Research at PSL

A Word from the Vice-President for Research & Graduate Education

With more than 70% of its students at the Master’s or PhD level and an exceptional student/faculty ratio, PSL is the ultimate setting for breaking down walls between education and research across the board, based on excellence in science and in teaching. Member institutions share the values associated with education through the development of new knowledge, and many of them have already implemented innovative teaching methods that take advantage of students’ current skills to meet their needs and realize their aspirations.

The university is building on this dynamic by developing a Graduate Program (GP) ecosystem inspired by the graduate schools that can be found in most of the world’s top universities. These GPs will implement research-based learning at the Master’s and PhD levels of the university and fit tightly into the existing framework of PSL member institutions and research units: students may have the option of a 5-year program that includes both a Master’s and PhD.

These Graduate Programs represent the pillars of PSL’s graduate research and education strategy, which also aims to promote the emergence of bold new scientific topics via IRIS initiatives, support the university’s major strategic efforts in terms of scientific equipment and recruitment, and support novel educational programs at PSL via targeted initiatives at the Master’s and PhD levels. This strategy relies on the significant accomplishments and expertise PSL has acquired since its creation, which demonstrate the university’s ability to shape its research and education landscape by energizing the teaching and scientific activities of its member institutions, associate institutions, and entities that support the undertaking.

This ambitious program, which is unique within the context of French higher education and research, requires PSL to meet several challenges, namely:

  • providing access to scientific research by accepting students into fields of study where this research is learned through practice;
  • promoting excellence by keeping social and environmental considerations, such as equal opportunity and sustainable development, in mind when recruiting students and high-level research professors;
  • building international visibility by reinforcing collaborations with other globally-ranked universities and facilitating the free flow of ideas and talent;
  • bringing fresh perspective by stimulating encounters and dialog between disciplines, breaking down barriers to better address the rapid changes and recombinations made necessary by cutting-edge science and societal challenges;
  • facilitating the distribution and application of research results by helping research advance to the patent filing or start-up phase.

Interview with Hubert Bost, Vice-President for Graduate Research and Education: Establishing Continuity Between Master's and PhD: PSL’s new Graduate Offerings

Focus: Spotlight on the individuals leading research at PSL

Directors of PSL’s major research programs share a few words about the benefits of conducting research at PSL. By highlighting the benefits that they and their teams reap from the ecosystem in which they work, Bruno Goud, Serge Planes, and Sylvia Fre bear witness to the vibrancy that emerges from cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration.

 

Bruno Goud Institut Convergence Q-Life Institut Curie PSL
Bruno Goud
Director of Research, CNRS
Serge Planes Directeur de recherche CNRS
Serge Planes
Director of research, EPHE - PSL, CNRS
silvia Fre Directrice de recherche à Institut Curie
Silvia Fre
Director of Research, Institut Curie