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Understanding our times, making a difference
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Sciences Po was established in 1872 after the war between France and Prussia. Sciences Po’s founder Emile Boutmy argued that France needed to change the way it formed its elites. Since then, Sciences Po has been on a mission to train free-thinking and visionary decision-makers dedicated to the common good. The essential part of Emile Boutmy’s vision and thus that of Sciences Po today is to actively apply frontier research to public policy and to have an impact on society. This vision has made Sciences Po one of the leading research universities in social science in Europe.
The unique model of Sciences Po is based on five principles: excellence in research and teaching; interdisciplinarity; combining academic research and practical knowledge; internationalisation, inclusion, equality of opportunity, and diversity; and academic freedom.
Excellence: cutting-edge research in social science
Sciences Po’s research faculty includes nearly 300 tenure-track and tenured scholars from around the world organised in five departments: economics, history, law, political science and sociology. Sciences Po is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in Europe (and the top university in France) in these disciplines. For example, in the QS World University Rankings in Political Science and International Relations, Sciences Po is ranked 3rd in the world and 1st in the European Union.
Sciences Po’s faculty publish papers in the leading international journals and books in the prestigious academic publishing houses. The excellence of their research has also been recognised by the prestigious European research grants: Sciences Po’s faculty are Principal Investigators in 15 ongoing individual European Research Council projects and are members of research teams in many more collaborative Horizon Europe projects.
Interdisciplinarity: reinventing ourselves to face the 21st century’s challenges
The mission of Sciences Po is to help modern societies to address the key challenges of our time: environmental transformation, digital transition, economic and social inequalities, development, public health, security and democracy around the world. These challenges do not respect disciplinary borders, so meeting them requires interdisciplinarity in research and teaching. While maintaining its commitment to disciplinary excellence, Sciences Po is constantly reinventing itself by focusing its research and teaching on the major issues the world is facing. Since 2010, the Program of Research and Teaching on Gender (“Presage”) has promoted interdisciplinary research on gender and offered certificates on Gender and on Gender Equality to Sciences Po students. Since 2011, Sciences Po’s Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policy has completed 156 projects evaluating public policies on anti-discrimination, democracy, education, environment, health and socio-fiscal policies. In 2023, Sciences Po created its multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Transformation. Since 2023, each first-year undergraduate student must take a multi-disciplinary course on Ecological Culture. In 2024, Sciences Po is launching the Open Institute for Digital Transformation and three new multidisciplinary teaching and research programmes on African Studies, South Asia and Middle East.
Combining academic knowledge and professional expertise
To provide our students with both academic knowledge and professional skills, Sciences Po uses a unique educational model. In addition to its tenured and tenure-track faculty, Sciences Po relies on 4,500 adjunct professors from private and public sectors, international organisations and NGOs. This model delivers an excellent preparation for the realities of the modern world. Within six months after graduation, about 90% of our students find jobs in companies, governments, universities, international institutions and non-profit organisations around the world.
Sciences Po strives to train not only successful academics and professionals, but also good citizens committed to social progress. All undergraduate students complete a Civic Learning Program, an individual community service and civic internship project focusing on the common good and promoting equality and solidarity.
Social and geographical diversity
International and social diversity are Sciences Po’s core values – because we believe in equality of opportunity for students of all backgrounds and because diversity of student body enriches each student’s learning experience. We are committed to equal opportunities through our partnership programs with 200 high schools in disadvantaged school districts throughout France. Over the last 20 years, 2,800 talented students have been able to enter Sciences Po through this route. European students receive income-contingent financial aid, while non-EU students are eligible for various scholarships including Sciences Po’s own Emile Boutmy Scholarship. In 2023, Sciences Po has signed an agreement with the Mastercard Foundation that will provide a significant number of scholarships for master students from Sub-Saharan Africa in the next 10 years.
We are also strongly committed to internationalisation. Almost 50% of our students are international or binational. With 480 partnerships with universities around the world each of our undergraduate students spends the third year of undergraduate studies abroad.
Academic freedom
Since its very creation in 1872 as the Ecole Libre de Sciences Politiques (Free School of Political Science), Sciences Po has been committed to defending academic freedom: the freedom to teach, study and conduct research. We believe in the virtues of pluralism and intellectual debate as a means of addressing the key challenges of modern societies and sustaining democracy. Commitment to academic freedom also helps training our students in critical thinking – the skill that is especially important for professional, leaders and citizens in the 21st century.
Sciences Po is also committed to supporting exiled academics and refugee students. Since 2018, Sciences Po has been offering a professional certificate to young refugees to help them develop their skills and either join Sciences Po’s academic programs or successfully integrate into the job market. In 2024, Sciences Po will open a House of Academic Freedom – a physical space to host refugee scholars and students.
While committed to its original 1872 vision, Sciences Po keeps reinventing itself to be a leading European social science university for the 21st century. The mission remains to understand our times and to make a difference.