Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University


Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is a French public university created in 1991, located in the department of Yvelines and, since 2002, in Hauts-de-Seine. Consisting of eight separate campuses, it is mainly located in the cities of Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Mantes-en-Yvelines and Vélizy-Villacoublay / Rambouillet. It is one of the five universities of the Academy of Versailles.
Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is a constituent university of the federal University of Paris-Saclay.
It is one of the four universités nouvelles inaugurated in the Île-de-France region after the 2000 University project. It has a population of 19,000 students, a staff of 752 people, and 1,389 teachers and researchers, as well as an additional 285 external teachers.
The university teaches courses in the fields of natural science, social science, political science, engineering, technology, and medicine. It also provides interdisciplinary courses covering the relationships across economics, ethics, natural environment and sustainable development.

History

Origin

A branch of the Pierre and Marie Curie University was created in Versailles in 1987 to increase the university's capacity for enrollment. It focused on the study of science, and merged with the law annex of Nanterre established two years earlier at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. In the 1990s, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research developed the French higher education modernization plan called Université 2000, and created eight unaffiliated universities, known as new universities. The Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University was officially created on 22 July 1991 from the relocation of the two centres, Pierre and Marie Curie University and Paris West University Nanterre La Défense.

A new status

In 1996, the status of the university was changed by law. The law, legislated in 1984, required that the university have elected officials. Michel Garnier was its first president, and created committees that included a board of directors, a scientific council, and a student life council. Dominique Gentile was the second president, and created new annexes such as the Ph.D. School, the University Institute of Technology, and Professionalized University Institute of art, science, culture, and multimedia. During this period, the College of Medicine of Paris-Descartes University was relocated to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and renamed "Paris-Île-de-France-Ouest". It is part of the UVSQ today. Increasing tertiary enrollment in France from 1997 to 2002 increased enrollment at UVSQ.

2002 to present

In 2002, Sylvie Faucheux became the president of the university. The university applied the réforme LMD to its courses in 2004.
The CFA d'Alembert was created at Guyancourt in 2006. In 2007, Unité de formation et de recherche médicale Paris Île-de-France Ouest moved to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and UniverSud Paris was established, with Paris-Sud 11 University, École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, and UVSQ as members, among others. In 2010, the humanities and social sciences college of UVSQ was split into four: the institut des études culturelles, institut supérieur de management, institut de langues et études internationales, and social sciences research institute. The university expanded to develop the plateau de Saclay, an area with world-class universities and research centers. As a founding member of UniverSud Paris, UVSQ supported scientific cooperation and the Paris-Saclay research-intensive cluster. A partnership with Cergy-Pontoise University was considered in 2011, and Université du grand ouest parisien was created in February 2012. An Institut d'études politiques commons for both universities is being studied.

Students' profile and demographic changes

This table shows the changes in student population, from 1993 to 2013. The number of students enrolled has more than doubled over the past ten years.
199319951998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013
7,2099,32210,02910,20010,57910,71912,76913,29514,22614,76514,45013,99213,65414,62315,14215,42016,12616,925

In 2013-2014, the UVSQ welcomed approximately 9,600 undergraduate, 6,600 graduate and 700 post-graduate students.
The most popular degree courses are law, economics, and management, with almost 6,200 students representing 37% of total enrollment in 2013, followed by science and engineering school.
Overall, more than half of the undergraduate students enrolled every year are female, except for first-year students at Mantes and Vélizy IUT, two-thirds of whom are male.
The social backgrounds of students are on average, more advantageous than the students matriculated in French public universities. Approximately 50% of first-year students come from business and professional families, and globally about four out of five students belong to wealthy and cultivated social classes. The percentage of students coming from low-income families increased from 14% in 1992 to 20-23% in 2013, but remains a minority. This rate, which is common to most selective universities,
reflects the population of the region where the UVSQ is located. Two thirds of first-year students come from the Yvelines department, with a significant concentration around Versailles and Saint-Quentin.
The university welcomes an increasing number of international students; in 2010 there were 2,400 enrolled from 72 different countries, making up 13,3% of UVSQ students. Most were enrolled in Ph.D. programs; 45% of all Ph.D. students were from other countries.

