Université Pierre et Marie Curie

Pierre and Marie Curie University (Université Pierre et Marie Curie or UPMC - Paris Universitas or Paris 6) is a French university, principal heir to the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris. UPMC is now the largest scientific and medical complex in France, active in all fields of research with scope and achievements at the highest level, as demonstrated by the many awards regularly won by UPMC researchers, and the many international partnerships it maintains across all five continents.

It has over 180 laboratories, most of them associated with the Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

It is located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement in Paris.

Some of its most notable institutes and laboratories include the Institut Henri Poincaré, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Laboratoire d'informatique de Paris 6, Institut de mathématiques de Jussieu/Chevaleret (shared with University Paris Diderot) and the Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel (shared with Ecole Normale Supérieure).

The University's Faculty of Medicine includes the Pitié-Salpêtrière and Saint-Antoine hospitals.

Pierre & Marie Curie University (UPMC) is one of the largest universities teaching science and medicine in France, and indeed in Europe, with 4000 researchers and teaching academics/researchers, 180 laboratories, and some 30 000 students including 8000 in postgraduate studies. UPMC is based in the Latin Quarter in Paris, with most facilities on a campus of 500 000m².
UPMC also has branches in regions outside Paris : 3 oceanological observatories, at Roscoff (Atlantic Ocean), Banyuls and Villefranche-sur-Mer (Mediterranean Sea).
Medicine : 2 medical teaching and research units in Paris teaching hospitals [CHUs]: Saint-Antoine and Pitié-Salpêtrière. Partnerships with a number of hospitals and health care centers.
The different campuses are part of a complete renovation program.

Facts about UPMC

30,000 students (22,000 science students – 8000 medical students)
8000 post-graduate students
2200 post-graduate diplomas (DEA and DESS i.e. master's equivalent) and 150 engineering degrees (master's equivalent) awarded each year
4000 teaching academics/researchers
3000 engineers & technicians, administrative & logistic staff, 4 broad interdisciplinary sectors of research
180 research laboratories
300 doctorates in medicine
700 doctorates in science based upon thesis work
550 contractual cooperation agreements for research on innovative programs
330 partner institutes in science and medicine
100 contractual agreements under the terms of research projects subsidized by the European Commission
6 Centers of Excellence selected by the European Commission to host doctoral students who are granted Marie Curie scholarships
4250 students of 121 different nationalities

History

The campus was built in the 1950s and 60s, on a site previously occupied by wine storehouses. The Dean, Marc Zamanski, saw the Jussieu campus standing as a tangible symbol of scientific thought in the heart of Paris, with the Faculty of Science, set in the Latin Quarter, as part of an intellectual and spiritual continuum linked to the university history of Paris. In 1968, the Paris Faculty of Science was divided into a number of different universities. The University of Paris 6 became the scientific center and was set up in 1971; it shares the Jussieu campus with the University of Paris 7 and the Paris Geophysical Institute (Institut de Physique du Globe). In 1974, the University of Paris 6 chose a prestigious champion when it adopted the official title "Université Pierre et Marie Curie", and ever since has endeavored to perpetuate the scientific legacy of these forebears. UPMC is now the largest scientific and medical complex in France, active in all fields of research with scope and achievements at the highest level.

The main research sectors are:

Research at UPMC covers fields in all the major areas of international research, including life sciences, health, genomics & post-genomics, sciences of the universe and the environment, optics, laser technology, information processing, communications, and modeling.

Research falls into four broad, interdisciplinary sectors : (see Les écoles doctorales de l'UPMC)
Modeling & Engineering (Pôle modélisation et ingénierie)
Matter & New Materials (Pôle matière et nouveaux matériaux)
Space, Environment & Ecology (Pôle espace, environnement, écologie)
Life Sciences & Health (Pôle sciences de la vie et de la santé)

UPMC ranked 132th in the 2007 THES QS World University ranking

UPMC ranked 149th in the 2008 THES QS World University ranking
UPMC ranked 117th in the 2009 THES QS World University ranking
UPMC ranked 118th in the 2010 QS World University ranking

UPMC ranked 119th in the 2011 QS World University ranking