École Normale Supérieure de Lyon

Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon
Motto L'enseignement par la recherche, pour la recherche
Established Jules Ferry
13 July 1880 (Fontenay)
22 December 1882 (Saint-Cloud)
1 January 2010 (Fusion)
Type Ecole Normale Supérieure
Endowment > 110 000 000 €
Admin. staff 350 researchers, 220 professors
Students > 2000
Postgraduates 400 PhD Students
Location Lyon, France
Campus "Monod" (Science) / "Descartes" (Humanities)
Website http://www.ens-lyon.eu

The École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (also known as ENS Lyon, ENSL or Normale Sup' Lyon) is a highly selective grande école located in Lyon, France. As one of France's three Écoles normales supérieures, ENS Lyon is associated with a strong French tradition of excellence and public service. It trains researchers and teachers in the sciences and the humanities. It is considered as one of the three most prestigious and best French universities along with its sister the "Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris" and the Ecole Polytechnique, and is ranked as the 100th in the world.

Contents

History

The Fontenay school, for girls, was founded by the decree of 13 July 1880.

The Saint-Cloud school, for boys, was founded by the decree of 22 December 1882. These two Ecole Normale Supérieure were founded by Jules Ferry.

1887: The decree of 18 January 1887 transformed the previous institutions into Ecoles normales supérieures de l'enseignement primaire (of primary education), institutions which were free and modern, that is without compulsory Latin. The pupils were granted scholarships and were recruited using a competitive examination open to holders of the higher diploma or the baccalaureate who had signed a ten-year service commitment.

1897: The length of studies was increased from two to three years.

1945: The decree of 19 February 1945 granted both institutions the title of Ecoles normales préparatoires à l'enseignement secondaire (institutions of preparation for secondary education). Pupils trained for the CAEC, then the CAPES teaching qualifications.

1956: The length of studies was increased to four years and the preparation of the agrégation teaching qualification appeared in the regulations.

As part of France's process of decentralisation, the scientific departments moved to Lyon in 1987, with the creation of the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon.

Humanities students remained in what was called the ENS de Fontenay/St Cloud. In 2000, the humanities were transferred to the École Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, also located in the Gerland district.

On 1 January 2010, the scientific branch and the arts, humanities and social sciences branch merged to become a single institution, retaining the name Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon.[1]

Departments

Teaching at ENS Lyon is organised through eleven main departments.

Science departments

Humanities departments

Research

23 of ENS Lyon's research groups have contractual ties to major research organizations, notably the CNRS and INSERM. ENS Lyon is a member of several advanced research networks and competitive clusters, including Lyon BioPôle, and hosts an Institute for Advanced Study, the Collegium de Lyon.

Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (IGFL) http://igfl.ens-lyon.fr/

Laboratory of molecular and cell biology (LBMC) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/LBMC/ENG

Laboratory of plant reproduction and development (RDP) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/RDP/?lang=en

Laboratory of human virology (VIRO) http://hvd.ens-lyon.fr

Laboratory of Earth Sciences (LST) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/LST/?lang=en

Joliot-Curie interdisciplinary laboratory (LJC) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/Joliot-Curie/?lang=en

Laboratory of Pure and Applied Mathematics (UMPA) http://www.umpa.ens-lyon.fr/

Laboratory of chemistry http://www.ens-lyon.fr/CHIMIE

Computer science laboratory (LIP) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/LIP

Laboratory of physics http://www.ens-lyon.fr/PHYSIQUE

Astronomy research center (CRAL) http://www-obs.univ-lyon1.fr/?lang=en

Center for high field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (CRMN) http://www.ens-lyon.fr/crmn

C2SO - Communication, culture and society

Institute for the History of Classical Thought, from Humanism to the Enlightenment

Interactions, Corpuses, Learning and Representations

Interdisciplinary approach to the logics of power in medieval Iberian societies

Literature, Ideologies and Représentations in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

Rhône-Alpes Centre for Historical Research

Socialisation Research Group

Triangle: Action, Discourses, Economic and Political Thought

History and Archaeology of the Medieval Christian and Islamic Worlds

Economic Theory and Analysis Group

Admission

Normaliens

ENS Lyon retains its close links to the classes préparatoires which prepare students for a competitive entrance examination that is taken after two years of undergraduate-level study.

Students who succeed in the entrance examinations, which attract some 6000 candidates for 228 positions, are known as Normaliens; those who are from France or another European Union country are considered trainee public servants, and receive a salary for their studies during 4 years. A second entrance examination is also open to students who have not gone through the "classes préparatoires" system.

After these 4 years,Normaliens can also receive an additional 3 year-fellowship to get a PhD.

Auditeurs

Entry to ENS Lyon is not restricted to “normaliens”. Students may also apply through a separate admissions process to study for an ENS Masters or PhD degree, or for the final year of an undergraduate degree offered in conjunction with one of Lyon's universities.

Studies

Classical studies for a Normalien

Students prepare the third year of Licence, the equivalent of a UK Bachelor's degree . The ENS de Lyon offers 5 final year courses for Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Earth Sciences, Computer Sciences, Mathematics). These courses are conceived as preparations for Masters

Students prepare in two years their Master degree. 5 research Masters are proposed in Sciences, 36 in Languages, Literature, Human and Social Sciences.

During this year, students can prepare the agrégation teacher recruitment examination in 16 different subjects. Students can also start their PhD, go studying for one year or more in a foreign country, or follow during one year courses in other subjects (students from biology can therefore follow courses in Humanities).

Other Studies

Rankings

The 2011 QS World University Rankings[2] ranked ENS Lyon 133rd in the world.

The 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings[3] ranked ENS Lyon 100th in the world.

References

  1. ^ Décret n° 2009-1533 du 10 décembre 2009 portant création de l'Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon
  2. ^ http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011?page=2
  3. ^ "THE World University Rankings 2010: The Top 200". http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html. 

External links