University of Poitiers

University of Poitiers
Université de Poitiers
http://www.univ-poitiers.fr/images/logo.png Seal of the University of Poitiers
Established	1431
Type	Public
President	Yves Jean
Admin. staff	2,300
Students	24,000
Location	Poitiers, France
Affiliations	Coimbra Group, IRUN
Website	http://www.univ-poitiers.fr/

The University of Poitiers (French: Université de Poitiers) is a university in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group.

History

Founded in 1431 by Pope Eugene IV and chartered by King Charles VII, the University of Poitiers was originally composed of five faculties: theology, canon law, civil law, medicine, and arts.

In the 16th century, the university exerted its influence over the town cultural life, and was ranked second only to Paris. Of the 4,000 students who attended it at the time, some were to become famous: Joachim Du Bellay, Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, François Rabelais, René Descartes, Francis Bacon, and Scévole de Sainte Marthe, to name but a few.

After temporary closure during the French Revolution when provincial universities were abolished, the University of Poitiers reopened in 1796. The reinstated university was merged from several schools and contained new faculties such as the faculty of science and the faculty of letters.

Organization

The building of the ENSIP

Historical seal of the University of Poitiers

The university covers all major academic fields through its 14 Teaching and Research Departments, Institutes and Schools:

• Teaching and Research Departments
  • Department of Law and Social Sciences
  • Department of Economics
  • Department of Basic and Applied Science
  • Department of Literature and Languages
  • Department of Human Sciences and Arts
  • Department of Sports Sciences
  • Department of Medicine and Pharmacy

• Schools
  • Higher National Engineering School of Poitiers (ENSIP)

• Institutes
  • Polytechnic of Poitiers (IUT)
  • Polytechnic of Angoulême
  • Business Administration Institute (IAE de Poitiers)
  • Institute of Communication and New Technologies (ICOMTEC)
  • General Administration Preparatory Institute (IPAG)
  • Institute of Industrial, Insurance and Financial Risks (IRIAF)

Moreover, its law studies were ranked as the second best in France by the French magazine "l'étudiant", in 2005.

Research teams

In the scientific domain, it has these laboratories, where ENSIP is part of:

• LIAS: automatics
• IC2MP: chemistry and materials
• Institut P': physics

In the legal domain, the Center for Studies on International Legal Cooperation (CECOJI) is a joint research unit (UMR) involving the University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Points of interest

• Jardin botanique universitaire de Poitiers

See also

• Bitard
• List of medieval universities

Significant researchers

• Abderrazak El Albani

External links

• Official website (French) (English) (Spanish)