Paris-Sud University (French: ''Université Paris-Sud''), also known as University of Paris — XI (or as Université d'Orsay before 1971), was a French research university distributed among several campuses in the southern suburbs of Paris, including Orsay,

Cachan Cachan () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. The prestigious École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay and École Spéciale des Travaux Publics are loc ...

, Châtenay-Malabry, Sceaux, and Kremlin-Bicêtre campuses. The main campus was located in Orsay. Starting from 2020, University Paris Sud has been replaced by the University of Paris-Saclay in The League of European Research Universities (LERU). Paris-Sud was one of the largest and most prestigious universities in France, particularly in science and mathematics. The university was ranked 1st in France, 9th in Europe and 37th worldwide by 2019

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...

(ARWU) in particular it was ranked as 1st in Europe for physics and 2nd in Europe for mathematics. Five

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...

ists and two Nobel Prize Winners have been affiliated to the university. On 16 January 2019, Alain Sarfati was elected President of Université Paris-Sud. He succeeds Sylvie Retailleau who was elected as President of ComUE Université Paris-Saclay.

History

Paris-Sud was originally part of the University of Paris, which was subsequently split into several universities. After World War II, the rapid growth of nuclear physics and chemistry meant that research needed more and more powerful accelerators, which required large areas. The University of Paris, the École Normale Supérieure and the Collège de France looked for space in the south of Paris near Orsay. Later some of the teaching activity of the Faculty of Sciences in Paris was transferred to Orsay in 1956 at the request of Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. The rapid increase of students led to the independence of the Orsay Center on 1 March 1965 (sometimes called "Université d'Orsay" thereafter). The institution became the "University of Paris-Sud (Paris XI)" in 1971. Paris-Sud hosted a great number of laboratories on its large (236 ha) campus. Many of the top French laboratories were among them especially in particle physics, nuclear physics,

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

and molecular physics,

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

, theoretical physics, electronics, nanoscience and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

. University of Paris-Sud comprised some 104 research units. Pierre-Gilles de Gennes and Albert Fert, two Nobel Prize winners of physics, were affiliated to the University of Paris-Sud. A number of the most renowned French mathematicians were affiliated with the University of Paris-Sud as well. Among them are the Fields medalists Pierre Deligne, Laurent Lafforgue, Jean-Christophe Yoccoz,

Wendelin Werner Wendelin Werner (born 23 September 1968) is a German-born French mathematician working on random processes such as self-avoiding random walks, Brownian motion, Schramm–Loewner evolution, and related theories in probability theory and mathematic ...

and Ngô Bảo Châu. Paris-Sud also comprised biology and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

laboratories, engineering and technology schools and had established partnerships with many of the surrounding technology centres and Grandes Ecoles. It also included Schools of Law, Economics and Management. Starting from 2020, University Paris Sud has been replaced by the University of Paris-Saclay.

Notable people

Fields Medal

* Pierre Deligne (Fields Medal, 1978) * Jean-Christophe Yoccoz (Fields Medal, 1994) * Laurent Lafforgue (Fields Medal, 2002) *

(Fields Medal, 2006) * Ngô Bảo Châu (Fields Medal, 2010)

Nobel Prize

* Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (Nobel Prize in physics, 1991) * Albert Fert (Nobel Prize in physics, 2007) * Alain Aspect (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2022)

Others

* Aristides Baltas, philosopher of science, physicist, and former Minister of Culture and Sports of Greece, as well as Minister of Education and Religious Affairs *

Katarina Barley Katarina Barley (born 19 November 1968) is a German politician and lawyer who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2019, serving as one of its Vice-Presidents. She served as Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in th ...

, German politician and lawyer, current Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the fourth Cabinet of Angela Merkel *

Agnès Barthélémy Agnès Barthélémy is a French physicist. She is an expert on nanostructures. She is a professor at Université Paris-Sud and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Education and career Agnès Barthélémy received her PhD in 1991 ...

, physicist, expert on nanostructures * Étienne-Émile Baulieu, chemist * Louis-Marie de Blignières, Traditionalist Catholic priest * Charles Édouard Bouée, CEO of Roland Berger Consulting *

Olivier Bohuon Olivier Jean Bohuon (born 3 January 1959) is a French businessman. He was the chief executive (CEO) of Smith & Nephew plc, a British multinational medical equipment manufacturing company. Early life Olivier Bohuon was born on 3 January 1959 in Pa ...

, Chief Executive of Smith & Nephew plc *

Marielle Chartier Marielle Chartier is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Liverpool in England. Her research investigates the phase diagram of nuclear matter using the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN Her past work includ ...