Buildings and sites

Campus

The university is primarily located on four campuses in Versailles, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Mantes-en-Yvelines and Vélizy-Villacoublay / Rambouillet, but has eight campuses in total, throughout two departments and seven communes; together these cover 160,000 m². At the Versailles campus, there is the sciences college and ISTY, the computer science college. At the campus of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, there are the disciplines of law and political sciences, social sciences, medical research and the sciences of the universe observatory. Another campus of the sciences college is located at Le Chesnay. Vélizy-Villacoublay, which includes the IUT of Vélizy and Rambouillet, is one of its annexes. The campus of Mantes-la-Jolie houses the IUT of Mantes-en-Yvelines. Mantes-la-ville includes the mechatronics college of ISTY.

Other graduate school and institutes

The Unité de formation et de recherche médicale Paris Île-de-France Ouest is a faculty department of UVSQ. PIFO left Paris Descartes University to join UVSQ between 2001 and 2002, and is located in Guyancourt. Associated hospitals include the Raymond Poincaré University Hospital, Ambroise-Paré Hospital, Foch Hospital, André Mignot Hospital, Poissy St-Germain Hospital, Sainte-Périne Hospital and René Huguenin Hospital. Two schools of midwifery are located in the PIFO department.

Observatory

The observatory, also called OVSQ, supports sustainable development, an important goal for UVSQ. It is located on Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines campus, and emphasizes observing, teaching, and supporting the environment. OVSQ researches environmental changes, including its sanitary and socioeconomic impacts, and is involved in spatial programs supported by the CNES and the ESA. OVSQ supports international projects that monitor the atmosphere, and develops instruments to observe and analyze natural and social phenomena. To prepare future generations in the field of sustainable development, the OVSQ provides an interdisciplinary culture to the students comprising economics, humanities, and environmental studies. In France, OVSQ partners with Fondaterra and the international industrial professorship, Econoving, to develop sustainable environments and eco-innovations. The OVSQ provides expertise abroad by partnering with the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute, located in Guyancourt. The observatory contributes to climate study, and supports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The OVSQ allows the university to be an important part of the Climate-Environment-Energy center of the Paris-Saclay Campus. The observatory also contributes to the European community of Knowledge and Innovation dedicated to the Climate.

PhD graduate schools

The university has PhD graduate schools that take care of the PhD students and also habilitation. There are five schools and 102 Doctorates have been delivered in 2009.
Its main library, inaugurated in June 2002, has an area of 8400 m2 and has over 100,000 books. In 2005, the university inaugurated the library of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines with an area of 7500 m2 on three levels and 1,100 reading places. September 2011 saw the commissioning of the new library on the sciences campus, located in Versailles. In total, the university has six academic libraries located, in addition to the campus already mentioned, on those of Vélizy, Boulogne-Billancourt, Rambouillet and Mantes, consisting of about 200,000 books, 5,000 digital books and 26,000 magazines and newspapers.

