The cadets of Polytechnique rushed to the defense of Paris against the foreign armies in 1814. A statue set in the honor courtyard of the school commemorates this deed.
The main hall seen from the lake
The dorms. The student association adds each year a new fresco The École polytechnique (the "Polytechnic School"), often nicknamed X, is the foremost of the French Grandes écoles of engineering. Initially located in the Quartier Latin in central Paris, it was moved to the suburb Palaiseau in 1976. Download high resolution version (1435x2512, 280 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
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The grandes écoles (French for great schools) of France are higher education establishments outside of the mainstream framework of the public universities. ...
Engineering is the application of science to the needs of humanity. ...
The Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) is an area in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France, around the Sorbonne University. ...
The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...
Palaiseau is commune in the suburbs of Paris, France, in the Essonne département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ...
1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Its motto is Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire—"For the Nation, Sciences and Glory." A motto is a phrase or collection of words intended to describe the motivation or intention of a sociological grouping or organization. ...
Traditionally, a favored goal of the polytechniciens was to join the elite government bodies known as the grands corps techniques de l'État (X-Mines, X-Ponts), but nowadays many join Ph.D. or master programs in French or foreign universities. The French Civil Service (fonction publique) is the set of civil servants (fonctionnaires) working for the French government. ...
The Corps of Mines is the foremost of the great technical corps of the French state. ...
The Corps of Bridges (Corps des Ponts) is a great technical corps of the French state. ...
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ...
Status
The École polytechnique is a national public establishment of an administrative character run under the supervision of the French ministry of defense. Though no longer a military academy, it is headed by a general, and employs military personnel in executive, administrative and sport training positions. Both male and female French polytechniciens (or "X"), as the undergraduate engineering students of the school are known, are reserve officer trainees and have to go through a period of military training before engineering studies proper. However, the military aspects of the school have lessened with time, with fewer and fewer students joining officer careers after leaving the school, and the reduced duration of preliminary military training. On great occasions, such as the military parade on the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day, the polytechniciens wear the 19th-century-style "grand uniform," with the famous bicorne, or cocked hat (students usually don't wear any uniform during courses since the suppression of the "internal uniform" in the early 1980s). Categories: French government | Stub ...
There are three types of military academies: High school level institutions (up to age 19), university level institutions, and those only serving to prepare officer cadets for commissioning into the armed services of a state ( such as RMA Sandhurst ). United States usage The term Military School primarily refers to pre...
General is a military rank, in most nations the highest rank, although some nations have the higher rank of Field Marshal. ...
In some educational systems, an undergraduate is a post-secondary student pursuing a Bachelors degree. ...
Avenue des Champs-Élysées from Place de la Concorde Looking east along the Champs-Élysées from the top of the Arc de Triomphe The Champs-Élysées (pronounced audio literally the Elysian fields) is a broad avenue in the French capital Paris. ...
Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on July 14th of each year. ...
Napoléon Bonaparte in his trademark bicorne hat The Bicorne hat is an archaic form of headgear associated with the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ...
The full dress uniform of École Polytechnique of France comprises black trousers with a red strip (a skirt for females), a coat with golden buttons and a belt, and a cocked hat. ...
Activities The École polytechnique has an undergraduate general engineering teaching curriculum as well as a graduate school. It has many research laboratories operating in various scientific fields (physics, mathematics, computer science, economics, chemistry, etc.), most operated in association with national scientific institutions such as Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. In addition to the faculty coming from those laboratories, it employs many researchers and professors from other institutions, creating a varied and high-level teaching environment. The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements, now known as the Scientific Revolution. ...
Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ...
Edsger Dijkstra said: Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. ...
Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ...
Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter and its interactions with energy and itself (see physics, biology). ...
The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) is one of the most prominent scientific research institutions in France. ...
The full dress uniform comprises black trousers with a red strip (a skirt for females), a coat with golden buttons and a belt, a sword (épée) and a cocked hat. Download high resolution version (1084x1024, 136 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
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The Polytechnicien studies
Introduction The Polytechnicien program is quite different from typical university or college studies. While it is sometimes labeled as an undergraduate program, this sticker is convenient but quite misleading.
Studies at Polytechnique cover a scope that usually goes beyond undergraduate studies (while not covering enough to grant a Master's degree); students who go on to pursue a Master's degree following the Polytechnicien program often find that they can achieve it in less time than students coming from regular undergraduate programs.
Additionally, the breadth of the program is larger than what most university students go through, often including topics beyond one's specialty. This focus on breadth rather than depth has been hotly debated over the years, but it nevertheless forms a characteristic of the Polytechnicien program. Humanities and sports are also mandatory parts of the curriculum, adding to the differences with most university programs.
