Paris Universitas was an alliance of six institutions of higher education in Paris, France, that existed from 2005 to 2010. Paris Universitas offered a wide range of disciplines, from medicine to the humanities, engineering, law, management and the social sciences. The institution expected to rank between 1 and 3 in Europe for number of publications, although rankings were not released due to the short lifespan of the institution. In 2006, Paris Universitas was ranked first among European universities and 4th in the world for the largest volume of English-language publications. Paris Universitas had 350 research laboratories, a broad range of disciplines, and almost 80,000 students.

Organisation

Paris Universitas was a

collegiate university A collegiate university is a university where functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the Coll ...

, with its main functions divided between the central departments of the university and the higher education institutions that are members. They are technically institutions independent of the university itself and enjoy considerable autonomy. Unlike the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, Paris Universitas did not have the power to award degrees.

Institutions

Paris Universitas comprised eight institutions: *

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

* Pantheon-Assas University *

Université Sorbonne nouvelle The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (, also known as Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle and the Sorbonne) is a public liberal arts and humanities university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the hi ...

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

(since April 2008) *

Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...

Paris-Dauphine University Paris Dauphine University - PSL () is a Grande École and public institution of higher education and research based in Paris, France, constituent college of PSL University. As of 2022, Dauphine has 9,400 students in 8 fields of study (law, economi ...

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(since April 2008) More institutions were expected to join Paris Universitas: *

Supélec École supérieure d'électricité (, ), commonly known as Supélec (), was a French graduate school of engineering. It was one of the most prestigious grande écoles in France in the field of electrical engineering, energy and information scien ...

École Supérieure d'Électricité *

ESPCI ESPCI Paris (officially the École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris, , ''The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution'') is a grande école founded in 1882 by the city of ...

École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris *

ENSCP Chimie ParisTech, officially École nationale supérieure de chimie de Paris (; "National High School of Chemistry of Paris") and also known as ENSCP or Chimie Paris, is a prestigious grande école and a constituent college of PSL Research Univer ...

École nationale supérieure de chimie de Paris * Centrale Paris École centrale Paris *

INALCO Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (; ), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French Grand Etablissement with a specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. Its coverage spans languages of Central Europ ...

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales If this process had reached to an end, Paris Universitas would have been one of the five French universities with around 100,000 students with

Paris Centre Universités Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the

Université Lille Nord de France The Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France (formerly Université Lille Nord de France) was a French Groups of Universities and Institutions ( COMUE) spread over multiple campuses and centered in Lille (North - Hau ...

, the

Université de Lyon The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...

, the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...

, and among the largest universities in Europe.

Research and teaching

Paris Universitas had research departments and teaching faculties in most academic disciplines.

Research

The constituent institutions of Paris Universitas conducted research in many areas within the basic sciences, humanities, economics, social sciences, and law. There were 182 CNRS/APU and 58 INSERN/APU member research units. There were also 40 common laboratories.

Programs

The Paris Universitas had a number of joint degrees at the baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral levels that involve participation and dual institutions within the alliance. There were also 17 international programs as follows: Masters *Brain and Mind (UPMC/ENS/UC London) *French & Italian law (Panthéon-Assas/

La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is as such one of the ...

) *French & German law (Panthéon-Assas/U Berlin/U Munich) *European jurist & lawyer (Panthéon-Assas/

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

/U Berlin) *Computing science (UPMC/université de Montréal) *French & Suisse law (Panthéon-Assas/ Fribourg) *American law (Panthéon-Assas/Columbia U) *English law (Panthéon-Assas/ Oxford or University College, London) *Executive MBA (Dauphine/UQAM

*Management of projects & NTIC (Dauphine/

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

) *Marine biology (UPMC/PUChili/U Barcelona) *Electronics (UPMC/U Valencia/U Brescia) *Nanosciences (UPMC/U Uppsala) *Developmental biology (UPMC/U Lisbonne/ U Pompeu Fabra) *Financing & control (Dauphine/U

Sankt Peterburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) Bachelors *French & English law (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

/Panthéon-Assas) *French & Common law (Panthéon-Assas/

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

) *French & Spain law (Panthéon-Assas/Universidad Complutense de Madrid) Proposed *Master of Health Sciences (EHESS/UPMC/Dauphine/Panthéon Assas) *Master of Sciences & decision (UPMC/EHESS)

Statistics

As September 2007 *70 000 students *Bachelor studies : 25 000 *Masters studies : 20 000 *PhD studies : 8 000 *Medical studies : 5 000 *« Engineering Schools » : 4 500 *Other studies : 7 500 *Academic staff : 5 500 *Administrative and technical staff : 3 700 *Budget with salaries : 1 500 M € *Research : *Joint CNRS/APU’s member research units : 182 *Joint INSERM/APU’s member research units : 58 *Common labs inside Paris Universitas : 40 *10 years citations : 569 644 ( 3rd in Europe)

Reputation

* Université Paris Dauphine, the famous university of management in France * École Normale Supérieure ranked 18th in the world, and 5th in Europ

in the 2006 ''

THES - QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with ''Times Hig ...

'', * Université Paris-Sorbonne ranked 1st in France and 29th in the world for Arts & Humanities in

The Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

(THES) - QS World University Rankings 2007. * Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie ranked 39th in the World and 1st in France for the Sciences & Mathematics by the

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 Universi ...

. * Panthéon-Assas University ranks first in France in most legal subjects. Panthéon-Assas University

Campus abroad

The ENS group opened a branch at the

East China Normal University East China Normal University (ECNU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education and co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The university is part of ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The Paris-Sorbonne university and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

signed a cooperation agreement for the creation of the new

Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD), established in 2006, is a higher education institution located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The university was founded under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President ...

History

The historic University of Paris (), second oldest university in continuous operation, appeared in the second half of the 12th century and grew up around the

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

. The medieval Latin term ''universitas'' actually had the more general meaning of a guild, and the university of Paris was known as a ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'' (a guild of masters and scholars). The university had four

Faculties Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, and

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. The ancient university disappeared with ancient France under the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. All the French universities were replaced by a single centre, the

University of France The University of France (; originally the ''Imperial University of France'') was a highly centralized educational state organization founded by Napoleon I in 1806 and given authority not only over the individual (previously independent) universiti ...

. After a century (in 1896), people recognized that the new system was less favourable to study and restored the old system, but without the faculty of theology. Following the cultural revolution commonly known as "the

French May May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

", resulting in the closing of the university for only the third time in history, the university was in 1970 reorganised as 13 autonomous universities. Most of these universities have joined, or are in the process of forming (March 2008), new groupings along the lines of a

. Typically, these groupings take the legal form of a Center for Research and Higher Education (''Pôle de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur'', or PRES), though some have opted for other forms of organization. Paris Universitas was one of the two new large university centers in the city of Paris, along with

External links

Gilbert Béréziat presentation September 2007

Gilbert Béréziat interview

References

{{League of European Research Universities Universities in Paris Educational institutions established in 2005 2005 establishments in France