The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poitiers) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in state ownership, owned by the state or receives significant government spending, public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private unive ...

located in Poitiers,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France by welcoming nearly 28,000 students in 2017. The University of Poitiers represents a global operating budget of around 150 million euros per year, one-third of which is for operating and investment costs and two-thirds for personnel costs. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University.

History

Founded in 1431 by

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

and chartered by King Charles VII, the University of Poitiers was originally composed of five faculties: theology, canon law, civil law, medicine, and arts. In the 16th century, the university exerted its influence over the town cultural life, and was ranked second only to Paris. Of the 4,000 students who attended it at the time, some were to become famous:

Joachim Du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an a ...

, Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, François Rabelais,

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...

, and Scévole de Sainte-Marthe, to name but a few. After temporary closure during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

when provincial universities were abolished, the University of Poitiers reopened in 1796. The reinstated university was merged from several schools and contained new faculties such as the faculty of science and the faculty of letters. They established the

École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Poitiers The École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Poitiers (ENSI Poitiers) is a French generalist engineering grande école in Poitiers, the regional capital of former Poitou-Charentes now part of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its focus is on the protectio ...

, a department which trains engineers, in 1984 after having created the ''Institut de sciences et techniques de Poitiers'', its predecessor. The first

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...

in France was created on the campus in 2005 with the cooperation of Nanchang University and

Jiujiang University The University of Jiujiang (UoJ)(Chinese character, Chinese: 九江学院; Pinyin: Jiǔjiāng Xuéyuàn) is a local university in Jiujiang, northern Jiangxi Province in China. History Jiujiang University is a comprehensive public university a ...

. After having managed its payroll and budget since January 1, 2010, the University of Poitiers is the third university in France to have its premises. In late 2011 the university changed its logo. They submitted four so that students and the staff were able to decide. The up-to-date logo is based on the original coat of arms while the former was something modern. Over 9,000 people participated in the selection of the new logo. In 2012, the university launched a blogging platform where the teaching staff and researchers deal with topical subjects, each in their area of expertise. The slogan is ''the word of experts''.

Organization

The university covers all major academic fields through its 14 teaching and research departments, institutes and schools: *Teaching and Research Departments **Department of Law and Social Sciences **Department of Economics **Department of Basic and Applied Science **Department of Literature and Languages **Department of Human Sciences and Arts **Department of Sports Sciences **Department of Medicine and Pharmacy *School **Graduate Engineering School -

(ENSIP) *Institutes **Polytechnic of Poitiers (IUT) **Polytechnic of Angoulême (IUT) **IAE University Business School (

IAE Poitiers The Institut d'Administration des Entreprises de Poitiers ( IAE), in Poitiers, is the Business School of the University of Poitiers. From its origins it has been part of the "Réseau des IAE", first French network in management education, which ...

) **Institute of Communication and New Technologies (ICOMTEC) **General Administration Preparatory Institute (IPAG) **Institute of Industrial, Insurance and Financial Risks (IRIAF)

Research

In the scientific domain, it has these laboratories, where ENSIP is part of: * LIAS: automatics *

IC2MP The IC2MP (Institute of Chemistry of Poitiers : Materials and Natural Resources) is a multidisciplinary research institute of the University of Poitiers (France) and the CNRS. Présentation The IC2MP is a research laboratory mainly in chemistr ...

: chemistry and materials *

Institut Pprime Institut Pprime (sometimes written ''Institut P) is a CNRS laboratory created in 2010 and based in Poitiers, France. Presentation The institute depends from the University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; french: Université de Poi ...

: physics In the legal domain, th
Center for Studies on International Legal Cooperation
(CECOJI) is a joint research unit (UMR) involving the University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research ( CNRS).

Life on campus

Students can play in athletic teams, or just enjoy all the sports proposed. It is also possible to play golf at the north of the campus of Poitiers and sail in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

.Centre golfique des Chalons
University of Poitiers The

Bitard The Bitard is a fabulous animal. It is the symbol of the ' or Order of the Venerated Bitard (May He be Blessed!), a student association of University of Poitiers (France) created in the 1920s. The members themselves are also called Bitards and in s ...

s are also known as the university's most famous

student association A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

Notable people

* Abderrazak El Albani * Michel Brunet *

John Howard Griffin John Howard Griffin (June 16, 1920 – September 9, 1980) was an American journalist and author from Texas who wrote about and championed racial equality. He is best known for his 1959 project to temporarily pass as a black man and journey throug ...

Mostafa Mir-Salim Sayyid Mostafa Agha Mirsalim (born 10 June 1947) is an Iranian engineer and conservative politician. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Council and also a member of Islamic Consultative Assembly. He was a presidential candidat ...

Points of interest

Jardin botanique universitaire de Poitiers The Jardin botanique universitaire de Poitiers (33 hectares) is a botanical garden and arboretum maintained by the University of Poitiers. It is located at 443 Route du deffend, Mignaloux-Beauvoir, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, and open dail ...

Notes and references

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poitiers, University of Public universities in France Universities and colleges in Poitiers 1431 establishments in Europe 1430s establishments in France Educational institutions established in the 15th century