Admission The admission to École polytechnique in polytechnicien cycle is made through a selective entrance examination, and requires at least two years of preparation after high school in Classes Préparatoires such as the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, or the Lycée Henri IV. Admission includes a week of written examinations, during Spring, followed by oral examinations which are handled in batches (séries) spanning over Summer. The Lycée Louis-le-Grand, in Paris is one of the most famous lycées providing classes for preparing for grandes écoles. ...
About 400 French students are admitted each year. Foreign students having followed a classe préparatoire curriculum (generally, French residents or students from former French colonies in North Africa) can also enter through the same competitive exam. Foreign students can also apply through a "second track" following undergraduate studies; there are about 100 of them each year, most of which come from Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, China, Vietnam, Iran, Romania and Russia.
Curriculum The total length of the undergraduate curriculum was historically 3 years: one year of military service, one year of "common trunk", then one year of specialized studies ("majors"). This was somewhat changed in the X2000 reform, whereby a fourth year of studies was introduced. Military service is service in the armed forces of a nation or the military arm of a political organization. ...
The curriculum begins by 8 months during which French students undergo basic military training, then go on to accomplish either a civilian or military service. In the past, military service lasted 12 months and was compulsory for all French students; the suppression of the draft in France made this requirement of Polytechnique somewhat anachronic, and the service was recast as a period of "human and military formation". Francophone foreign students do a civilian service. Civilian service can for instance consist of being an assistant in a highschool in a disenfranchised French suburb. Conscription is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority, e. ...
Then, begins the common trunk of teaching. Traditionally, this was a very rigid year, where all students had to take all courses in a fixed set spanning all disciplines. Following the X2000 reform, the common trunk now begins at the end of the shortened military or civilian service, and some latitude of choice is given for the following year. The set of disciplines spans most areas of science (mathematics, applied mathematics, mechanics, computing science, biology, physics...) and some areas in the humanities (foreign languages, general humanities...). Students also must choose a sport that they will practice 6 hours every week.
In the third year, students have to choose between two "majors", and must do a research internship. The fourth year is the beginning of more professional studies: students not entering a corps must either join a Masters program, a PhD program, or a specialization school (école d'application – "application school") such as the École des Mines. The reason for this is that the generic education given at Polytechnique is not sufficient for preparing to an actual engineering occupation. The École nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris (also known as École des Mines de Paris, ENSMP, les Mines, Mines Paris) is one of the French generalist and most prominent engineering Grandes Ecoles. ...
Ranking Grades of the "common trunk" of the curriculum and used to rank the students. Traditionally, this exit ranking of the school had a very high importance, and some peculiarities of the organizations of studies and grading can be traced to the need for a fair playing ground between students.
For French nationals, the ranking is actually part of a government recruitment program: a certain number of seats in civil or military Corps, including elite civil servant Corps such as the Corps des Mines, are open to the student body each year. At some point in the scolarity, students specify a list of Corps that they would like to enter in order of preference, and they are enrolled into the highest one according to their ranking. The Corps of Mines is the foremost of the great technical corps of the French state. ...
Since the X2000 reform, the importance of the ranking has lessened. Except for the Corps curricula, universities and schools where the Polytechniciens complete their formations now base themselves on transcripts of all grades.
Tuition and financial obligations For French nationals, tuition is free as long as the full curriculum is accomplished, and a salary is received throughout the school years as part of the status of reserve officer in training. French students, through the student board (Kès), redistribute some of their salary to foreign students, most of whom also benefit from grants.
There is no particular financial obligation for students following the curriculum, and then entering an application school or graduate program that Polytechnique approves of. However, French students who choose to enter a civilian or military corps after Polytechnique are expected to complete 10 years of public service following Polytechnique. If a student enters a Corps but does not fulfil those 10 years of public service (e.g. resigns from his or her Corps), the tuition fees are due to the school. Sometimes, when an alumni quits a Corps to join a private company, that company will pay for the tuition fees which are then called the pantoufle (slipper).
The Graduate School École Polytechnique organizes various Master programs, by itself or in association with other schools and universities in the Paris region (École Normale Supérieure, Université Paris-Sud), on a wide variety of topics. The access to those programs is not restricted to polytechniciens, although they are particularly invited to join them. A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. ...
The quadrangle at the main ENS building on rue dUlm is known as the Cour aux Ernests – the Ernests being the goldfish in the pond. ...
The University of Paris-Sud (French: Université de Paris-Sud) is a branch of the University of Paris located in Orsay. ...
The school also has a Ph.D. program open to students with a master degree, or equivalent level. PhD students are generally working in the laboratories of the school; they may be also working in external institutes or schools that cannot, or will not, grant doctorates. Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ...
History - 1794 The École centrale des travaux publics is founded by Lazare Carnot and Gaspard Monge, during the French Revolution, at the time of the National Convention. It is renamed "École Polytechnique" one year later
- 1805 Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte settles the École on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, in the Quartier Latin, in central Paris, as a military academy and gives its motto Pour la Patrie, les Sciences et la Gloire
- 1970 The École becomes a state supported civilian institution, under the auspice of the Minister of Defense.