Administration and organization

Governance

Like all the établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel, the university is managed by a president elected by a board of directors, who is a member of the three councils of the university. Staff representatives and external representatives on the boards of the university have a term of four years, and student members are elected for two years.
Since its foundation in 1991, there have been six presidents at Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University.
Michel Garnier was the first President of UVSQ from 1991 to 1997. He is an alumnus of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, professor of geophysics, electronics and signal processing. As President of Pierre and Marie Curie University, he created at first an office in Versailles in 1987 called the Faculty of Science. He was then president of UVSQ from 1991 to 1997.
Dominique Gentile served as President of UVSQ from 1997 to 2002. University professor and qualified teacher of physical sciences, he began his career by working successively in the laboratory of fluid mechanics, then in the laboratory of physical mechanics. First professor and then vice-president, he became president of UVSQ in 1997. In 2003 he was director of L’Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucléaires. In 2008, he was director of l’Institut des sciences et techniques des Yvelines, a public engineering school at UVSQ.
Sylvie Faucheux is a French professor who served as the third president of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University, from 2002 until 2012. She is an academic, a French politician, and a specialist in environmental economics and sustainable development. In December 2002, she was elected President of UVSQ. She was reelected in 2008 for a four-year term until April 12, 2012. She was director of the Academy of Dijon from October 2012 to February 2014.
Jean-Luc Vayssière, Professor of Biology, was the fourth president of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University, from 2012 until April 2016. Before being elected president, he was chief of staff at UVSQ between 2004 and 2008. From 2008, he was vice-president of the board of directors.
Didier Guillemot, a doctor, was the fifth president of UVSQ, from May 2016 to September 2017. Before being elected President, he was head of the Biostatistics, Biomathematics, Pharmacoepidemiology and Infectious Diseases Laboratory between 2007 and 2016.
Alain Bui, a doctor, is the sixth and current president of UVSQ, since October 2017. Before being elected President, he was a teacher at the sciences college between 2008 and 2016, and vice president from 2016 to 2017.

Finances

Budget

The university had a budget of 166 million euros in 2011, which was a 16% increase from 2010. The university had a budget of 143 million euros in 2010, which was 13.1% higher than that of 2009. The budget for normal operations grew by 29.2% during the period 2007-2010. The amount of investment over the same period was about 3.3 million euros in total.

Employment structure except for teachers of hospital department

In 2009-2010, according to the official report published in June 2010 by the human resources department of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University employed 229 non-permanent teachers, which corresponds to 119 Full-time equivalents, which is 20.4% of the total teachers of the university, placing it well above the national average of 15.5%. The total number of permanent teachers is 464, including 121 university professors, 250 docents or assistants, and 93 secondary school teachers.

Versailles University foundation

The UVSQ Foundation is intended to help UVSQ in Yvelines. Issues in society, the scientific higher education, and scientific research evolve from a very competitive environment. In the Yvelines, UVSQ plays a vital role in high-quality education, and participates actively in the construction of the University Paris-Saclay, in close collaboration with Grandes Ecoles, Université Paris Sud and research organizations, including CNRS, CEA, INSERM, and INRA. The mission of the UVSQ Foundation is to facilitate this evolution. The UVSQ Foundation offers training programs, research excellence, and support to its sponsors with projects relating to social responsibility.
The UVSQ foundation was created in May 2010 by nine founding members: the university, technical center for mechanical industries, Graduate school of engineering in electrical engineering, Graduate school of aeronautical technology and automotive, IFP Energies Nouvelles, the National research institute for transport and safety, and PSA Peugeot Citroën companies, Renault, Valeo and Safran group. Its four main goals are to attract the best researchers and students, develop an educational quality research excellence, participate in creating an innovation ecosystem in the Yvelines, and foster interdisciplinary and research. Its projects include a young talent UVSQ scholarship, development of the university library holdings, Equal Opportunities Program, business researcher club, and thesis prize.

