The 'École Normale Supérieure de Cachan' (ENS Cachan, Normale Sup' Cachan) is a prestigious ''
Grande École'' located in
Cachan, a suburb of
Paris, in France. Like all the other Grandes Écoles, this higher education institution is not included in the mainstream framework of the French public universities.
Overview
Its main mission is to train world-class academics, but it may also be a starting point for public administrative or private executive careers. It recruits mostly from the very competitive "classes préparatoires" (see also
Grande École) but also admits students who have graduated from
university with a
DEUG (Diplôme d'Etudes Universitaires Générales, two years of studies). This last way of entry however only applies to the mechanical engineering branch of ENS Cachan.
Students who entered through "classes préparatoires" are automatically civil servants and are paid during their studies. They follow the standard university curriculum (
Licence, Maîtrise) but have to take then the
Agregation competitive examination and to work for the State for six years after their four-years curriculum at the ENS is completed. Students originating from the University do not have to take the Agrégation exam but are not paid either.
Its academic and research focus is on:
applied sciences,
economics,
engineering,
management,
sociology,
law,
computer science,
physics,
chemistry.
Students of the ENS Cachan who are civil servants are known as "normaliens".
Some Famous Alumni
★
Alain Aspect (French physicist)
★
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann (French politician)
See also
★
École Normale Supérieure
External links
★
ENS Cachan website