- 1972 The first female students enroll at the École
- 1976 The École moves to Palaiseau (approx 25 km / 15 miles from Paris)
- 1994 Celebration of the bicentennial chaired by President François Mitterrand
- 2000 A new cursus is set in place, passing to 4 years and reforming the curriculum
1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot (Nolay, May 13, 1753 - Magdeburg, August 22, 1823) was a French politician and mathematician. ...
Gaspard Monge. ...
The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ...
This article is about a legislative body and constitutional convention during the French Revolution. ...
1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
The Montagne Sainte-Geneviève is a hill on the left Bank of the Seine in Paris. ...
1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...
1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...
1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996; pronunciation) was a French politician and President of France from May 1981, re-elected in 1988, until 1995. ...
2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Alumni Alumni of the Ecole Polytechnique are traditionally referred to as "X", or "Xnnnn", where nnnn stands for the year of admission into the school. They include, among many others :
Astronauts :
- Jean-François Clervoy (X1978) : french astronaut (3 spatial missions)
- Philippe Perrin (X1982) : french astronaut (1 spatial mission, including 3 EVAs)
CEOs or Heads of State : Jean-François Clervoy Jean-François André Clervoy (born 19 November 1958) is a French spationaut an a veteran of three NASA space shuttle missions. ...
Philippe Perrin (Colonel, French Air Force) is (accurate at January 2005) a former CNES and European Space Agency astronaut. ...
- Jean-Marie Messier (X1976) : former head of Vivendi-Universal Corporation
- Carlos Ghosn (X1974) : head of Nissan Corporation
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (X1944) : former President of the French Republic
Military officers : Jean-Marie Messier (born December 13, 1957) is a French businessman known for his flamboyance. ...
Carlos Ghosn is the Brazilian-born French- Lebanese CEO of Nissan Motor. ...
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard dEstaing (born February 2, 1926 in Koblenz, Germany) is a French politician who was President of the Republic from 1974 until 1981. ...
(four General officers that commanded the French Army and led it during World War One). The French military mission before its departure to Japan. ...
Promotional poster The Last Samurai is a film released in the United States on December 5, 2003. ...
Alfred Dreyfus in an army uniform, wearing a mustache. ...
Ferdinand Foch (October 2, 1851 – March 20, 1929) was a French soldier. ...
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (January 12, 1852 - January 3, 1931) was a Catalan French general who became prominent in the battles of World War I. Joffre was born in Rivesaltes, Roussillon. ...
Famous scientists :
Benoît Mandelbrot was the first to use a computer to plot the Mandelbrot set. ...
A fractal is a geometric object which can be divided into parts, each of which is similar to the original object. ...
André Marcel Lévêque was born at Beauvais, France, October 23, 1896 at 7 pm as the first son of Henri Eugène Lévêque (29, artiste at the Manufacture nationale) and his wife Blanche Eugénie Paintré (29), rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques no. ...
The Corps of Mines is the foremost of the great technical corps of the French state. ...
Henri Poincaré, photograph from the frontispiece of the 1913 edition of Last Thoughts Jules Henri Poincaré (April 29, 1854 – July 17, 1912) was one of Frances greatest mathematicians, theoretical scientists and a philosopher of science. ...
Luis is a Feizos love child. ...
Chaos theory, in mathematics and physics, deals with the behavior of certain nonlinear dynamical systems that (under certain conditions) exhibit the phenomenon known as chaos, most famously characterised by sensitivity to initial conditions (see butterfly effect). ...
Emile_Clapeyron Benoit Paul Émile Clapeyron (February 26, 1799 - January 28, 1864) was an French engineer and physicist, considered as one of the founders of thermodynamics. ...
Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis (May 21, 1792- September 19, 1843), French engineer and scientist. ...
Augustin Louis Cauchy Augustin Louis Cauchy (August 21, 1789 – May 23, 1857) was a French mathematician. ...
Augustin Fresnel Augustin-Jean Fresnel (pronounced fray-NELL) (May 10, 1788 – July 14, French physicist who contributed significantly to the establishment of the wave theory of light and optics. ...
André-Marie Ampère (January 20, 1775 – June 10, 1836), was a French physicist who is generally credited as one of the main discoverers of electromagnetism. ...
Claude-Louis Navier (born Claude Louis Marie Henri Navier on February 10, 1785 in Dijon, died August 21, 1836 in Paris) was a French engineer and physicist. ...
Simeon Poisson. ...
See also The quadrangle at the main ENS building on rue dUlm is known as the Cour aux Ernests – the Ernests being the goldfish in the pond. ...
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