Academic profile

Rankings

SourcesRanking
310
301-350
42
401-500
451-500

Components

Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is divided into ten components. There are six faculties, two University Institutes of Technology, one School of Engineering and one Observatory.
French nameTranslationLocationSubjectsNumber of students
UFR des sciencesUnit of training and research in scienceVersailles and Le Chesnaybiology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science3500
Faculté de droit et de science politique Faculty of Law and Political ScienceSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelineslaw and political science3000
UFR des sciences de la santé Simone VeilSimone Veil Unit for Health Services Training and ResearchSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelinesmedicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwife, psychotherapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing2500
UFR des sciences socialesUnit of training and research in social scienceSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelineseconomy, social and economic administration, geography and sociology2000
Institut d'études culturelles et internationales Institute of Cultural and International studiesSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelineshistory, literature and languages1600
Institut supérieur de management Higher institute of ManagementSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelinesmanagement science, information science, communication and educational science1400
IUT de Vélizy - RambouilletUniversity Institute of Technology of Vélizy and RambouilletVélizy-Villacoublay and Rambouilletcomputer science, electric systems, telecommunication, networks, multimedia1300
IUT de Mantes en YvelinesUniversity Institute of Technology of Mantes en YvelinesMantes-la-Joliecivil, industrial, mechanical, computer and mechatronics engineering, management, business, security and natural environment700
Institut des sciences et techniques des Yvelines Yvelines Institute of sciences and techniqueVélizy-Villacoublay and Mantes-la-Villecomputer engineering and mechatronics engineering180
Observatoire de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines ObservatorySaint-Quentin-en-Yvelinesearth science, astronomy, natural environment, sustainable development, management, system science and social science

Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is also managing three schools in partnership with other institutions.
French nameTranslationLocationSubjectsNumber of studentsPartners
École supérieure du professorat et de l'éducation de l'académie de VersaillesHigher school of teaching and education of Versailles academyVersailles and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelineseducation5000Cergy-Pontoise University, University of Évry Val d'Essonne, Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, University of Paris-Sud, Institut national supérieur de formation et de recherche pour l’éducation des jeunes handicapés et les enseignements adaptés, Académie de Versailles
CFA d'Alembertd'Alembert Training centre for apprenticesSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelineshealth, natural environment, civil engineering, chemistry, real estate public law, communication, risk management300Versailles-Val-d'Oise-Yvelines Chamber of Commerce
Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-LayePolitical Science Saint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-Layepolitical science, public law, history, economy sociology82Cergy-Pontoise University

Courses

In 2012, Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University offers 50 Bachelor's degree, 53 diplôme universitaire, 10 E-learning courses, 95 Master's degree, 13 diplôme universitaire de technologie, 2 Diplôme d'Ingénieur, 1 Doctor of Medicine degree, 1 Midwifery degree and 2 diplôme d'accès aux études universitaires.
In 2012, the Bachelor's degree is issued in four areas: arts-humanities-languages, law-economy-management, humanities and social sciences, and science-technology-health. In 2012, the Master's degree is issued in five areas: arts-humanities-languages, law-economy-management, humanities and social sciences, environmental science-territory and economics, and science-technology-health.

Research

Research activities at the university are done in 35 laboratories. Twelve of them are affiliated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research. It has six departments and a total of nearly 950 researchers and 715 PhD students.
The Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, a research institute in global environmental sciences, located at Guyancourt, has six laboratories, three of which are under partial guardianship of UVSQ: terrestrial and planetary study center, aeronomy department, and laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement.
The aeronomy department and a part of the terrestrial and planetary study center merged on 1 January 2009 into the laboratoire atmosphères, milieux et observations spatiales, and was placed under the supervision of UVSQ.

Teachers and former teachers

Several sociologists teach or have taught at the university, including Roland Guillon, known for his work on the problem of employment and capital; Laurent Mucchielli, specialist in criminology including issues of crime and violence of immigrant populations; Philippe Robert, specialized in the study of delinquency and deviance; and Étienne Anheim, Didier Demazière and Claude Dubar.
UVSQ also counts among its current or former teachers historians like Bernard Cottret, honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France; Christian Delporte, specialist in political and cultural history of the 20th-century of France; Bruno Laurioux, French Middle Ages historian; Jean-Yves Mollier and Loïc Vadelorge, both specialized in contemporary history.
In science, people like the creator of the ext2 file system Rémy Card, the docent in practice and theory of photography Fabien Danesi, the deputy director of the École Normale Supérieure Jean-Charles Darmon or the chemist and member of the French Academy of Sciences Gérard Férey teach or have taught at the university.
Valérie-Laure Bénabou, teacher of private law, is also on the faculty. And among tutor there is Pierre-Hugues Barré.

