even though a small number of their students (fewer than 10 each year) are recruited separately on the basis of highly competitive exams. The students from France and other European Union countries recruited after a Classe Préparatoire are considered civil servants in training, and as such paid a monthly salary, in exchange for an agreement to serve France for 10 years, including those of their studies.
The École Normale Supérieure located in Paris is nicknamed "Ulm" from its address rue d'Ulm (Ulm Street). It teaches sciences and humanities. École normale supérieure de Lyon in Lyon also teaches sciences and humanities. École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay located in Cachan, a suburb of Paris and École normale supérieure de Rennes located near Rennes teaches in 5 departements, which are : mechatronics, mathematics, informatics, sport sciences, earth sciences and law-economics-management.
Until recently and unlike most of the other grandes écoles, the écoles normales supérieures did not award any specific diplomas (students who had completed the curriculum they had agreed to with the office of the Dean upon arrival were simply entitled to be known as "ENS Alumni" or "Normaliens"), but they encourage their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions whilst providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma.
According to a calculation published in 2016 by Nature journal, the ENS Paris is the institution which, in proportion to the number of its alumni, has formed the greatest number of Nobel Prizes (0.001 35 per capita) in the world, which allows it to get ahead of the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Harvard University (respectively 0.000 67 and 0.000 32 per capita).[16]