, physicist *

Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène Jean-Louis Colliot-Thélène (born 2 December 1947), is a French mathematician. He is a Directeur de Recherches at CNRS at the Université Paris-Saclay in Orsay. He studies mainly number theory and arithmetic geometry. Awards *Prize of the Fren ...

, French mathematician *

Monique Combescure Monique Combescure (born 23 April 1950, née Moulin), is a French physicist specializing in mathematical physics. In 2001, she became director of research at the Lyon Institute of Nuclear Physics. From 2000 to 2008, she was director of the Europea ...

, French mathematical physicist *

Michel Davier Michel Davier (born 6 March 1942) is a French physicist. Graduate of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud (science), he was Director of the Laboratory of Linear Accelerator in Orsay from 1985 to 1994. Winner of the Gentner-Kastler Prize ...

, physicist * Adrien Douady, mathematician *

Cornelia Druțu Cornelia Druțu is a Romanian mathematician notable for her contributions in the area of geometric group theory. She is Professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Education and career Druțu wa ...

, Romanian mathematician, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford *

Anne Dambricourt-Malassé Dr Anne Dambricourt-Malassé (born 1959) is a paleoanthropologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She has advocated a highly controversial non-Darwinian view of human evolution with theories similar to punctuated eq ...

, paleoanthropologist * Jean-Marc Fontaine, mathematician * Erol Gelenbe, Professor Univ. Paris-Sud (1979-1986), Computer Scientist, Fellow of the French Academy of Technologies, the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, The Science Academy Society of Turkey and other academies,

Mustafa Prize The Mustafa Prize is a science and technology award, granted to top researchers and scientists from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. The prize is granted to scholars of the Islamic world as one of the symbols of scient ...

2017. *

Jean Ginibre Jean Ginibre (4 March 1938 — 26 March 2020) was a French mathematical physicist. He is known for his contributions to random matrix theory (see circular law), statistical mechanics (see FKG inequality, Ginibre inequality), and partial diffe ...

, mathematician *

Henri B. Kagan Henri Boris Kagan (born 15 December 1930) is currently an emeritus professor at the Université Paris-Sud in France. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of asymmetric catalysis. His discoveries have had far-reaching impacts on the p ...

, chemist, winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2001) *

André Lagarrigue André Lagarrigue (1924 – 14 January 1975) was a French Particle physics, particle physicist. Being the initiator of the Gargamelle experiment at CERN, his work was of paramount importance in the discovery of neutral currents — the first exper ...

, physicist * Serge Latouche, economist * Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) * André Neveu, physicist *

Véronique Newland Véronique Newland (born 14 May 1965) is a French engineer specializing in optronics. She is the CEO of New Vision Technologies, which develops industrial and scientific vision projects. In 2013, she received the Irène-Joliot-Curie Prize in the ...

, CEO, New Vision Technologies *

Bernadette Perrin-Riou Bernadette Perrin-Riou (born 1 August 1955) is a French number theorist. Early life Perrin-Riou was born on 1 August 1955 in Les Vans, Ardèche, France. Her parents had both had a scientific education; her mother and father were a physicist and che ...

, mathematician and recipient of the Satter Prize * Bertrand Serlet, former Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple Inc. *

François Baccelli François Louis Baccelli (born December 20, 1954) is senior researcher at INRIA Paris, in charge of the ERC project NEMO on network mathematics. Education and career Baccelli obtained his PhD at the University of Paris-Sud in 1983 under the superv ...

, mathematician and engineer

Rankings

* Paris-Sud was ranked 1st in France, 9th in Europe and 37th worldwide by the 2019

(ARWU). (5th in Mathematics, 9th in Physics worldwide). * In October 2015, The University of Paris Sud has been ranked 10th best university worldwide in the Times Higher Education Under 50 which is a ranking of the world top 100 universities under 50 years old. * QS Ranking has ranked the University 262nd in the world, 97th in Natural Science, 101-150th in Medicine and 285th in Engineering and Technology.

Points of interest

Parc botanique de Launay The Parc botanique de Launay (90 hectares), sometimes known as the Parc botanique d'Orsay or the Parc de l'Université Paris XI, is a botanical garden located on the Université Paris-Sud XI campus at 3 rue Georges-Clemenceau, Orsay, Essonne, Îl ...

References

External links

Paris-Sud University official website
(in English)

(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris 11, University of Paris-Sud Defunct universities in Paris Buildings and structures in Essonne Educational institutions established in 1971