Doctors honoris causa

During the honorary degree graduation ceremony on 18 October 2011 at the Versailles Orangerie, Sylvie Faucheux, who was President of the university, awards, in the presence of Alain Boissinot, six personalities: Andrew Abbott, George Bermann, Amos Gitai, Robin Hartshorne, Günther Lottes and Seiji Miyashita.

External image

The university has a logo showing a white sunrise on a green earth referring to the sustainable development, a major theme of the university. The diary is named T'DACtu and is published every two months. It is for partners of the university, and also for students and staff. A movie diary called UVSQ & Vous is also available each month. The university is the initiator of the European project Europolytec, whose purpose is to design a website dedicated to careers in computer science and mechatronics.

Student life

Student services

Direction de la Vie Étudiante

The mission of the Direction de la Vie Étudiante is to improve student life. It advises and supports new foreign students, helps students find housing, and hosts students' initiatives, like culture service, sports service, and associations service. The DVE is also responsible for managing spaces where students eat lunch, take breaks, and work. These spaces are located on the first floor of Buffon building at Versailles campus and at Vauban building on the Saint Quentin en Yvelines campus. The DVE provides students discounts for cultural events. There is a cultural program in the Yvelines each semester and cinemas, theatres, and concerts. In Guyancourt, Versailles and Vélizy campuses, students have access to 20 sports activities.

CROUS

The CROUS is a service to improve student life. Every student can access its services. CROUS can help students find accommodation closer to their universities. In 2011, more than 8,500 students were housed in 25 residences managed by the CROUS. The CROUS awards scholarships to students, and has caseworkers who help students. On campus, there are restaurants managed by the CROUS, where students have meals at reduced prices. The CROUS provides free job or internship advertisements for students.

Financial help

Students can apply between 15 January and 30 April to receive financial aid for the next school year. Criteria include household income, number of dependent children, and distance from campus. There is aid for most qualifying applicants in preparing to take competitive exam to work on public services. Students can apply for bank loans guaranteed by the French state, and do not need guarantees.

Student associations

Approximately 30 associations offer students activities in science, social sciences and humanities, law, medicine, humanitarian-social-environment, handicap, international, communication, reflexion, student involvement and mechatronics. It is easy to join in or to create an association. Being in an association gives the students the opportunity to imagine and develop specific unprofitable projects. Associations can present these projects and receive a grant from the FSDIE commission. This funding partly is from the registration fees from the students each year. This commission gathers three to four times a year and votes to award grants to projects. Other financial partners of the university can contribute to help the associations finance projects. In order to give the students a place to gather and elaborate projects or to entertain, a student house opened in 2013 on the Versailles campus. It was designed by architect Fabienne Bulle, and has an area of 1,730 m2. This building accommodates local trade and cultural activities, a multipurpose room, an art room, service areas, cafeteria, and associations offices.

International relations

From the beginning, the university has developed international networks such as Erasmus, the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec, or other partnerships with universities abroad. The number of partners was about 230 in 2011. The university welcomed 330 international students in 2010. The number of students from Erasmus from 2003 to 2008 was between 0.41 and 0.67% of the student body, which ranked the university 61 out of 75 in French universities for this programme.
The university welcomes foreign students who want to obtain a French degree. In 2010, there were about 2,400 foreign students, which was 13.3% of the student body. There is a greater percentage in the PhD courses, where almost half of the students are foreign.

Sociology

Of the 14,226 students in 2004, 77.1% were holders of a Baccalauréat général, 12.3% a Baccalauréat technologique and 0.7% a Baccalauréat professionnel. Furthermore, 12.5% of students received scholarships. Concerning social origins, 49.2% of the students have a favored social origin, 20.2% were from disadvantaged social backgrounds, and 30.6% have an average social origin.