Pierre and Marie-Curie University

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.

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.

At the end of the 19th century, the city of Paris and the university were rebuilt together, which is why many university buildings, including the Sorbonne, belong to the city. In ten years, from 1885 to 1896, the French universities acquired the legal identity even if the rector remained the great master as happened under Napoleon. At the end of the 50s, in front of the poverty and the dilapidation of the premises of the Sorbonne, the faculty of sciences was allowed to move to the Halle aux Vins (the wine market), which became the future campus Jussieu.

After the events of May 1968 and to cope with the democratization of higher education, the Edgar Faure law reshaped the organization of universities. Thus, the University of Paris was divided into 13 universities, including Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV), specialized in letters, arts and humanities, and Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC - Paris VI) ), specializing in science and medicine. (see also the heading Patrimonies).

Paris-Sorbonne and UPMC started collaborating to create academic programs during the 2000s, which they reinforce as of 2010 with the creation of the Sorbonne Universities Foundation. The winner in 2012 of the Excellence Initiative (Idex) call for projects launched by the national governement, it enabled the communities of the two universities to create many ambitious projects. It is in the continuity of this common history that in 2015, the two institutions proposed to their communities to create a new merged university that would be multidisciplinary and world class: Sorbonne University. It was created on January 1, 2018.

The presidency of Sorbonne University is located at the historic site of les Cordeliers in the heart of the Latin Quarter, which also houses scientific and medical research laboratories. Close by, the historic building of the Sorbonne is one of the locations for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, which it shares with the Rectorat de Paris and other Parisian universities. Nearly 100,000 square meters are dedicated to the academic and research activities of Sorbonne University, in addition to other locations spread throughout the capital. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities, in fact, is divided between the Clignancourt, Malesherbes, Michelet and Sorbonne locations.

At the Place Jussieu, the Pierre and Marie Curie campus houses the majority of the laboratories and classrooms used by the Faculty of Sciences, in addition to libraries and student-dedicated spaces. With the 90-meter-high Zamansky Tower at its heart, this campus alone covers an area of 400,000 square meters. The Faculty’s locations are split between the Paris and the surround region and the three marine stations in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Roscoff and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
The Faculty of Medicine, on the other hand, is divided between the hospital locations of la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Saint-Antoine, Tenon, Trousseau, Charles Foix-Ivry and Rothschild.

The site of La Sorbonne includes, among other things, a chapel commissioned by Richelieu in the 17th century and endowed with a superb Baroque façade, as well as numerous salons, all classified as historical monuments. Over the last decade, numerous sites of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities have undergone renovation and redevelopment projects, in particular the completely-rebuilt Clignancourt location. The Pierre and Marie Curie campus has also benefitted from a wide-ranging renovation project that lasted more than 20 years and was completed in 2016. The architect Albert’s modular “Grill” design, so characteristic of this location, has now been modified to meet the needs of research, academics, and student life in a contemporary international university setting. Students, faculty and staff can now enjoy a campus with lush greenery that’s open to the city.

Sorbonne University also possesses a top-tier scientific heritage. Each faculty has its own treasures and archives: papyri that are thousands of years old are conserved at the Institute of Papyrology; the most important paleontological collection in France after the Louvre; one of the oldest mineral collections in France; and a zoological collection like nothing else in Paris. Finally, the remarkable collections of the Charcot Library preserve the first works of neurology dating back to the 19th century.