ESPCI web site
As a major educational institution (Grande École d’ingénieurs) and research center, ESPCI ParisTech has fundamental missions in education, and in the creation, broad dissemination and commercial implementation of scientific knowledge and know-how for the benefit of all citizens.
Education, theory and practice
Transdisciplinarity and know-how
Based on the conviction that transdisciplinary knowledge and know-how will alone provide a basis for dealing with increasingly complex technological challenges, ESPCI ParisTech offers students a truly transversal education in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, without overlooking the basics of the corporate world.
The highest academic standards
ESPCI ParisTech students are admitted on the basis of a selective competitive examination (the same as for École Polytechnique) after a two-year post-secondary preparatory program, or after demonstrating outstanding achievement in earning a university degree. The School is recognized, in industry and beyond, for its well-rounded program and exacting standards. The faculty-student ratio is exceptionally high, with only 72 students admitted each year, and over a hundred faculty members and researchers involved in teaching (including tutorials).
The four-year curriculum combines high-level theoretical work with intensive laboratory practice Students have multiple opportunities to hone their experimental skills in actual research situations (with 750 hours of lab work in the first two years of the curriculum). Through this scientific-research based approach, ESPCI ParisTech prepares graduates to successfully meet further challenges; 60% pursue doctoral studies and earn a PhD which positions them for an international career.
All told, 80% of ESPCI graduates pursue careers in industry, primarily in R&D but also in downstream areas (e.g., production and reprocessing), and related fields such as industrial property and corporate finance.
Creation and publication : scientific research
ESPCI ParisTech is home to 17 advanced research laboratories at the frontiers of scientific knowledge and experimental know-how, and covering areas ranging from polymers to telecommunications, from nanobiophysics to organic synthesis, from environmental science to biomedical imaging, from neurobiology to microfluidics, from soft matter to quantum physics, and from colloids to industrial prototyping.
ESPCI ParisTech researchers are leaders in foreseeing industry needs and pioneering new solutions. Their investigations into nature and matter are based on concrete situations with implications for industry. They publish, on average, one article per day in world class, peer-reviewed, international scientific journals.
Commercial implementation : innovation
The constant interchange between science and industrial applications has resulted in a remarkably effective entrepreneurial culture in which technological innovation is the necessary precondition for market success. ESPCI ParisTech scientists file for an average of one patent a week, and each year witness several start-ups making commercial use of inventions and discoveries arising from their research.