As part of the "Grand Emprunt national", the French Ministry of Research and Higher Education has released a 7.7 billion euro fund to endow France with 5 to 10 "Initiatives of Excellence" capable of competing with the best universities in the world.
On Monday, July 4, 2011, in Bordeaux, Laurent Wauquiez, Minister of Higher Education and Research, announced the results of the first round of these Initiatives of Excellence, in the presence of René Ricol, General Commissioner for Investment.
Three projects have been selected, including just one from the Paris region: the University of Strasbourg, the University of Bordeaux and Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL).
PSL is the Initiative d'excellence project supported by the PSL Foundation, created on July 8, 2010. In addition to the five original founding members (Collège de France, École normale supérieure, Observatoire de Paris, Espci ParisTech and Chimie ParisTech), which will shortly be joined by two other founding institutions (Université Paris-Dauphine and Institut Curie), PSL now has 9 partner institutions: école nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, École nationale supérieure des Beaux Arts, Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique, Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, Institut Louis Bachelier, Fondation Pierre-Gilles de Gennes and three research organizations: INSERM, INRIA and CNRS.
Collège de France
