Paris-Sorbonne University

A new university with a centuries-old tradition, through the merger of UPMC and Paris-Sorbonne on 1st January, 2018, bringing together Arts & Humanities, Medicine and Science & Engineering.

Sorbonne University is a multidisciplinary, research-intensive and world-class academic institution. Firmly rooted in the heart of Paris, it is committed to the success of its students and devoted to meeting the scientific challenges of the 21st century.

Sorbonne University was created on January 1st, 2018 from the merger of Paris-Sorbonne and Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC) universities. As a public institution, it fulfils the public service calling of French higher education, research and innovation.

Sorbonne University is a multidisciplinary and research-intensive university with world-famous origins. Continuing the humanist tradition of the Sorbonne, it is devoted to meeting the scientific challenges of the 21st century and spreading the knowledge created in its laboratories by its research teams and transmitted to its students and to society as a whole. Sorbonne University’s three faculties in humanities, medicine and science each with the wide-ranging autonomy necessary to conduct its ambitious programs in both research and education. The University’s 53,500 students, 3,400 professor-researchers and 3,600 administrative and technical staff members who help it run every day contribute to a University that is diverse, creative, innovative, and with a global outlook.

To understand the quickly changing world, Sorbonne University promotes excellence and develops knowledge in each discipline while simultaneously developing numerous interdisciplinary programs to meet today’s complex challenges, such as climate change, the conservation and transmission of cultural heritage, the data revolution, and personalized medicine.

Sorbonne University participates in public debates that cross our contemporary societies through numerous University events that are open to the public. It also advocates for equal access to knowledge, from the bachelor’s degree to the doctorate and throughout adult life. It offers education enriched by the mind set and methods of research and enables students to build their own futures. Its programs develop students’ skills and critical thinking to help them become tomorrow’s professionals, as well as active, enlightened citizens. Whether in Paris or at its various marine stations, it provides the cutting-edge tools to help the members of the university community to succeed. The University also offers a wide array of sports and cultural activities and encourages student initiatives.

Sorbonne University contributes to the public debates that cross our contemporary societies through multiple events open to all. It also participates in the dissemination of knowledge to the whole of society through courses, conferences and events intended for not only students, but for the widest possible audience possible. The University’s policy of innovation and technology transfer enables research to be useful to the economy and the society at large.

In order to fulfill its missions, Sorbonne University cultivates an extensive partnership policy. Its laboratories are jointly run with prestigious national research bodies and academic partners, and it has held the IDEX (“Initiatives of Excellence”) grant since 2012, along with the other members of the Sorbonne University Association. It works closely with local organizations and businesses to contribute to the economic development of local areas and in France in general. Finally, it has developed a network of privileged, long-term partnerships with universities around the world and is particularly active within European university organizations. So while Sorbonne University contributes to the development of science and knowledge in the heart of Paris, it is also active as an influential academic institution on the European and international stage.

As research-intensive university, Sorbonne University covers the entire range of Humanities, Medicine and Sciences, in pursuit of the humanist tradition that has been the hallmark of the Sorbonne since 1257.

To meet the challenges of the 21st century, the research teams at Sorbonne University will be as invested in the heart of their subject matter as they are in interdisciplinary approaches. Intimately linked to research, teaching will cultivate new forms of pedagogy, particularly in order to “learn how to learn,” right from the bachelor’s degree and on throughout life. In addition, Sorbonne University aims to share both our fundamental heritage and the new forms of knowledge it develops with the rest of society. Rooted in the heart of Paris, Sorbonne University will develop new forms of cooperation with its ecosystem, in Paris, in France, in Europe, and around the world.

Sorbonne University is an institution of knowledge, attentive to the great challenges of contemporary society and engaged with the world around it. As a public and research-intensive institution, Sorbonne University aspires to both strive for excellence and guarantee equality of opportunity.

From its foundation in the centuries-long history of the Sorbonne, it has built an original model of governance and organization: its three faculties will have a large degree of autonomy to allow each of them to meet the scientific challenges of the 21st century.

The research emerging from Sorbonne University’s laboratories is both fundamental and applied, free and collaborative. To be of greater service to society, the university is committed to innovation through the development of technology transfer. Invested in the future of its students, Sorbonne University sets out to provide them with a solid body of knowledge and the required skills that will help turn them into the seasoned professionals of tomorrow. For this purpose it proposes a gradual orientation to their studies, as well as multidisciplinary and diversified degree programs adapted to the goals of each individual.

Finally, it is Sorbonne University’s ambition to be an influential university both in Europe and around the world, contributing to the public debate in matters of academics, higher education and research.

The roots of Sorbonne University trace back to the medieval University of Paris. Founded in the mid-12th century, it quickly achieved the stature and prestige that have remained undiminished ever since. The Collège de la Sorbonne, officially founded in 1257, underwent a substantial overhaul in 1885, and then the May 1968 protests brought about the decision to divide the institution into 13 autonomous universities. Among these are Université Paris-Sorbonne and Université Pierre et Marie Curie, now reunited.

In the thirteenth century, the masters and students of the capital organized into a corporation to offer a complementary education to that of the school of theology of Notre Dame. Students flocked immediately from the "four Nations" - French, Picardy, Norman and English—and were lodged in pious foundations called "colleges", including the one founded by Robert de Sorbon in 1253 on the flanks of the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève.

Intended for the poorest students who were eager to undertake theological studies, the college of Sorbon obtained the approval of King Saint-Louis who confirmed its foundation in 1257. The establishment is quickly established as a faculty of theology renowned and establishes itself permanently in the heart of medieval Paris. The Italian poet Dante and the philosopher Saint Thomas d'Aquin both stayed there.

From century to century, the college that is later called "the Sorbonne" plays a growing role in the life of the kingdom and actively participates in the intellectual debate—oscillating, according to an eventful history, between jealous conservatism and enlightened liberalism. Briefly closed after the French Revolution, it was reassigned to teaching during the Restoration by King Louis XVIII, who took the opportunity to also install the Academy of Paris and the School of Charters in 1821. The prestigious college became synonymous with the University of Paris, gradually bringing together the faculties of letters and science in the capital.