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Sorbonne University

Public university in Paris, France

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Sorbonne University is one of the most sought after universities by students and researchers from France, Europe, and the French speaking countries. Most notably, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, who came from Poland in 1891 and joined the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris, was also the first woman to become a professor at the Sorbonne. Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her husband Pierre Curie are considered the founders of the modern-day Faculty of Science and Engineering of Sorbonne University. As of 2021, Sorbonne University claimed that its alumni and professors have won 33 Nobel Prizes, six Fields Medals, and one Turing Award.

History

College of Sorbonne

Robert de Sorbon (1201–1274), chaplain to King Louis IX (Saint Louis), observed the difficulties experienced by poor "schoolchildren" in achieving the rank of doctor. In February 1257, he had a house (domus) officially established which he intended for a certain number of secular clergy who, living in common and without concern for their material existence, would be entirely occupied with study and teaching. This house was named the college of Sorbonne.

The old slogan of the establishment, "Sorbonne University, creators of futures since 1257", refers to this date. The college of Sorbonne was closed along with all the other colleges of the former University of Paris in 1793.

The college of Sorbonne was located on the site of the current Sorbonne building, shared between Sorbonne University and Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Faculty of Humanities of Paris, "the Sorbonne"

Based at the Sorbonne, the University of Paris Faculty of Humanities (commonly known as the Sorbonne because of its location) was created by the decree of 17 March 1808 on the organisation of the Imperial University of France.

Under the Bourbon Restoration, the faculty welcomed an average of 1,000 to 1,500 students a year, rising to 2,000 under the July Monarchy. But the number of teaching staff remained limited: between 1809 and 1878, only 51 professors taught at the Faculty of Humanities.

Following the promulgation of laws on 28 April 1893, giving civil personality to the bodies formed by the union of several faculties of an academy, and 10 July 1896, giving the name of university to the bodies of faculties, the new University of Paris was created in 1896 through the merger of the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Protestant Theology (created in 1877 and transformed into a free faculty in 1905), and the École supérieure de pharmacie. It was inaugurated on 19 November 1896 by its president, Félix Faure.

Faculty of Sciences of Paris

The Faculty of Sciences in Paris was opened in 1811 following the creation of the Imperial University of France, and was housed in the Collège du Plessis, in the Latin Quarter of Paris.

In 1826, the faculty moved to the Sorbonne. It remained there until 1962, when it moved to the Jussieu Campus. The Jussieu campus is now the main site of the Sorbonne University Faculty of Science and Engineering. At the same time, in 1927 it opened a satellite campus at Orsay, in the south of Paris, which would later become the current Paris-Saclay University, as well as a satellite campus at Orléans in 1960.

Splitting of the University of Paris

In 1971, the University of Paris, including its humanities and science faculties, split into several interdisciplinary universities. Some, including the University of Paris-Sorbonne, retained the name "Sorbonne" and premises in the historic centre of the University of Paris, which had until then been mainly devoted to the faculties of Humanities and Sciences.

The University of Paris-VI, later renamed as "UPMC", is created from the majority of the teaching and research units of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris (the others joining the universities of Paris-VII Denis Diderot (now Université Paris Cité), Paris-Saclay University in Orsay, Paris-XII and Paris-XIII in Villetaneuse) and part of the units of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris (the others joining the universities of Paris-V René Descartes (now Université Paris Cité), Paris-VII Denis Diderot and Paris-XIII).

Reunification of the University of Paris-Sorbonne and UPMC

In 2010, some of the direct successors of the faculties of the University of Paris created the Sorbonne Universities Association. The following universities, members of the university system, decided to merge into Sorbonne University in 2018:

  • Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV) (1971–2017), formerly a constituent part of the faculty of humanities of the University of Paris.
  • Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC or Paris VI) (1971–2017), formerly a constituent part of the faculty of sciences and of the school of medicine of the University of Paris.

At the same time, the Sorbonne Universities Association was renamed the Sorbonne University alliance; it includes the following institutions for academic cooperation:

  • University of Technology of Compiègne (1972– )
  • INSEAD
  • National Museum of Natural History
  • Centre international d'études pédagogiques (International Centre for Pedagogical Studies)
  • Pôle supérieur d'enseignement artistique Paris Boulogne-Billancourt
  • Four research institutes

As part of the reforms of French Higher Education, on 19 March 2018, the international jury called by the French Government for the "Initiative d'excellence" (IDEX) confirmed the definite win of Sorbonne University. Consequently, Sorbonne University won an endowment of €900 million with no limit of time. This is the first higher education institution in Paris region to win such an endowment. The university was established by a decree issued 21 April 2017, taking effect 1 January 2018.

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